Historical Friction

My last year of high school was spent at L’Amoreaux Collegiate, in northern Scarborough. The middle-class Toronto suburb was heavily Jamaican (both Black and Chinese), but it also included kids from Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Africa, and all over Europe. More than half of the L’Amoreaux student body had just immigrated or had immigrant parents. That year, I took two senior courses in history: Canadian and American. There were at least thirty students in each class, their backgrounds vividly reflecting the school overall.

We had good teachers. I especially remember Mr. Stewart, who started the first day with a provocation: “Why is Canadian history so boring?” I recall thinking how rather silly the exercise was, as most students had practically no clue about the subject. They responded with the usual rants: It’s not flashy like American history. It’s not violent enough. There are few interesting characters.

What we studied with Mr. Stewart...