durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, July 14, 2022 | | 26 A Durham District School Board trustee has been found to be in violation of the trustee code of conduct over comments he made about white supremacy. Trustees voted June 27 to find Pickering trustee Paul Crawford guilty on three counts of violating the code. They voted to censure him and request that he complete equity, diversity and inclusion training. The decision by trustees follows an investigation and report by the board's integrity commissioner, which says Crawford's comments "were poorly conceived because he carelessly dismissed of the realities faced by many racialized people within the DDSB community." In October 2021 and January 2022, Crawford, who has been a trustee for more than 20 years, made a series of comments as the board's governance and policy committee discussed a draft human rights policy. His comments centred on the definition of "white supremacy" used in the document. "I had received, from my constituents, concerns about the wording. And I too, had concerns about the wording," said Crawford. The definition used by the DDSB says white supremacy is "a racist ideology based on the belief that white identity is the norm, standard and ideal" and includes a quote from the book "Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education" that says white supremacy "refers to the pervasiveness, magnitude, and normalcy of white privilege, dominance, and assumed superiority in society." As an elected official, Crawford said he has the right to raise concerns without fear of consequences. His comments at the Oct. 25 committee meeting included saying the definition "reverse(s) the racism on the white community" and that the definition is "insulting to white people, in fact it's insulting to anyone." At the Jan. 24 governance committee meeting, Crawford said the definition should be removed or rewritten. "White supremacy has to come out of there, either that or it has to be described in a different way," he said, noting the definition "insults a large group because of the abhorrent actions of a small minority group, such as the KKK." Whitby trustee Niki Lundquist and Oshawa trustee Darlene Forbes filed complaints with the board's integrity commissioner about Crawford's comments. Lundquist's complaint says the situation is "not about free speech or debate" and that Crawford's words "undermined confidence in the board and they call into question the board's commitment to integrity" and also "cause harm by denying the lived reality of those who have experienced systemic racism and oppression as a result of privilege being afforded to those who do not come from equity seeking groups." The complaint from Forbes says Crawford "used language and espoused racist points of view that are damaging to the reputation of the board and are counter to the equity and diversity initiatives of the DDSB, and were potentially harmful to the students and staff of the DDSB." Other trustees also voiced concerns at a special board meeting on June 27, including student trustee Kayla Malcolm. "Our board is built upon diversity, equity and student well-being. Meanwhile ... we have a trustee on the board who essentially goes against each of these pillars. As a student of this board and a person of colour, I'm shocked that we're allowing these comments," Malcolm said. Crawford pointed out that Durham Catholic District School Board trustees recently raised similar concerns about the definition of white supremacy. DCDSB trustees approved a new anti-racism policy this spring -- but not before some trustees and members of the public voiced concerns about language in the policy, suggesting that it reflected critical race theory. DCDSB trustees approved an amended version of the policy that removed many definitions altogether, including white supremacy, colonialism, anti-Black racism, microaggression, reparation, intersectionality and restorative practice. The issue of free speech is addressed in the integrity commissioner's report about Crawford's comments. "It is clear how members of the community could have felt hurt by trustee Crawford's comments; however, this must be appropriately balanced against a trustee's ability to freely participate in good faith debate and decision-making, which is the heart of their role," the report notes. It says politicians have a great deal of protection in terms of "political speech" even if their words upset people -- but that trustees are more limited than politicians. "A school board trustee's governance role is not foundationally about 'giving voice' to the opinions of themselves and others around them," the report says. Crawford now has the chance to make a written submission to the board in his defence -- however he is not optimistic that it will change the outcome. "It's going to be a little difficult to convince people who have already found me guilty, that I am not," he said. TRUSTEE CENSURED OVER WHITE SUPREMACY COMMENTS JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com NEWS AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, CRAWFORD SAYS HE HAS THE RIGHT TO RAISE CONCERNS WITHOUT FEAR OF CONSEQUENCES Durham District School Board trustee Paul Crawford has been censured in connection with comments he made about white supremacy. Ryan Pfeiffer/Metroland