Directed by Sylvia Hamilton • 2007 • Canada • 60'

Shot on location in villages and cities in Ontario and Nova Scotia, THE LITTLE BLACK SCHOOL HOUSE unearths the untold story of the children, women, men who were students and teachers in Canada’s racially segregated schools. Sylvia Hamilton’s documentary is a poignant and unfailingly honest illustration of how many of these former students look back on the experience with conflicting feelings: fondness for the dedication of their Black teachers, and outrage at being denied a right, fundamental to democracy in Canada: equal access to quality education.

With a vibrant musical score composed by jazz legend Joe Sealy, THE LITTLE BLACK SCHOOL HOUSE interweaves extraordinary archival film footage, rare photographs, and touching first hand accounts from past students, teachers, historians and community leaders in this unflinching look at the heart of racial inequality in Canada.

A Note from Sylvia D. Hamilton, Producer-Director, The Little Black School House

In the last three years there’s been a heightened awareness of the presence and use of racial epithets in all manner of media – on-line videos, books, articles, social media etc. In the case of The Little Black School House, it is important to understand when and how the n-word was used – that is what was the context.
In the one instance in the film, during a sequence of archival footage from the 1960’s, the n-word was spoken by a community leader reporting at a community meeting about the many challenges Black people faced when they searched for housing. Landlords closed the door in their faces; landlords told them bluntly about why they were not wanted in the neighborhood. In the sequence, the person speaking explained exactly what the landlord told people. These were not the speaker’s own words; rather, in reporting on what the landlord said, he used the n-word twice.

Teachers can and should provide this fundamental context to students in advance of showing the film, or they can address in after in the question period. How it is handled depends on the teacher’s pedagogical approach. Teachers can explain that the community leader in the film is reporting what happened. It was not a reckless, name-calling incident where the word was directed against someone as is often the case in current times: in the school yard or hallways, in on-line attacks, and in other situations.
I urge teachers and educators using the film to explain the historical context to help students understand how racism functions, how that hurtful word was used, and is still used against Black people.