EXCLUSIVE: Grade 9 poster says “white-body supremacy” is a “virus” in Ontario

“All of our bodies are infected by the virus of white-body supremacy.” That’s the message printed on a large classroom poster displayed in a Grade 9 English.

“All of our bodies are infected by the virus of white-body supremacy.” That’s the message printed on a large classroom poster displayed in a Grade 9 English class at Heart Lake Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario.

The poster, quoting American author Resmaa Menakem, goes on to claim the “virus” was “created by human beings in 1691 in the laboratory of the Virginia Assembly” and that it remains “in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the institutions that govern us, and in the social contracts under which we live.”

While the 1691 Virginia Assembly is an important part of early American colonial history, the event has no direct connection to Canada. That “white-body supremacy” was “created” in Virginia reflects American historical discourse, not applicable to Canadian legal or historical realities.

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A recent study by the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy challenged the growing use of American slavery narratives in Canadian education, noting that slavery in Canada was neither race-based nor comparable in scale or intent to the U.S. system. The report warned that importing American racial frameworks distorts Canadian history and fosters division rather than understanding.

Similar language was expressed at this spring’s Elementary Teachers of Toronto anti-black racism conference. In a session called “Decolonizing Whiteness in parent / teacher interactions,” Toronto District School Board employee Michelle Munroe said “[whiteness] permeates everything we do, everywhere we go, what we think, what we eat, how we dress.”

The poster was photographed by Lisa Turnbull, a parent at the school, who has expressed concern over the rhetoric expressed by educators. In an interview with True North, Turnbull said her “heart sank” when she saw what was being presented to 14-year-olds as part of their English curriculum.

Turnbull has previously filed a human rights complaint against the school for their use of racist terminology.

“I had already filed an Human Rights Commission with the board over the anti white language that was deployed during several of their staff training sessions,” she told True North in an interview.

“I specifically asked them if the term “whiteness” was an acceptable pejorative within staff vernacular and how the mission to “eliminate the whiteness” was a cause for concern,” she said. “I asked them to imagine this term being used with any other colour so they could see how damaging it was.”

Turnbull’s complaint was dismissed by the Human Rights Tribunal last year. “All I wanted was for staff to be retrained not to “eliminate” us,” she said.

The Peel District School Board has not yet commented on whether the material aligns with the curriculum or board policy, or whether it considers the message appropriate for classroom display. True North has also asked whether the board endorses this type of content, and if not, whether it will be removed.

This is a developing story as Heart Lake Secondary School has been contacted for comment.