Mother makes public plea after son faces racial slurs
For one Okotoks mother, enough is enough.
Dianne Doyle-Lynch, mother of two young, mixed-race boys, said her heart sunk when her eldest son Jalen, 9, came home from school with the news he’d allegedly been the subject of racist jokes at the lunch table last week.
Last year, Jalen faced a similar incident, the mother said, when a schoolmate blocked him from entering the bathroom because “he was black, and this is a white school.”
“My hope is they never have to defend who they are or defend colour of their skin, but that’s the world we live in now,” Doyle-Lynch said. “It’s heartbreaking they’re judged because of the pigment in their skin — it seems so insignificant.”
Doyle-Lynch’s husband Glenn is black, and has spent an entire lifetime dealing with racism. Glenn was even discriminated against by Doyle-Lynch’s grandmother, who she said disowned their entire family because they were married.
“For him, I knew how hurtful that was. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s been the minority,” she said. “The hope was it would be done by now, and his kids would never have to go through that. I’m tired of this happening.”
Upon hearing the most recent events at her sons’ school, DoyleLynch decided to take action. After a sad, sleepless night contemplating how to handle the situation, she posted an emotional video on Facebook pleading with parents to start a dialogue with their children about not just tolerating differences, but celebrating them.
“It’s not just for my kids that I’m sad, angry and tired for. It’s a plea for everybody,” Doyle-Lynch said. “People are afraid to talk about being different and that needs to change. We can’t sit back and hope somebody else will say something — this kind of stuff should not still be hurting our children.”
Doyle-Lynch’s video, entitled “A Mother’s Plea,” had garnered more than 10,000 views as of Sunday, and she said her family has been overwhelmed by the hundreds of parents who have reached out to show their support.
“These conversations need to continue so that these things don’t happen somewhere else,” she said.
After reporting the incidents to the school, Doyle-Lynch said she felt relieved at how well the situation was handled and the apologies made by the students involved in the incidents.