The Edmonton Public School Board is condemning a “white alliance” student group connected to Strathcona High School that appeared on social media over the weekend.
The Scona White Student Alliance Instagram page made its first post on Sunday, Feb. 14, where it announced that “white lives matter,” a phrase that has been tied to white nationalism and hate groups.
“Strathcona High School has been increasingly anti-white rather than pro-black for the past few months,” the post said. “We are all equal and race should be ignored, we must judge each other by our actions, not by the color of our skin.”
A screenshot from an Instagram account that appears to represent a white alliance for an Edmonton high school.
The Edmonton Public School Board said it was “made aware of this social media account over the weekend,” but told Global News Tuesday that it did not yet know who created the account.
“The school has reported the account and has made Edmonton Police Service aware of it as well,” a statement from the board to Global News said. “There is zero tolerance for hate-filled accounts and posts like this.”
Trisha Estabrooks, the school board chair, said Tuesday that she believes the post highlights the need to fight “systemic racism in our education systems.”
“We can’t shy away from having these tough conversations in our classrooms, in our schools, and in our broader society,” Estabrooks said. “This is an opportunity to have those tough conversations.”
“This post just shows to me just how clearly needed these conversations are and how more work needs to be done.”
Estrabrooks said a similar Twitter account had also been started but has since shut down. She said it is “disappointing” that the Instagram was still active as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The fact that it existed, the fact that it is harmful, the fact that it is blatantly racist, even if it had a small spread, doesn’t take away the fact that this was done, and it has an impact.”
Another post on the account showed a video of Black activist Martin Luther King during his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963, where King pushed for the end of racism.
“Society is being dominated by victimhood and anti-white racism, we are slowly regressing back to the starting point where others are treated differently based on the color of their skin,” the post said. “Our school has been doing the exact same thing, we are facing straight up racism against white people in our school.”
A screenshot from an Instagram account that appears to represent a pro-white group at an Edmonton high school.
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