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Vaughan Secondary School

The May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota has resulted in unprecedented world-wide focus on racial justice and on systemic anti-Black racism and its long-term traumatic impact on Black communities globally and here in Canada.

In this context, and in the context of a national effort to show the complete truth about historical figures, members of the Black community, youth and members of YRDSB staff, including Senior Leadership, have asked the Board of Trustees to rename Vaughan Secondary School.

Vaughan Secondary School was officially opened in 1989 and was named after the City of Vaughan where the school is located. The school serves a diverse student population of approximately 1,150 students.

While the school is named after the City of Vaughan, the City of Vaughan (settled in 1792 and incorporated as a Township in 1850 and a City in 1991) is named after Benjamin Vaughan (April 19, 1751 –December 8, 1835). Benjamin Vaughan was a British Parliamentarian who owned enslaved Africans in Jamaica and who vehemently argued in the British parliament against ending the system of slavery and against the emancipation of enslaved Africans.

Mr. Vaughan, who was born in Jamaica of British and Anglo-American parents, explained that from his personal experience, ending the system of slavery in Jamaica would mean the end of civilization in that country. Mr. Vaughan believed that enslavement was good for Africans.

It is argued that Benjamin Vaughan needs to be remembered as having a legacy of anti-Blackness and not as a diplomat and parliamentarian. The renaming of the school is a way for the Board to demonstrate its commitment to racial justice in general and to eliminating anti-Black racism in particular.