Teacher who wore blackface to class pleads guilty to professional misconduct

A Toronto high school teacher who showed up at school in blackface for Halloween says his intention was to portray a zombie — still, he is “horrified” for the hurt he caused, a discipline committee heard on Tuesday.

Gorian Surlan, a white teacher who was at Parkdale Collegiate Institute in October 2021 when the incident occurred, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct before a three-member panel of the Ontario College of Teachers.

Surlan, who is not currently practising and lives abroad with family because of financial constraints, wasn’t present for the hearing by the college, which licenses, governs and regulates the teaching profession.

The OCT had alleged that Surlan was guilty of professional misconduct, in part, because his actions were “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.”

Lawyers representing Surlan, and the college, submitted an agreed statement of facts and the panel accepted their joint submission for penalty, which includes a written reprimand by the college, a one-month suspension, and the requirement that Surlan undergo cultural sensitivity training.

“He was horrified that he caused hurt to so many people,” said Susan Ursel, the lawyer representing Surlan. Ursel told the committee Surlan didn’t understand the impact of his actions at first. When he did, she noted, he “immediately expressed remorse.”

According to the submitted facts, in the lead-up to Halloween 2021 the then-principal at Parkdale emailed staff about costumes. She explained that the holiday can be difficult for those whose cultures are caricatured and appropriated, and urged teachers to speak with students about this. The email referenced costumes related to Indigenous people, but not blackface, which Surlan says he wasn’t familiar with at the time.

On Friday Oct. 29, Surlan showed up at school, dressed in black clothing with his face painted black and was wearing a black fabric mask that covered most of his face from beneath his eyes to his chin. Administrators saw him arrive and asked what he was supposed to be. Surlan said he was a zombie.

Before students arrived, he put a blue medical mask on beneath the black mask. When class started he found it tough to breathe, so he removed the black mask and left the blue one. Later, students complained to an administrator about the teacher being in blackface. The principal called Surlan down to the office and then noticed that his entire face was painted black beneath the blue medical mask. She told him students were upset that he was in blackface and Surlan appeared shocked and confused. He was told to wash his face and did so immediately.

That day, photos of Surlan in blackface began circulating on social media, parents started complaining and media made inquiries. By day’s end the Toronto District School Board had put Surlan on home assignment, while it conducted an investigation.

That weekend, as the incident garnered headlines, the principal sent a letter to the school community saying regardless of the teacher’s intents, his actions were “racist and dehumanizing,” and that “caricatures of peoples’ race or culture are not appropriate and are offensive and hurtful.”

While on home assignment, Surlan says he researched blackface and learned why it is so offensive, which left him feeling “horrified” that he had hurt so many people.

“He never intended to cause harm and had he known the implications of painting one’s face black he would not have done so,” said OCT lawyer Ava Arbuck, when reading through the agreed statement of facts.

The committee heard that Surlan immigrated to Canada when he was 31, but it’s unclear from where or how long ago that was. According to information the OCT posts on its website about members’ qualifications, he has a diploma from a university in Bosnia and a master of arts from a university in Michigan.

Arbuck noted that while he immigrated with little knowledge of Canadian history or culture, he should have had some understanding, given that he was certified by the OCT in 2002, was living in a large multicultural city, and it’s against TDSB policies.

Arbuck said Surlan’s conduct made students feel “uncomfortable and outraged the school community” and by wearing blackface he demonstrated a “shocking lack of social and political awareness” and perpetuated a harmful stereotype.

The TDSB fired Surlan about two weeks after the incident because of the deep distress he caused at the school community.

The TDSB has a multi-pronged approach to combating hate and racism, including anti-Black racism, which aims to move beyond performative responses. Its anti-racism and anti-hate strategy seeks to better affirm students’ identities and improve professional learning, school-community relationships, employment equity and a school’s culture and climate.

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