Episode 2

The Backlash

Turning Red

If you have ever watched the film Turning Red (2022), you have seen a school that looked familiar to me. In an interview with Toronto Life, director Domee Shi (a student at Orde St. PS in 1998, a few years ahead of me) mentions, “I was never the only Asian kid in my class, and I formed a tight circle of friends who were all immigrants like me (…) [t]hey came from Korea, India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe” (Landau, 2022).

Article about the controversial battle against the Heritage Language Programs (Brown,*Toronto Star*, February 2, 1987).

Article about the required Heritage Language classes (Brown,*Toronto Star*, September 27, 2000).

“Heritage Language Dispute:Students Caught in Struggle.”Pictured in this newspaper article are Karen Brathwaite and Alberto di Giovanni in the top-right corner, as well as other members of the Coalition for Language Rights in the picture at the bottom (Funké et al, p. 192, 2025).

Thanks and Resources