Ok, so when we (black people) said we want to put our history into the curriculum I don't think, well, I know we didn't mean "if a slave gets 2 whippings per day, how many does he get in a week!?" This is outrageous! This is what happened in a Georgia ELEMENTARY just this past week! How would you feel if your elementary child brought this home for homework. They said it's an effort to combine social studies and math.
There are so many other ways to do this!
Ok, so what I am trying to figure out is who had this idea, why they even thought it was remotely appropriate, and who in hell cleared this. This is very insensitive to our struggles as black people and it also shows how much they don't respect it! Are you trying to make my child comfortable with slavery? I mean, you want him to think that this was ok for them to get beat... let's not make questions about the freedom of them but instead their punishments? What's the social studies lesson in this? Whip slaves!
I am outraged and if you are not then you are part of the reason this is acceptable! People have to be aware of the things these schools are teaching our children. Our children are the future and if they are betting on them to enslave and be masters or worse, its up to us, the parents, of this generation to moderate the influence of these types of teachings. If my child were to bring this home I don't know what I'd do! My 1st response would be to go up to the school and speak directly to this teacher!
They are asking "How could something like this happen... how? What do you mean how! Because we care more about money and material things than what our kids are learning! Because we have given these borderline racists a hall pass into our children's lives by acting like it doesn't exist! We turn our cheeks until we're left with situations like this that got in "under the radar" because someone was trying to say something... you know they knew this was not appropriate. Thats all I can say, these are teachers for God's sake and you think we can just let them get away with this? Judgement call time! FIRED! That's what should happen! These teachers have to be held responsible and no, its not a minor violation, it's a damned BIG DEAL!
Let me know what you think...
Reading this got me thinking...
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't the questions have focused on the positive?
For instance: Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955. The Civil Rights Act was signed into law in 1964. How many years did it take to achieve that?
Maybe they are studying the time period of slavery, so what kind of positive questions could come from that? Maybe something like: the African slave trade lasted for X years. An average of XXXX slaves were brought per year. How many slaves were brought to America?
Or: the average human body takes up XX cubic feet. The cargo hull of a slave ship holds XXXX cubic feet of space. How many slaves could a slaver fit into one ship?
I'm honestly curious, now, as I type this, would this be offensive as well? Or would it highlight, esp in the case of the slave ship, the brutal realities of our nation's history?
I don't know, Lyrik. You tell me.
How about a question about the productivity of a plantation and the cost per hour of slave labor?
ReplyDeleteA plantation owner could purchase a 20 year old slave for approx. $900(?). He could expect that slave to live an average of 40 years after purchase. If that slave worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week, for 40 years, how much, per hour, did the plantation owner pay for that slave's labor?
ANSWER: seven cents per day, or .006 cents per hour.