Tuesday, May 18, 2010
My (African American) son was in second grade, when he came home crying from school. He was told by two classmates that he could no longer use the "white" drinking fountain. Of course, I'm not an alarmist, but certainly needed to find out about the school's new drinking fountain policy. :) His class had watched a documentary on segregation, the student's obviously didn't understand the message. Do we understand the message? In McPherson's, "Battle Cry for Freedom," one month before dying, Stephen Douglas was quoted saying, "Every man must be for the United States or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war, only patriots--or traitors." Texas removing Jefferson from textbooks, Arizona's poor attempt to solve a problem by using racial profiling, and militiamen talking of overthrowing our government doesn't seem like we are getting the message either!
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Holy cow! I'm sorry. Hopefully we can pass on the right lessons and not just knowledge to our students!
ReplyDeleteWe do need to make sure through enough discussion that our students understand what they are being taught. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding quote, I hit States v. Feds as often as possible in my history class. A candidate from Kentucky for the senate does not believe in parts of the 1964 civil rights bill. He thinks that private bussines should be able to pick and choose who they will serve. This reminds me of the lunch counter demonstrations in the south, where the white kids are dumping food on the black kids. I don't believe this potential senator learned his lessons in school.
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