To kill a mockingbird at SR

[Anonymous]

A couple pages back a post discussed how some SR girls didn't want to read tkam. That might be true for a few of them (as it would be for any book) but it's certainly not true for all or even most of them. Among my DD's (diverse) group of friends there was only disappointment that they wouldn't be studying it in school even though most had already read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it necessary to send a letter to parents informing them?

Maybe families had already purchased the book?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple pages back a post discussed how some SR girls didn't want to read tkam. That might be true for a few of them (as it would be for any book) but it's certainly not true for all or even most of them. Among my DD's (diverse) group of friends there was only disappointment that they wouldn't be studying it in school even though most had already read it.

Sounds like your DD and her friends are racist to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Personally we should demolish both Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are disgusting monuments to two evil slave owners.

You are ridiculous. You should move to China where they constanly erase history. George Washington was more than a slave owner. America succeeed because of him and Jefferson.

Grow up. Humans are not imperfect and slavery was wrong but you are ignorant.

I was being ironic and sarcastic.....thank you for making my point for me.

Ridiculous is the right word.

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am personally tired of being told by those who have never experienced racism, what racism is or feels like. Those who choose to remain willfully ignorant are the problem. The frequent fieldtrips to Mt. Vernon with the gleeful tour of the slave quarters where the true conditions of slavery are down played to the reading of TKPMB

Gleeful tour of the slave quarters? Please expand on this.

I have been on multiple fieldtrips with my younger children to both Mt. Vernon and Monticello. On one trip the statement was made by another parent, "These were the good ole days when meals were freshly made." Also, tours of the quarters never focus or discuss the hardship of slavery, but had the talking points of how slaves were creative and made do with what they had to make life pleasant as possible. The tour guides are fixated on the architecture, gifts that remain in the house from foreign governments, and other details that are note worthy, but take away from the true history of how the plantation operated. Oh, and the cherry on top for Monticello is how Thomas Jefferson was truly conflicted over slavery parting speech. Yet, no acknowledgement of Sally Hemmings or how he failed to grant freedom of his slaves in his will upon his death. These historic landmarks don't address the ugly history or paint an accurate picture of the history.

Mt Vernon absolutely white washes history... it's pathetic this day in age. From their website.



He depended on their labor to build and maintain his household and plantation. They, in turn, found ways to survive in a world that denied their freedom. As a young man, Washington accepted slavery, but after the Revolutionary War, he began to question it. Washington avoided the issue publicly, believing that bitter debates over slavery could tear apart the fragile nation.

He made his most public antislavery statement after his death. In his will, Washington ordered that his enslaved workers be freed at his wife’s death. Unfortunately, this applied to fewer than half of the people in bondage at Mount Vernon. Those owned by the Custis estate were inherited by Martha Washington’s grandchildren after her death. Many Washington and Custis enslaved people had married and formed families together. For them, separation from loved ones tainted celebrations of newfound freedom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Personally we should demolish both Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are disgusting monuments to two evil slave owners.

You are ridiculous. You should move to China where they constanly erase history. George Washington was more than a slave owner. America succeeed because of him and Jefferson.

Grow up. Humans are not imperfect and slavery was wrong but you are ignorant.

I was being ironic and sarcastic.....thank you for making my point for me.

Ridiculous is the right word.

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Satan: He was just a flawed angel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You people are just lost. .....Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Why do you have to preface every argument with how deplorable someone is who disagrees with you? Didn't you grow out of that in middle school?

Do you have any idea of nuance? Are you aware that people can be great in some areas and badly flawed in others? Aren't there areas of your character that you wouldn't want people to know about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Any good law professor will tell you to avoid hyperbole. It diminishes your argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... It happened and is history. We should know our history or we are doomed to repeat.

Plenty of other books can allow us to “know our history” regarding race: Invisible Man, Native Son, Roots, Beloved, Roots, etc etc etc.

So only the Black view is acceptable? Yes, read those books but dont stop reading TKAM.

1. Why do you think I believe that only "the Black view" (wtf?) is acceptable? The simple fact is that most fiction books about race relations - particularly the best ones - are written by black authors. If you need to find a book by a white author to make you feel better, feel free. My very Conservative, white, southern, and often race-wrong high school from the 1980s read both Invisible Man and Native Son, so I suspect people in 2020s DC can adapt. Alex Haley's Roots is pretty much sanitized for white audiences, so maybe that's one you can accept. If you desperately need a white author, then maybe you can look at Lords of Discipline or Water is Wide, although they're both really dated too and not great literature.

2. Why do you think all students have to read TKAM? You wrote before that they need to read it to know what happened in history, and I provided several other options that give the history of that era without TKAM's baggage. But you don't seem to allow for any other options. You seem to want to carry a torch for TKAM. I just don't think it's necessary, and I think you're letting some sense of nostalgia or anti-wokeness blind you to the problems with that book. In 2020, there are better options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Any good law professor will tell you to avoid hyperbole. It diminishes your argument.

Can you highlight the hyperboles?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Any good law professor will tell you to avoid hyperbole. It diminishes your argument.

Fortunately for us this is a public blog and not Harvard Law Review. We missed the disclaimer that all points of view must be written to align with the teachings in legal writing and research. Shall we also cite and add quotations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Personally we should demolish both Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are disgusting monuments to two evil slave owners.

You are ridiculous. You should move to China where they constanly erase history. George Washington was more than a slave owner. America succeeed because of him and Jefferson.

Grow up. Humans are not imperfect and slavery was wrong but you are ignorant.

I was being ironic and sarcastic.....thank you for making my point for me.

Ridiculous is the right word.

You people are just lost. Jefferson was great, he made the US what it is. Who cares if he whipped pregnant slaves, raped a couple, personally encouraged the expansion of slavery to build the south, help build an institution that allowed America to be what it is today with little to no compensation for those who were whipped into submission. Let's also throw Hitler in there. Hitler helped the German economy while in office, who cares that he was personally responsible for the extermination of Jews. Let's only focus on the good, that's our only judge of character to how we should praise these men. Next it will be Satan isn't that bad, he was just slightly flawed. Did i get it right for you two?

Satan: He was just a flawed angel.

Feel free to join him and work on those flaws. lol

[Anonymous]

Race relations are getting worse because Americans are more worried about the issue. That is, they’re now looking for it everywhere.

The less overt and institutional racism Americans encounter in their daily lives, the more those looking to "prove" America’s inherent racism have to dig for it.

The real problem with such "everything is racist" hyper-awareness is that it minimizes the meaning of the word until it's just background noise.

If everything is racist, then nothing is racist and actual racism goes unchecked, or at least is more easily ignored or dismissed.

Save the "that's racist" accusations for situations that actually warrant it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Personally we should demolish both Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are disgusting monuments to two evil slave owners.

You are ridiculous. You should move to China where they constanly erase history. George Washington was more than a slave owner. America succeeed because of him and Jefferson.

Grow up. Humans are not imperfect and slavery was wrong but you are ignorant.

I was being ironic and sarcastic.....thank you for making my point for me.

Ridiculous is the right word.

Now how was I supposed to read ironic or sarcastic from what you wrote? You are wrong so now you are typically saying " its a joke!"

You weren't joking. Stop gaslighting.

Maybe because it was an insane suggestion?

To some people it isnt an insane suggestion. Again, unless you indicate that it is ironic or insane people are going to take what you wrote seriously.

I am not a mind reader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... It happened and is history. We should know our history or we are doomed to repeat.

Plenty of other books can allow us to “know our history” regarding race: Invisible Man, Native Son, Roots, Beloved, Roots, etc etc etc.

So only the Black view is acceptable? Yes, read those books but dont stop reading TKAM.

1. Why do you think I believe that only "the Black view" (wtf?) is acceptable? The simple fact is that most fiction books about race relations - particularly the best ones - are written by black authors. If you need to find a book by a white author to make you feel better, feel free. My very Conservative, white, southern, and often race-wrong high school from the 1980s read both Invisible Man and Native Son, so I suspect people in 2020s DC can adapt. Alex Haley's Roots is pretty much sanitized for white audiences, so maybe that's one you can accept. If you desperately need a white author, then maybe you can look at Lords of Discipline or Water is Wide, although they're both really dated too and not great literature.

2. Why do you think all students have to read TKAM? You wrote before that they need to read it to know what happened in history, and I provided several other options that give the history of that era without TKAM's baggage. But you don't seem to allow for any other options. You seem to want to carry a torch for TKAM. I just don't think it's necessary, and I think you're letting some sense of nostalgia or anti-wokeness blind you to the problems with that book. In 2020, there are better options.

What are you talking about? I never said not to assign The Bluest eye or invisible man. We are talking about To kill a mockingbird which some peope think it is no longer worth reading. I disagree.

Got it?