Anonymous wrote:For a group that is supposed to be tolerant, I see nothing in this thread but intolerance and blowing something out of proportion. Was Pharaoh a stupid super hero costume? Definitely, Spiderman is a Super Hero, not Pharaoh. But please, stop being so toxic and looking for problems where they do not exist.

The school is putting an a huge fundraiser and a lot of volunteers have invested time and effort into making it a great event - give them some slack.

^^^^ can you be any more tone deaf?

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Anonymous wrote:What kind of a superhero is a Pharaoh?
Sounds like he just wanted to get his money’s worth out of his last Halloween costume
Sounds more like ignorance than intentional, but I agree they need to address the issue and make a statement

I could be waayyyy off base here but African Americans often celebrate ancient Egyptian achievements as distinctly African, which is true.

Kind of ironic that some ignorant people seem to be making this all about them.

So are you claiming persecuting Jews is distinctly African? I’m confused.

Ok, let me try to help you.

Ancient Egypt accomplished many amazing things such as a writing system and the pyramids. The culture is fascinating and many people of African descent celebrate that.

Passover is barely a blip in the context of Egyptian history.

Nazi Germany lasted less than 10 years -- just a "blip" in the scheme of German/European/Western history?

Passover =/= Nazi Germany. What a way to forfeit whatever argument you are trying to make. I would wager that virtually no one automatically associates Egyptian imagery with Passover. Next you're going to tell me that the columns at the Cheesecake Factory are anti Semitic.

Also, Egypt’s history is thousands upon thousands of years. Passover is indeed a blip.

I mean, a lot of Jews do. Not all Egyptian imagery but Pharaohs and pyramids definitely evoke the story of Passover. Which is not to say one has to automatically make the connection to how the HOS dressed, just that for Jews it's not beyond the pale. That's the part of Egypt we hear about most. We hear it every year, in fact!

And yeah, as Jews, any time someone mentions a world war or a war in Europe, the mind automatically skips to WWII and the Holocaust. Associations are cultural and these are very deeply ingrained.

That said, this is a really silly thread overall. Even if he was trying to be antisemitic, which seems incredibly unlikely (and he could've found a much better way), this barely rises to the level of anything. Raise an eyebrow and move on.

For a group that is supposed to be tolerant, I see nothing in this thread but intolerance and blowing something out of proportion. Was Pharaoh a stupid super hero costume? Definitely, Spiderman is a Super Hero, not Pharaoh. But please, stop being so toxic and looking for problems where they do not exist.

The school is putting an a huge fundraiser and a lot of volunteers have invested time and effort into making it a great event - give them some slack.

Oh god, lay off the teacher. We have zero context and are just zipping off "shallow optics", while claiming to want to foster a love of learning in children.
Otherwise, this silly thread is the gift that keeps on giving. "HOS dressed as Pharaoh.." made my day yesterday!

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Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Was that style of dress typical of Northern women? It was clearly to evoke Southern Belles. Note that it isn’t a thing outside of the South for sororities to have “Old North” parties.

When I see three parties, the girls/women always seem to be dressed like the opening scene in gone with the wind or like 80s prom dresses. But when I see black and white photos of actual women from the 1860s they are typically wearing much more modest dress. (Maybe more like what homely Melanie wore in GWTW.). Anyway, it seems like those dumb off the shoulder ruffled silk tings are just another way to try to make the antebellum south seem more beautiful than it was in reality. Everyone was just a Scarlet O’Hara type with men bringing them plates of barbecue!

This is correct, which makes a history teacher asking kids to dress in that attire even more odd.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Was that style of dress typical of Northern women? It was clearly to evoke Southern Belles. Note that it isn’t a thing outside of the South for sororities to have “Old North” parties.

When I see three parties, the girls/women always seem to be dressed like the opening scene in gone with the wind or like 80s prom dresses. But when I see black and white photos of actual women from the 1860s they are typically wearing much more modest dress. (Maybe more like what homely Melanie wore in GWTW.). Anyway, it seems like those dumb off the shoulder ruffled silk tings are just another way to try to make the antebellum south seem more beautiful than it was in reality. Everyone was just a Scarlet O’Hara type with men bringing them plates of barbecue!

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Was that style of dress typical of Northern women? It was clearly to evoke Southern Belles. Note that it isn’t a thing outside of the South for sororities to have “Old North” parties.

That’s right. The NPR quote linked earlier had a great paragraph that explains why this is problematic.

“Civil rights activists have criticized these kinds of parties for many years, noting that they elevate the beauty of the Old South's plantations while erasing their roots in the bondage and brutal oppression of Black slaves. It's similar to the denialism among some who seek to honor symbols of the Confederacy while downplaying or ignoring its role in fighting to maintain slavery.”

Those were absolutely “Old South” dresses and it is appalling that kids were asked to dress in them for any purpose. If the dresses belonged to the school, I hope they’ve now been removed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Hmmm so following your logic, any non-white kids in the class would have been cast ... how?

If the point is re-enactment for a school project, you don’t have to type cast kids into the roles they would have literally had during the 1860s, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Was that style of dress typical of Northern women? It was clearly to evoke Southern Belles. Note that it isn’t a thing outside of the South for sororities to have “Old North” parties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Well they weren’t soldiers in the vast majority of cases yet they did exist and contribute to the war effort and society. At any rate I don’t think period dress is awful for school projects/skits but certainly would have specified they weren’t confederates.

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

Uhhh pointing out that it is also cringeworthy if they asked girls to dress up as wives.

Anonymous wrote:if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?

The teacher’s post only said that they were having “a little fun with dress up before shooting Civil war videos.”

I’m sure there is an appropriate history lesson that was in there about the civil war. But no, kids shouldn’t be taught that civil war dress up is fun. She lost me there and I would have been mortified if my kid was in the photos.

They lost me further when they took them down without public accountability. They know they screwed up but have failed to say so (outside the school walls).

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Anonymous wrote:If he was dressed as a generic Pharaoh with no reference to Jews, Passover etc, I would not have even made the connection (Jew here).

No one normal would.

Axe is grinding

Anonymous wrote:If he was dressed as a generic Pharaoh with no reference to Jews, Passover etc, I would not have even made the connection (Jew here).

No one normal would.

if something was plantation themed that’s obviously a terrible idea and racist but period dress for women of the civil war era could be wives of northern soldiers, no? Antebellum refers to the southern houses, dresses, etc general but civil war doesn’t mean that right?