Anonymous
02/04/2016 11:31
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
I don't know if anyone has seen this response to Stacy Dash's ignorant comment about Black History Month. This is priceless:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe5JSkUvj5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe5JSkUvj5c
Anonymous
02/02/2016 16:55
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:I really feel like our current history books are extremely inclusive. No need to balkanize different segments of society by pulling them out. Current history books aren't the "white, old, rich men's history books" of our grandparents era.
FWIW I went to a 95% black school and every single book I read during English class was about blacks and written by a black author. The entire school stopped everything else to celebrate black history month. We were assigned black role models that we dressed up as and presented on (like Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver). The school hallways were decorated permanently with only black role models and they mainly hired black teachers. It was pretty lonely for the non black students and I always felt the education lacked because we were missing other race's contributions to America.
OP here. But what the rest of the year? Are you saying that the only history that was taught was AA history? all the time? I'm asking because how you felt is how my DD feels about her school now. She says the school seems to only focus on history by American whites, and white Europeans. Not sure if it's by design or unintentional. They don't teach very much Asian or Hispanic history either. I'm admitting my ignorance here. Maybe I need to study the curriculum for grades. Because maybe this is the norm? In addition to my original question, maybe there is a larger question. Is any history being taught other than White-American/White-European History in the K-12 years?
I sent the principal an email. I haven't heard back.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 16:33
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
I really feel like our current history books are extremely inclusive. No need to balkanize different segments of society by pulling them out. Current history books aren't the "white, old, rich men's history books" of our grandparents era.
FWIW I went to a 95% black school and every single book I read during English class was about blacks and written by a black author. The entire school stopped everything else to celebrate black history month. We were assigned black role models that we dressed up as and presented on (like Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver). The school hallways were decorated permanently with only black role models and they mainly hired black teachers. It was pretty lonely for the non black students and I always felt the education lacked because we were missing other race's contributions to America.
FWIW I went to a 95% black school and every single book I read during English class was about blacks and written by a black author. The entire school stopped everything else to celebrate black history month. We were assigned black role models that we dressed up as and presented on (like Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver). The school hallways were decorated permanently with only black role models and they mainly hired black teachers. It was pretty lonely for the non black students and I always felt the education lacked because we were missing other race's contributions to America.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 16:25
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:No one uses that rationale. You are ridiculous. How are civil rights irrelevant to your life?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can't have American history without American Indians. You can't have American history without African-Americans.
Sure you can. And then it would even be interesting!
My kid wasn't even in kindergarten before he knew that "African-American History" meant boring, preachy crap.
Wow. Your kid's school must really suck. What is so boring about AA history? Boring?
ALL OF IT.
I just don't give a shit.
Doesn't speak to me, isn't relevant to my life.
wow so anything that isn't relevant to your life you just don't give a shit about. what a way to live.
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
The civil rights movement should be integrated into American history. They Balkanize it and frankly stigmatize it by presenting it as "Black history."
Well technically it is taught in American history. Problem is, much of AA history, as well as Native American history, has been whitewashed in the history books. Kids learn a few nuggets about slavery, the slave trade and the civil rights movement, but thats pretty much it.
I used to teach at a private middle school in Atlanta that was predominately white and asian. The school had a black principal and she was pretty righteous in making sure our kids knew AA history. For black history month we visited a black inventors museum in DT ATL. You will not believe how many kids had their minds absolutely blown about the contributions AA have made to this country. We then had an assignment that required them to research one inventor and briefly present on them in class.
Some other cool things we did: We simulated poll testing, where kids who failed an ambiguous test were not allowed to vote on a topic. We also, showed them a diagram of what a slave ship actually looked like, and how people were transported and the conditions they faced, such as severe overcrowding. In our general discussion of the New Deal, we highlighted that while blacks backed FDR and supported his efforts to get the country out of the great depression, many new deal programs actually discriminated against blacks as FDR caved to the pressure of southern white democrats, and the administration allowed for discrimination.
Very interesting discussions we had which I am sure have shaped these kids lives for the better.
OP here. PP, I really appreciate you post above. I wish my DD school would have done some of those things. But I understand I should have figured that me choosing a predominately white school would lead to these types of deficiencies. It still saddens me that the school doesn't do anything other than a library table with AA books placed on it.
I know this board has a lot of parents in those JKLMM schools. Those schools are mostly all non-AA right? Based on the responses here, I'm guessing they don't do anything? What about Bullis, Landon, or Maret? Can anyone comment? I am asking this honestly, not trying to be snarky.
I am thinking of Holton-Arms, Stone Ridge, or Holy Cross for high school for my DD, I called those schools today to find out if they did anything. Surprisingly I was able to speak to the Admissions Director for all schools. I had a great conversation with Holton Arms, she said that their BSA does something during the month. Stone Ridge and Holy Cross said they do something during the month, but try to recognize the history on minorities all year long. That was great to hear.
OP - you may want to post in the private school forum? You might get more responses from private school parents.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 15:09
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:No one uses that rationale. You are ridiculous. How are civil rights irrelevant to your life?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can't have American history without American Indians. You can't have American history without African-Americans.
Sure you can. And then it would even be interesting!
My kid wasn't even in kindergarten before he knew that "African-American History" meant boring, preachy crap.
Wow. Your kid's school must really suck. What is so boring about AA history? Boring?
ALL OF IT.
I just don't give a shit.
Doesn't speak to me, isn't relevant to my life.
wow so anything that isn't relevant to your life you just don't give a shit about. what a way to live.
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
The civil rights movement should be integrated into American history. They Balkanize it and frankly stigmatize it by presenting it as "Black history."
Well technically it is taught in American history. Problem is, much of AA history, as well as Native American history, has been whitewashed in the history books. Kids learn a few nuggets about slavery, the slave trade and the civil rights movement, but thats pretty much it.
I used to teach at a private middle school in Atlanta that was predominately white and asian. The school had a black principal and she was pretty righteous in making sure our kids knew AA history. For black history month we visited a black inventors museum in DT ATL. You will not believe how many kids had their minds absolutely blown about the contributions AA have made to this country. We then had an assignment that required them to research one inventor and briefly present on them in class.
Some other cool things we did: We simulated poll testing, where kids who failed an ambiguous test were not allowed to vote on a topic. We also, showed them a diagram of what a slave ship actually looked like, and how people were transported and the conditions they faced, such as severe overcrowding. In our general discussion of the New Deal, we highlighted that while blacks backed FDR and supported his efforts to get the country out of the great depression, many new deal programs actually discriminated against blacks as FDR caved to the pressure of southern white democrats, and the administration allowed for discrimination.
Very interesting discussions we had which I am sure have shaped these kids lives for the better.
OP here. PP, I really appreciate you post above. I wish my DD school would have done some of those things. But I understand I should have figured that me choosing a predominately white school would lead to these types of deficiencies. It still saddens me that the school doesn't do anything other than a library table with AA books placed on it.
I know this board has a lot of parents in those JKLMM schools. Those schools are mostly all non-AA right? Based on the responses here, I'm guessing they don't do anything? What about Bullis, Landon, or Maret? Can anyone comment? I am asking this honestly, not trying to be snarky.
I am thinking of Holton-Arms, Stone Ridge, or Holy Cross for high school for my DD, I called those schools today to find out if they did anything. Surprisingly I was able to speak to the Admissions Director for all schools. I had a great conversation with Holton Arms, she said that their BSA does something during the month. Stone Ridge and Holy Cross said they do something during the month, but try to recognize the history on minorities all year long. That was great to hear.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 14:29
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
People whose ancestors immigrated to the US in 1720 or 1850 or 1910 also participate in your school's international night and present their cultures? Which cultures do they present?
Wow you are hung up on this. We have had people present Germany and Ireland. They clearly were not recent immigrants. We had people who were clearly not Japanese present Japan. And my adopted daughter participated in her birth country's table. There aren't firm rules thankfully - because the point is for everyone to participate.
That's the same way at our school. Parents are welcome to present (and cook! Yumm!) about their heritage - however they define it and to whatever extent it interests them. The Italian booth had the most delicious pitzelles made by a mom based on her grandmother's recipe. And my MIL made hungarian bread based on her mom's recipe.
I'm not sure how people presenting stuff about cultures in Nigeria or Ghana or Angola (or anywhere else) would address OP's issue of making sure that kids at school learn about African-American history?
Anonymous
02/02/2016 13:14
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:No one uses that rationale. You are ridiculous. How are civil rights irrelevant to your life?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can't have American history without American Indians. You can't have American history without African-Americans.
Sure you can. And then it would even be interesting!
My kid wasn't even in kindergarten before he knew that "African-American History" meant boring, preachy crap.
Wow. Your kid's school must really suck. What is so boring about AA history? Boring?
ALL OF IT.
I just don't give a shit.
Doesn't speak to me, isn't relevant to my life.
wow so anything that isn't relevant to your life you just don't give a shit about. what a way to live.
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
The civil rights movement should be integrated into American history. They Balkanize it and frankly stigmatize it by presenting it as "Black history."
Well technically it is taught in American history. Problem is, much of AA history, as well as Native American history, has been whitewashed in the history books. Kids learn a few nuggets about slavery, the slave trade and the civil rights movement, but thats pretty much it.
I used to teach at a private middle school in Atlanta that was predominately white and asian. The school had a black principal and she was pretty righteous in making sure our kids knew AA history. For black history month we visited a black inventors museum in DT ATL. You will not believe how many kids had their minds absolutely blown about the contributions AA have made to this country. We then had an assignment that required them to research one inventor and briefly present on them in class.
Some other cool things we did: We simulated poll testing, where kids who failed an ambiguous test were not allowed to vote on a topic. We also, showed them a diagram of what a slave ship actually looked like, and how people were transported and the conditions they faced, such as severe overcrowding. In our general discussion of the New Deal, we highlighted that while blacks backed FDR and supported his efforts to get the country out of the great depression, many new deal programs actually discriminated against blacks as FDR caved to the pressure of southern white democrats, and the administration allowed for discrimination.
Very interesting discussions we had which I am sure have shaped these kids lives for the better.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 12:58
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in an elementary school. I teach language arts and social studies. We don't do anything specific or special for February. We don't cover "Black History", or "White History" or "American Indian History". They are not taught in isolation. I teach "history" and follow the district's Pacing Guide.
Great, it sounds like you're inclusive in your instruction--not all teachers or school systems are, or at least they have not always been. I'm in my thirties and attended elementary school in VA. I remember distinctly that the discussion of slavery in my sixth-grade history book was relegated to about one paragraph. That's it. I remember other weird stuff, like a set of encyclopedias in the classroom that discussed how "Negros" were "nomadic" and showed four different phenotypes of "Negroes." I'm not even AA (black, but first-generation American) and I remember this being off-putting. Our sixth-grade teacher also made disparaging comments about AAs on at least one occasion, after which I took the initiative to meet with the principal.
I'm rambling a bit, but here's my point. Not every teacher or school system will ensure that the curriculum includes discussion of the contributions of AAs, Latinos, women, etc. I believe this is why these set-aside times of the year were implemented in the first place--to ensure that even if these contributions aren't discussed within the main curriculum (in an ideal world, they would be), they will at least get some mention.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 12:31
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can't have American history without American Indians. You can't have American history without African-Americans.
Sure you can. And then it would even be interesting!
My kid wasn't even in kindergarten before he knew that "African-American History" meant boring, preachy crap.
Wow. Your kid's school must really suck. What is so boring about AA history? Boring?
ALL OF IT.
I just don't give a shit.
Doesn't speak to me, isn't relevant to my life.
wow so anything that isn't relevant to your life you just don't give a shit about. what a way to live.
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
No. You are wrong about that. The rationale for including "black history stuff" is that large parts of actual, real, and even interesting parts of *YOUR* American history were written out of history books completely.
Anonymous
02/02/2016 12:29
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
At our school - I am not sure they do anything specific for BHM. However, they did do some history around MLK day. Our school is very diverse - we have an "international night" in the fall when all the different cultures can participate.
PP, at least at my school, International Night is when first-generation and second-generation immigrants to the US present their cultures. It's a bit problematic to suggest this in the context of African-Americans whose ancestors were forcibly brought to the US 200+ years ago, I think. But maybe I'm misunderstanding you.
At our school it isn't limited to recent immigrants. Perhaps it wouldn't be appropriate for OP - but I was trying to indicate that our school doesn't really push the different months (BHM in Feb, Asian American History Month in May, National Hispanic Heritage Month during the period from September 15 to October 15.)
People whose ancestors immigrated to the US in 1720 or 1850 or 1910 also participate in your school's international night and present their cultures? Which cultures do they present?
Wow you are hung up on this. We have had people present Germany and Ireland. They clearly were not recent immigrants. We had people who were clearly not Japanese present Japan. And my adopted daughter participated in her birth country's table. There aren't firm rules thankfully - because the point is for everyone to participate.
That's the same way at our school. Parents are welcome to present (and cook! Yumm!) about their heritage - however they define it and to whatever extent it interests them. The Italian booth had the most delicious pitzelles made by a mom based on her grandmother's recipe. And my MIL made hungarian bread based on her mom's recipe.
Anonymous
02/01/2016 19:29
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Personally I like history and I appreciate the seemingly minute details because they help paint a clearer picture and they provide a greater understanding of the time. Blacks have been integral to American history in many ways but they're often relegated to the minute details.
For instance, kids are taught that the development of railroads was one of the most important phenomena of the Industrial Revolution but they rarely are introduced to the minute detail that the entire southern railroad network that was built during the slavery era was built almost exclusively by slaves. Call me crazy but I think that often overlooked aspect makes it more interesting because history isn't just about time and events it's about people and their stories and there is always more than one side to a story so taking multiple perspectives into account allows for greater understanding of the time and the events.
For instance, kids are taught that the development of railroads was one of the most important phenomena of the Industrial Revolution but they rarely are introduced to the minute detail that the entire southern railroad network that was built during the slavery era was built almost exclusively by slaves. Call me crazy but I think that often overlooked aspect makes it more interesting because history isn't just about time and events it's about people and their stories and there is always more than one side to a story so taking multiple perspectives into account allows for greater understanding of the time and the events.
Anonymous
02/01/2016 17:01
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
Actually the rationale for including the black history stuff is that it's history.
Anonymous
02/01/2016 16:59
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
To be quite clear: You are saying that American Indians and African-Americans are not an integral part of American history. That American Indians and African-Americans are extraneous to American history. That American history does not have to include American Indians or African-Americans.l
I wonder what your definitions of "American" and "history" are.
History does not have to include everything about everybody.
The "wars and presidents" approach works fine for me. I'll skip the annoying hate-whitey stuff, thanks.
Actually, it does. That's what makes it history, rather than, for example, "Information about some of the things that rich white men did".
Anonymous
02/01/2016 16:58
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
I am a teacher in an elementary school. I teach language arts and social studies. We don't do anything specific or special for February. We don't cover "Black History", or "White History" or "American Indian History". They are not taught in isolation. I teach "history" and follow the district's Pacing Guide.
Anonymous
02/01/2016 16:48
Subject: Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?
Anonymous wrote:No one uses that rationale. You are ridiculous. How are civil rights irrelevant to your life?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can't have American history without American Indians. You can't have American history without African-Americans.
Sure you can. And then it would even be interesting!
My kid wasn't even in kindergarten before he knew that "African-American History" meant boring, preachy crap.
Wow. Your kid's school must really suck. What is so boring about AA history? Boring?
ALL OF IT.
I just don't give a shit.
Doesn't speak to me, isn't relevant to my life.
wow so anything that isn't relevant to your life you just don't give a shit about. what a way to live.
(shrug) The rationale for including the black history stuff is that blacks don't find history without blacks in it to be relevant to their lives. I have an analogous feeling about their history.
The civil rights movement should be integrated into American history. They Balkanize it and frankly stigmatize it by presenting it as "Black history."