TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Interested to hear opinions on this, as it happened right down the street from me: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virginia-Elementary-Students-Slaves-Black-History-Month-Gym-Activity--506192611.html Quote Teachers at a Loudoun County, Virginia, elementary school instructed students to pretend to be slaves during a gym class activity for Black History Month, the president of a local NAACP chapter says. On one hand, of course this was horribly dumb and tone deaf by the teachers, etc. On the other hand, I would be shocked to learn that this was based in hate or racism... Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llevron Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Northams part time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskinss Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Almost the exact same thing happened to me in grammar school 30 or so years ago. All white school and they did a day where they picked students who were going to be minorities for a day. I was chosen to be a minority and I was treated poorly for the rest of the day by teachers and other students. At the end of the day we all got together and discussed the days events. I'm sure that wouldn't go over too well now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 I was an elementary school PE teacher in Loudoun for 13 years. When we used to play dodgeball... whites vs blacks. Always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 It's unnecessary and doesn't so what actually happened in that time period any justice to how horrible it actually was. Being able to go to the teacher and saying your oppressor was going too far was not an option, make them read, give them better books from people actually there, make them watch 12 Years a Slave or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskinss Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said: I was an elementary school PE teacher in Loudoun for 13 years. When we used to play dodgeball... whites vs blacks. Always. Those poor white kids. They must have grown up thinking they sucked at everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 On one hand, learning about the Underground Railroad is essential...even if the teaching method is clumsy and insensitive. On the other hand, in many states in the Deep South kids are still being taught the “most owners were good to their slaves” and “slaves enjoyed working in the fields” myths. And that’s a real tragedy and downright evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Yeah ... why does society make such a big deal about the heroism of escaped slaves traveling the underground railway. It's really no different from elementary school PE class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OVCChairman Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 4 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said: On one hand, learning about the Underground Railroad is essential...even if the teaching method is clumsy and insensitive. On the other hand, in many states in the Deep South kids are still being taught the “most owners were good to their slaves” and “slaves enjoyed working in the fields” myths. And that’s a real tragedy and downright evil. Agree here At some point we need to not be oppressing the teaching of history. History is ugly. It's unfair, unjust, and the world we live in was not build by a bunch of people getting together and singing around a campfire. It's got some seriously dark times that need to be remembered in understood to maintain growth. Speaking as a white middle aged male, I don't think it's fair to censor history because the people who made the sacrifices to change it then lose their voice and impact. Was it the best way to portray it? That's debatable, but I just hope we don't get to the point that history, good AND bad, is forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 I guess my biggest thing with this is what comes next... We can all agree that the game itself was a mistake. But, if (and I don't know this yet) the people who thought it up were genuinely trying to creatively engage their students in a Black History Month lesson, then how much should they be punished? They missed the mark and that's clear, but shouldn't intent matter when we are talking about teachers who are trying to go above and beyond rather than just rolling out 6 soccer balls and blowing a whistle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 1 hour ago, TD_washingtonredskins said: Interested to hear opinions on this, as it happened right down the street from me: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virginia-Elementary-Students-Slaves-Black-History-Month-Gym-Activity--506192611.html On one hand, of course this was horribly dumb and tone deaf by the teachers, etc. On the other hand, I would be shocked to learn that this was based in hate or racism... Thoughts? There is an internet video about this guy from Alabama saying how his predominantly black school was taken on a field trip by their black teachers and school admins to learn about slavery. And according to the story teller in the video, part of the trip was going to a plantation where they ended up picking cotton for an hour or two. He said his mom was pissed when he told her about the field trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 55 minutes ago, redskinss said: Almost the exact same thing happened to me in grammar school 30 or so years ago. All white school and they did a day where they picked students who were going to be minorities for a day. I was chosen to be a minority and I was treated poorly for the rest of the day by teachers and other students. At the end of the day we all got together and discussed the days events. I'm sure that wouldn't go over too well now. Yep, had the same thing happen to me in the mid 90s when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I rebelled a little bit. Cause I was bigger than everyone else, I didn't give a ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 There was a similar exercise using blue and brown eyed children. As I remember it, the blue eyed children were the ones discriminated against. found lots of links to articles about Jane Elliott's exercise. Jane Elliott was a teacher in Iowa and she conceived this exercise after MLK was assassinated. I chose one that described the exercise and also later results on the children as adults and their attitude towards race. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/07/jane-elliot-and-the-blue-eyed-children-experiment/ One difference I notice between Elliott's exercise and these later ones is that Elliott reversed the children's roles the next day so every child experienced being superior/inferior states, helping them fully understand how these states are falsehoods that have no basis on actual fact that we are all human beings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Slavery happened. It needs to be taught as (a shameful) part of our history. This exercise appears to have been race neutral. The article says "all students in the exercise, including minorities, were asked to act as members of the Underground Railroad but didn't specifically say students were asked to be slaves." Obviously, I'd have a problem if they made the black kids the slaves and the white kids not slaves, but that isn't what happened. Just the fact that they were teaching specifically about the Underground Railroad, a network of people that were risking their lives to fight slavery, makes it seem to me like the teachers are in the right here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 4 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said: Slavery happened. It needs to be taught as (a shameful) part of our history. This exercise appears to have been race neutral. The article says "all students in the exercise, including minorities, were asked to act as members of the Underground Railroad but didn't specifically say students were asked to be slaves." Obviously, I'd have a problem if they made the black kids the slaves and the white kids not slaves, but that isn't what happened. Just the fact that they were teaching specifically about the Underground Railroad, a network of people that were risking their lives to fight slavery, makes it seem to me like the teachers are in the right here. This sort of reasoned assessment has no place in today’s discourse. I demand outrage!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justice98 Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 This happens every school year. There will always be some knucklehead teacher that makes the black kids play slaves. Always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 11 minutes ago, justice98 said: This happens every school year. There will always be some knucklehead teacher that makes the black kids play slaves. Always. Ugh. Read the article. Edit: @TD_washingtonredskins Even the thread title is misleading. The article specifically states that the students were not told or asked to be slaves. After it says that, it then says "Some of the students pretended they were escaped slaves." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OVCChairman Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, justice98 said: This happens every school year. There will always be some knucklehead teacher that makes the black kids play slaves. Always. Quote Byard said all students in the exercise, including minorities, were asked to act as members of the Underground Railroad but didn't specifically say students were asked to be slaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said: Ugh. Read the article. Edit: @TD_washingtonredskins Even the thread title is misleading. The article specifically states that the students were not told or asked to be slaves. After it says that, it then says "Some of the students pretended they were escaped slaves." I purposely used the headline that was provided... As you can see from my initial post, I didn't bring this up to jump on the teachers. No one is THAT stupid to do this in a racist way. I feel like this was well-intentioned, even if it wasn't handled perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 27 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said: This sort of reasoned assessment has no place in today’s discourse. I demand outrage!! Hey TTB, where does this rank? I'm thinking Smollett Northam MAGA hat kid Loudoun kids pretending to be slaves Essentially, what I need you to do is make an Outrage Power Rankings so the rest of us know how to react accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said: I purposely used the headline that was provided... It's not though. The headline states it as a claim by the NAACP, it doesn't state it as fact. Still, the headline is misleading as to the actual facts in the article, probably intentionally. NBC4: Virginia Students Told to Be Slaves for Black History Month Gym Activity -- Thread title Virginia Students Told to Be Slaves for Black History Month Gym Activity: NAACP -- Actual headline Quote As you can see from my initial post, I didn't bring this up to jump on the teachers. No one is THAT stupid to do this in a racist way. I feel like this was well-intentioned, even if it wasn't handled perfectly. I definitely disagree with the part in bold. People can be REALLY stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 1 minute ago, PleaseBlitz said: It's not though. The headline states it as a claim by the NAACP, it doesn't state it as fact. It's a message board, not a courtroom. Ease up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 2 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said: It's a message board, not a courtroom. Ease up a bit. I will hold you in ****ing contempt mother****er. 🤬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 1 minute ago, PleaseBlitz said: It's not though. The headline states it as a claim by the NAACP, it doesn't state it as fact. I definitely disagree with the part in bold. People can be REALLY stupid. I see your point on both...I guess I missed the "NAACP" part, which is important. On the second point, sure an individual can be stupid but I'd have a hard time buying this activity was put forth into the PE curriculum as a hateful thing. It seems like people (not in here) want to find any powder keg to turn into the outrage of the day topic while they sip their coffee and refresh Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 7 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said: Hey TTB, where does this rank? I'm thinking Smollett Northam MAGA hat kid Loudoun kids pretending to be slaves Essentially, what I need you to do is make an Outrage Power Rankings so the rest of us know how to react accordingly. These rankings are pretty solid, but stay on your toes...I think Malia Obama is gonna play some beer pong this weekend while wearing a BLM crop-top. That could shake our nation to its very core! #gummysharks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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