Apparently now being the subject of lawsuits. I agree with Clayton that slavery is a lot for a fifth grader to wrap their heads around in its entirety, but it would seem to me a discussion with the teacher, principle, and school board (in that order) might be a more productive path forward rather than a lawsuit.
5 thoughts on “Teaching Slavery”
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Almost sixty years ago, when I was in fifth grade, nothing about slavery, the Holocaust (which was recent history) or any such thing was considered too harsh for us. It was part of our cultural literacy. And, that was in an era when children were protected from a good deal more of reality than they are today. It is hard to believe that with the coarseness that infuses every aspect of their daily lives today, children of that age could become very upset by learning of history from more than a century ago.
The problem I have with teaching about slavery is the utter lack of global and historic context, especially from a monolithic teaching establishment that stresses diversity and multicultural relativity above all else.
The curriculum needs to begin with the ancients (northern barbarians, to Greeks and Persians, etc.) and cover universality of slavery in the pre-Modern era, then move forward in time to the 17th Century business of it, the slave hunters (Arabs and North Africans) who rounded-up people and the operators and traders – the dealers (the same) who sold them to the merchantmen, and continue to more recent slavery (Moros in Philippines in the 1900’s) the on-going fight against slavery today.
Actually, I agree with the plaintiff. As long the coercive mandatory public education is in place, the school is acting in loco parentis. They need to tailor every curriculum to every student, and fully respect the first amendment, sensitivities, and even the prejudices of each student and their family. For every crime committed by a student, a teacher or principle should be charged with conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
In principle, public education is either a right or a privilege. In actuality, the right of union members to be paid for teaching-related activities seems to be the only protected right.
What we really need is tort reform…. Looser pays all expenses
“The problem I have with teaching about slavery is the utter lack of global and historic context, especially from a monolithic teaching establishment that stresses diversity and multicultural relativity above all else.”
I think you would appreciate how I teach Western Civ and U.S. History, which reminds students that slavery is actually the norm in human history–and abolition of slavery was an outgrowth of the Enlightenment and a solidifying Christian consensus that slavery was wrong. Students were clearly shocked to find out that Muslim slave raiders were kidnapping entire Irish and French villages as late as the 1700s to sell them into slavery in the Middle East. Our first substantial overseas war, the Barbary Pirates War, was because U.S. merchant seamen were being sold into slavery.