Dear Anti-Racist Parent:
My biracial son’s 1st grade class recently went on a field trip to a ‘farm museum’ (a.k.a. former plantation) in our Southern state. While there, the kids were shown a video of slaves bring the master food and coming to get a couple of coins on Christmas Day, all in order to show what life “used to be like.” It was awful and there was no mention of the black and brown people who were portrayed being anything other than slaves, no other context. I think they could create a much more full and meaningful experience for all of the kids if they did the field trip to a different location. I don’t know how to go about making that suggestion, though. Any suggestions?
Stacie V.
From the Editor:
Ugh. I feel your pain. I enjoy visiting historic homes in general and, when in the South, plantations. I love admiring the grandeur of these locations and the history buff in me is intrigued by how people lived in pre-Civil War America. What I don’t love is the way people of African descent are almost without exception marginalized in the way they are presented. In my experience, enslaved people are either euphemistically referred to as “servants,” their experience as human chattel erased and sanitized. One place I visited had turned old slave quarters into little bed-and-breakfast cottages. Ghastly! On the other hand, you get African people portrayed as victims with focus on the lash and the drudgery and the danger and the subservience. In either case, the “masters” of the house are allowed to be full people with hopes and quirks and skills and personal stories. The enslaved Africans are just, well, property. Same as it ever was.
FYI, the one place that I’ve visited that comes close to doing it right is the Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. For example, tours of the old Creole sugar plantation point out the expert craftsmanship that built the home. It was enslaved Senegalese laborers (if I recall correctly) brought to this country specifically for their expertise in engineering and construction that created the original big house. When I last visited, guides would point to a torn wall that revealed the home’s original construction by Africans, and compared it to evidence of new construction done in the 20th century with modern tools. The original construction was far better. Imagine! Enslaved Africans being expert at something and not just beasts of burden.
I digress though…you want to know how to discuss this with administrators at your child’s school. Try this:
- Acknowledge the spirit with which teachers planned the field trip. They wanted children to learn about their regional culture. That is an admirable and important goal. Say that.
- Be SPECIFIC about where and why you think the field trip fell short. We know that many good and smart people are blind to the marginalization of people of color. Be ready to explain exactly what you mean and give examples. (Ex. Big Southern House is a beautiful place. It was interesting to learn about the Johnson family, but I am concerned that the guided tour minimized the lives and contributions of African Americans. For example, the guide never mentioned how the enslaved families that kept the plantation going lived from day-to-day. When she talked about how the Johnson family celebrated Christmas, she did not talk about the many other families living on the land. I am concerned that the children may come away without not knowing our area’s full and rich history.) You get the picture.
- Ask if there are ways that the planned classroom curriculum will make up for the shortcomings of the field trip. You may be surprised…or not. But don’t assume that the teacher has not recognized the same problems that you did and has not taken steps to correct them.
- Offer solutions. How can your child and others learn a more inclusive version of regional culture? Do you know of better field trip locations? Is there a good speaker that can be invited into the classroom? Are there in-class exercises that will do the trick?
Readers-what do you say?
Awesome answer! Thank you SO much!
Not a big fan of home-schooling in general (it really depends on the home-teachers – hey, if they’re really good teachers, then great) but this is a case where the children can be taught additional lessons at home.
Forget about educating the educators, unless you just enjoy using your breath to push a point that will be summarily rejected.
Instead, set aside some time and give your children the information they need and give it to them with the perspective that you think is appropriate.
Schools are just one portal of education; not the be-all and end-all of it.
Just sayin’…..
Bill
You know, I hate to say it, but in this case I think it is worth fighting the battle and fighting it hard. Who needs to pussyfoot around or be diplomatic? Call a spade a spade. This field trip to this place was insensitive … and if the “historians” who ran the operation couldn’t give a holistic view of life on the plantation, then it was certainly up to the teacher to give the class a full unabridged picture of it when they returned to the classroom. We live in 2008, not 1968. What is wrong with people? In a time and era where we have elected a bi-racial man to become the next leader of the free world, why can’t we recognize as a society that teaching our children these lessons early is a necessity? What if the tables were flipped and you were in Germany and your child was Jewish and their class had taken a field trip to a “place where people worked hard during World War II.” What is the deal with sanitizing this stuff? Call it what it is. Call the teacher on it. Call the principal on it. Call the school board on it. And if no one listens, call the local newspaper and get some coverage on it. We will not ever take care of racism in this country if we continue to tiptoe around the issue so that we don’t “offend” those who don’t care about offending others. OFFEND. GET IN THEIR FACES AND OFFEND, BECAUSE THEY ARE OFFENSIVE.
And if you don’t believe in this in-your-face approach, take a look at what Jesus did with a group of people called the Pharisees and their code of social injustice that they played out in the name of righteousness. He had no qualms telling them off, and neither should we.
Thanks for letting me vent!
Let me begin by saying 1st graders are far too young to be taking a field trip to a plantation. Children a few years older would have been better able to understand the truth of this.
Plantations, and the pre-civil war lifestyle both have a place in our history, but glossing over the harsh reality of it doesn’t teach our children the truth. Then being nicey-nice to the teacher, historians and everyone else involved continues to validate the way this is portrayed. If we keep sweeping racism under the rug, that is where it will surely stay.
I live in the south and should either one of my biracial daughters bring home a permission slip for a field trip to something of this nature, you can believe I would be tagging along on this trip. I guarantee they will know all sides of their history while on this field trip.
I attended elementary school in the 60′s when racism wasn’t even addressed at all. We were however, taught in depth with graphic movies and all, about the Holocaust. Those images, while disturbing and embedded in my mind to this day, were the truth. There has never been any question in my mind about that part of history.
Clearly glossing over slavery by calling them servants and not revealing the whole story is supplying our children with a fairy tale when they are supposed to be getting an education. If educators are afraid to be put in uncomfortable situations and answer some tough questions, then please don’t teach at all.
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
I’ve been in this situation before and did bring my concerns up to the PA who then addressed the issue with the school’s administration and the school addressed the issue with the farm and tour guide. Although I wasn’t completely happy with the farm and tour guide’s response, I was very pleased with how my children’s school chose to address the issue with the children. The school chose to re-educate the children on some of the misleading information that had been supplied by the guide and I, of course, was right on top of it when it came to my children.
This must be a difficult position to be in, and one I do not envy (my biracial son will be starting school in a few years – ugh). The advice here has been solid. I would just remind you (1) to NEVER be afraid to talk to your son’s teacher about these concerns and what the school is doing curriculum wise to give a more complete pic of the “old days,” and (2) to take this as a reminder of why we must always educate our children at home as well.
Public schools in the American South are unfortunately rife with these types of experiences and I don’t think going to battle will accomplish anything except perhaps alienation. I much prefer Tami’s wise advice.
Consider that there is good that can come from this particular scenario if action is taken. Teacher has opportunity to learn something, Big Southern House has opportunity to re-consider their presentation, and the school hears a voice that says, “I’m paying attention”.
I’m an assistant teacher at a private school in the south (my second year living here). I only mention the south because we don’t have plantations where I come from, not because I think other parts of the country teach kids less racist history. My problem is that as an assistant teacher the amount that I can influence the choice of field trips (or the explanations the teachers give sometimes) is limited. I sometimes end up giving alternative history lessons, or grabbing a random child and muttering, you realized this and this is not accurate, right? or at least pointing out to the teachers all the historical inaccuracies. They don’t really care about history, though (not like I do), so they smile and nod and inwardly sigh at my radical tendencies and my fanatical fact-checking.
Last year one of the teachers took some of the children to a former plantation. The only black child in that grade proudly brought in information documenting that he had had relatives working on (enslaved on) that plantation. He was so excited! I didn’t know what to do. After they got back, he told me happily that one of his ancestors had been featured on a poster at the plantation with a quote, allegedly from him, about how the ancestor didn’t need freedom and he was going to work at the plantation as long as he lived. Oh boy. I wasn’t about to lecture him on slavery, though, right?
But I’d say that it’s not just the plantations–almost all the field trips we’ve been on with any historical content at all have been racist, or ignorant, or wrong, or misleading. Our latest one was when the children learned about Native Americans: “What is a Native American?” they were asked. The real Native Americans who used to live on the river we were visit were mentioned in one sentence. Then they painted their faces with a tribal symbol. My point is, this is normal. Sometimes I feel like we’re so far from teaching accurate history in America, that I don’t know how we could fix it.
I believe that confronting the teacher/school about the museum trip and the inherent lessons the experience teaches our children is in order. I also believe it is possible to confront in a way that invites conversation instead of shutting it down. Many of the suggestions offered are good ones. However you decide to bring it up, the first critical element in changing the historical perspective being taught to our children is dialogue.
OMG! This is my worst nightmare. I feel your pain. Shirl is right, 1st grade is too young for this kind of field trip. My daughter is also biracial and in 1st grade.
There have been a couple of incidents at school that have thrown me for a loop. It’s hard not being there every minute to protect her. I struggle with what and how much to say and talk about with her.
I’d like to hear more about when you think it’s appropriate to introduce slavery. And how do you even have the talk?
thanks!
Elizabeth
As a historian, I know it can be difficult to make certain parts of history age-appropriate.
I’m currently learning how to be a tour guide at my state’s museum. Part of this training includes giving age-appropriate tours. In giving tours to elementary-age school groups, guides will cover racism but not the more brutal aspects of it.
For example, a guide will lead children to an exhibit on early schools for Native Americans and talk about how children were sent away from their parents, forced to learn a new language and take on an Anglicized name, cut their hair, wear different clothes, etc. This is followed up with a statement — “How would you feel if this happened to you?” — that allows kids to consider the problem.
Another example: in the African-American exhibit, the tour guide will bypass the section on lynching but stop to talk about lunch counter sit-ins and the meaning behind them.
You can’t (and shouldn’t) shelter kids from racism in history, but the key is finding appropriate historical material they can identify with (e.g. Native American children) and understand.
I would think that in the interest of history such plantation trips could include dramatizations of planned insurrections, willful defiance, passive-aggressive defiance, and runaways. How about how holidays were celebrated in the slave quarters. I read somewhere of a child sent home a black history assignment to illustrate a slaves in their daily activities … her mother was infuriated instead of complaining to the teacher she suggested her daughter draw a picture of slaves burning down the master’s home!