What’s on your mind?
Here’s something to chew on–Tami’s latest post on Change.org. Do you know what is in your child’s textbooks?
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
History has shown that oft-repeated quote by Spanish philosopher George Santayana to be true. And so I wonder what horrors future generations will be doomed to repeat if conservatives are successful in rewriting the history taught in American classrooms. Legislators in Arizona have already deemed that contributions by people of color have no place in curricula. Now, the Texas State Board of Education — a Republican-dominated group led by evangelical Christian activist Cynthia Dunbar — is proposing changes to that state’s social studies curriculum to advance a conservative agenda and “promote patriotism.” At the same time, it does so by obscuring truths about slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil War, to name just a few. Read more…
I saw this yesterday and just….words fail me. Yes, there was an Atlantic Triangular Trade system but SLAVERY was ONE LEG of that triangle!!!!! The first leg was goods from Europe to Africa; the second was slaves from Africa to America and the Caribbean; the third was goods from America and the Caribbean back to Europe. It’s like the argument that the Civil War was fought over states’ rights and not slavery. Yeah, well, one of those rights the states wanted was the right to OWN SLAVES!
My son will start public school in three years, and I am trying to find out if our state uses any of the Texas textbooks, which is a very real and frightening possibility since I live in South Carolina, which is in a stranglehold by the GOP Christian Crazies.
I feel like I need to attach a disclaimer to every letter, email and post I write:
“Yes, I am a white Christian woman from South Carolina, I had an ancestor in the Confederate Army, and I can trace my ancestors back to the Colonial Era. However,I am educated, and I do understand that the Civil War was fought over slavery, that POC still face discrimination, that the poor are not “stray animals” like our &*$E*&#@#$* Lt. Governor recently said, and that the Confederate flag has become a symbol of racism and oppression.”
I love many aspects of the South and I am proud to be a Southerner, as I am proud to be an American, but I’m not blind to the failings of my country, my state, my fellow citizens.
I apologize for rambling. I’m just so embarrassed and p—–d off!!!!
@ E: glad there are people like you in SC!
I read about these Texas textbooks and I SWEAR people are conspiring to make me homeschool my son! I honestly will do it if I have to keep him from getting taught some nonsense and lies. I will not allow him to be taught things that will make him doubt the strengths and contributions made by people of color to this country. And I will NOT allow the terrible racist things that were done in this country to be ignored in his education. To be honest, I think probably the Texas re-writers of history would like to repeat certain parts of our past. That’s probably the goal: to move backwards instead of forwards towards more equality. As parents I think we have to be very vigilent about what our children are being taught.
On the other hand, here is a positive story from CNN about the descendants of slaves and owners meeting.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/05/20/slavery.descendants.meet/index.html?hpt=Sbin
We are seeing more interest in this among the genealogists that come in our institution – and more willingness among (most) of the white researchers to acknowledge their African-American cousins. Edward Ball’s book “Slaves in the Family” follows his efforts to connect the lives of the Ball owners and slaves and their descendants. One of our regular African-American researchers has met numerous times with her white relatives and has become good friends with a white cousin from Ireland. One of my own ancestors owned a small number of slaves, so I wouldn’t be surprised to meet some African-American relatives one day, though I haven’t extensively researched that family line yet.
I just finished reading Rick Riordan’s latest novel, “The Red Pyramid,” whose two protagonists are brother and sister in an interracial family. While the subject of the novel is battles with Egyptian gods and whatnot, the kids will sometimes talk about how they get strange reactions from people because they don’t look like siblings – the girl looks white and the boy looks black. The boy talks sometimes about particular challenges he faces as an African-American.
I just thought that was cool.
@Montclair Mommy,
I had the same reaction about homeschooling! Now if I can just win the lottery or Publishers Clearinghouse…
And thanks! There are a lot more like me here, but the political arena has become so polarized and vicious that it’s hard for moderates to be heard. When a longtime state senator with a great reputation for bringing the sides together retired several years ago, he said that he did so with great sadness – because the political partisanship was so bad, especially among the younger legislators, that it had ruined the legislature. He had great friends on both sides of the aisle for many years, but those kinds of friendships are no longer being made.
Maybe a little off topic, but I was wondering if you could have a topic discussing Black women with biracial children whose children look ‘white’ rather than stereotypically ‘biracial’.
I have searched everywhere and there seem to be no website where this is dicussed.
Many east african women have biracial children who tend to look more white and i know there must be someone out there who is experiencing this.
There seems to be a support system for white women with biracial children who look ‘black’ and are thus labeled as such, but none for us with biracial children who look ‘white’.
It would be very interesting to have a topic about that.
Sarah, your comment is timely. I’m White but our bi-racial daughter looks White, not Black. Our oldest son looks bi-racial, our youngest son looks White. All 3 kids are from me and their dad (Black). Here’s their pic from this site:
http://loveisntenough.com/2010/01/07/gratuitous-cute-kid-pic-146/
I’ve written here before about my concerns about her self-esteem in relation to American beauty standards. Though we live in a very mixed area (Black, White, Hispanic, South & East Asian as well as quite a few interracial families with bi-racial kids), still my daughter feels very pulled to conform to a White standard of beauty. This has to do with her hair. All her non-Black friends have naturally straight hair, and her Black and bi-racial friends have permed their hair straight. I still won’t perm her hair and am glad we watched “Good Hair” with her because now she’s scared to do it because of the damage it might cause. But she still prefers to wear her hair flat-ironed. I don’t mind this though I make her alternate between braids, curls and straight styles.
The other day, I found a letter she’d written to one of those pre-teen girls’ magazines, to the advice section. It was about how kids at school ask her why she looks White but has “fuzzy hair”. And why her brother (one grade younger) looks “mixed” but she looks White. And how she’s sad because of what people ask her and because she wishes she had straight hair like everyone else.
I have been working & in class since seeing this letter and plan to talk to her about it this weekend. It just makes me so sad that she has to deal with this and feels she has to provide these answers to people. I’m sad that she may struggle her entire life, not fitting into the White world, not fitting into the Black world. I’m sad that the way she is in her most natural state (i.e. her hair) is something that people speculate over and consider odd. I think it’s beautiful – all the adults I know just die over her hair. But the kids? Not so much.
Sigh. Thanks for letting me vent.
@Ashley: I am descended from a long line of light-skinned African-American folks. Some of us look white, some look black, most are “ethnically ambiguous.” I have very light skin and blue-green eyes and a huge amount of very curly hair. When I was a kid I basically had a huge blonde afro. I can completely relate to what your daughter is experiencing because my hair was always a big issue to people — it stamped me as being different among white AND black kids. In middle school there was a group of girls who would pick fights with me because my skin and hair “did not match.”
In all of this, though, I knew who I was. My family was confusing, and unusual, and people didn’t know how to characterize us. We made people uncomfortable. But I grew up with a very strong sense of self and ultimately a pride in being distinctive. I learned from my own family that there are all different ways of looking beautiful. I gradually learned to accept my hair (only after a lot of heat damage in my teens, but that’s another story
). It might be helpful to sit with your daughter and look at some of the fashion magazines/teen magazines, etc. and talk about who she thinks is beautiful and why. Share with her your own experiences of not fitting in to the ideal beauty standard (we all have them, right?). Talk about the people you know in your day-to-day – family, school friends, etc. Who does she think is pretty? Do they all look the same?
You can’t solve this dilemma for her but you can let her know how pretty you think she is. And her attitude is up to her – I don’t mean this in a bad way. But she can let the kids bother her, or she can realize they’re just kids, like she is, and they’re just trying to figure the world out. Her family doesn’t “match,” but a lot of families don’t. It’s not her responsibility to help them feel comfortable with that. It’s her responsibility to feel comfortable with herself.
Sorry for the novel! I hope this was helpful in some way.
Mmm, love this thread.
I just read Carmen’s post about leaving, and about this blog going on hiatus until June 14. Maybe someone could put up a bare bones post once a week, with a topic? Like good books, or dealing with racism from our extended families, or …
(I posted a bunch of good picture books for Black History month at my blog.)
THANK YOU, Lisa! I really needed the encouragement. I do a lot of what you suggested but I’m not always consistent with it, and lately I have been SOOOOO busy with work and school that home has been neglected. And this piece of my parenting has been neglected.
I’m going to take what you suggested to heart. Thanks again.
Lisa…that is excellent advice. As a biracial woman, I grew up with similar issues.
hi Ashley,
i am not a parent or a biracial woman, but i was reading your story and saw some similarities between your daughter writing to an advice column and your writing here. i don’t know if she knows you post here, but maybe you could print out Lisa’s response and show it to her. it might be encouraging for her too, to read a first hand voice speaking to these experiences.
i used to write to those teen advice columns in magazines but with the high volume, i never thought i’d get a response. it would be cool to find an equivalent site to antiracist parent, but for teens dealing with racism and self-esteem.
The ignorance displayed by many Americans re: their history and that of other cultures is based on the fact that we are not a culture that reads, as least not material of good quality. It is also a culture steeped in self-righteous indignation, fueled by right-wing talk shows. Americans, put down the junk, and step away from the radio.