I didn't mean to be racist, I'm just an idiot

[billisonboard]

Texting with a friend and he used a   but it wasn't that color.

[stillmovingforward]

Apr 13, 2021 10:36:28 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Apr 13, 2021 6:34:30 GMT -5 ners said:

@pinkcshmere I am sorry your son had that experience.  

Thank you. And also to the others that expressed the same.

My son is ok. He hasn’t even mentioned it anymore, not that that means he doesn’t think about it. He was definitely nervous and wary that night though.

My black son has the same wariness. He's had some rough experiences,some he's caused and some he hasn't.
My black daughter has not. But she's only had to ask for help (directions, etc.) and never been involved in an altercation.
My brown son, no real issues except once (see below). He's a big guy too.
My white daughter, no issues except when she was rough housing with a big brother, who is a different color, in public.
Interesting listening to them discuss experiences. Sometimes sad, sometimes wonderful.

[Deleted]

Last night I watched TV coverage of the events following the death of Daunte Wright.  It played on my screen with a background of Pink's last words in her post, "We aren’t really free yet." And the words of a friend about her son who served multiple tours of duty in Iraq, saying she was more afraid for his life on the streets of Houston at the hands of law enforcement than during his Iraqi service.  

Pink, I'm sure your son will be processing that horrible experience for a time.  I hope he can find a path to make it a transformational moment.  

[gs11rmb]

A friend's son went to elementary school with my daughter but is now attending an elite private school on an athletic scholarship.  Yesterday, she posted on Facebook that during an English class several students were given lines to read as different characters.  A girl was uncomfortable that her character said "negro" and didn't want to say the word so she asked my friend's son to say it instead.  So, a 12 year-old boy, who is quite possibly the only black child in the class, sat there saying "negro, negro, negro, negro..." 

The overwhelming response to her post was 'what the actual f...'.

My friend assumed that the girl had no bad intentions but pointed out that "being black is uncomfortable".

Why on earth did the teacher allow that to happen?

[thyme4change]

Apr 14, 2021 12:19:31 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

A friend's son went to elementary school with my daughter but is now attending an elite private school on an athletic scholarship.  Yesterday, she posted on Facebook that during an English class several students were given lines to read as different characters.  A girl was uncomfortable that her character said "negro" and didn't want to say the word so she asked my friend's son to say it instead.  So, a 12 year-old boy, who is quite possibly the only black child in the class, sat there saying "negro, negro, negro, negro..." 

The overwhelming response to her post was 'what the actual f...'.

My friend assumed that the girl had no bad intentions but pointed out that "being black is uncomfortable".

Why on earth did the teacher allow that to happen?

I know I am supposed to love Huck Finn and read it as a period piece to better understand our history, yada yada yada. But, I have never understood how a book with terrible grammar and racists themes is lauded as such great literature. I don’t know what these kids were reading, but the teacher should have been more sensitive the "reading it out loud" portion of it. English teachers have a thought process that is not always logical, but they insist it all has a reason.

[gs11rmb]

Apr 14, 2021 13:38:51 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Apr 14, 2021 12:19:31 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

A friend's son went to elementary school with my daughter but is now attending an elite private school on an athletic scholarship.  Yesterday, she posted on Facebook that during an English class several students were given lines to read as different characters.  A girl was uncomfortable that her character said "negro" and didn't want to say the word so she asked my friend's son to say it instead.  So, a 12 year-old boy, who is quite possibly the only black child in the class, sat there saying "negro, negro, negro, negro..." 

The overwhelming response to her post was 'what the actual f...'.

My friend assumed that the girl had no bad intentions but pointed out that "being black is uncomfortable".

Why on earth did the teacher allow that to happen?

I know I am supposed to love Huck Finn and read it as a period piece to better understand our history, yada yada yada. But, I have never understood how a book with terrible grammar and racists themes is lauded as such great literature. I don’t know what these kids were reading, but the teacher should have been more sensitive the "reading it out loud" portion of it. English teachers have a thought process that is not always logical, but they insist it all has a reason.

I'm guessing the book or play was a "classic" by the use of the word negro.  It could have been 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for all I know.  

It's troubling that a white girl was uncomfortable with an outdated term so thought the solution was to single out a black boy to say the word instead.  The girl is a child and I'm sure was trying to do the right thing (and my friend even mentioned that she thought the girl was trying to be anti-racist).  I don't get why the adult teacher didn't address the situation.

[imawino]

Apr 11, 2021 4:59:10 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

Oh and there is more vvvvvv

"Hiding behind the suffering of others to claim that no one should give a shit about racism is lazy and cowardly."

coupled with a contradictory

"you have the obligation to do it in a respectful way"

Just no.  Calling lazy and cowardly behavior lazy and cowardly is not disrespectful.  Letting it stand is.  

You know what IS contradictory? 

Whinging on about all those people just looking to be offended or going out of their way to find offense and then posting multiple times how the recording of police brutality is offensive to "public decency".  Give me a break.  Brutality is what is offensive to public decency.  


Also contradictory is pretending you're so busy worrying about the pandemic that you have no time to even think about racial inequity, then immediately taking the time to devote to some apropos-of-absolutely-nothing Meghan Markle bashing.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Apr 14, 2021 14:00:20 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

Apr 14, 2021 13:38:51 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I know I am supposed to love Huck Finn and read it as a period piece to better understand our history, yada yada yada. But, I have never understood how a book with terrible grammar and racists themes is lauded as such great literature. I don’t know what these kids were reading, but the teacher should have been more sensitive the "reading it out loud" portion of it. English teachers have a thought process that is not always logical, but they insist it all has a reason.

I'm guessing the book or play was a "classic" by the use of the word negro.  It could have been 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for all I know.  

It's troubling that a white girl was uncomfortable with an outdated term so thought the solution was to single out a black boy to say the word instead.  The girl is a child and I'm sure was trying to do the right thing (and my friend even mentioned that she thought the girl was trying to be anti-racist).  I don't get why the adult teacher didn't address the situation.

IIRC when we read a book with those types of words we were allowed to just skip over it if we didn't want to say it.   Everyone was reading along in the novel and knew what word was just skipped over and we all knew why it was being skipped over.

Teacher definitely should have addressed that one.  I imagine the kid panicked and said the first thing that popped in her head.  It's a good learning opportunity though that will come in handy as she gets older and thinking before you speak becomes more critical.

[imawino]

Apr 14, 2021 14:00:20 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

Apr 14, 2021 13:38:51 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I know I am supposed to love Huck Finn and read it as a period piece to better understand our history, yada yada yada. But, I have never understood how a book with terrible grammar and racists themes is lauded as such great literature. I don’t know what these kids were reading, but the teacher should have been more sensitive the "reading it out loud" portion of it. English teachers have a thought process that is not always logical, but they insist it all has a reason.

I'm guessing the book or play was a "classic" by the use of the word negro.  It could have been 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for all I know.  

It's troubling that a white girl was uncomfortable with an outdated term so thought the solution was to single out a black boy to say the word instead.  The girl is a child and I'm sure was trying to do the right thing (and my friend even mentioned that she thought the girl was trying to be anti-racist).  I don't get why the adult teacher didn't address the situation.

Yes, I would give a kid - especially one who really did not feel comfortable saying negro - the benefit of the doubt that she thought she was doing the right thing.  Maybe she thought that, like the more egregious n-word, it was something she wasn't allowed to say but a black person was?  

It is very troubling that the adult in the room did not just tell her that she could skip or replace that word, and even more so they let another of their students be put on the spot that way.  It's not really up to one student to assign any task that they don't want to do to another student. 

And if it was Huck Finn, I'm in agreement with Thyme and I'm not sure why we are still teaching this.  I really think we could stand to modernize our list of  "classics" overall.  But we probably have to a large extent, I don't have kids in k-12 school, what do I know?  

 

[billisonboard]

Apr 14, 2021 16:14:04 GMT -5 imawino said:

Apr 14, 2021 14:00:20 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

I'm guessing the book or play was a "classic" by the use of the word negro.  It could have been 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for all I know.  

It's troubling that a white girl was uncomfortable with an outdated term so thought the solution was to single out a black boy to say the word instead.  The girl is a child and I'm sure was trying to do the right thing (and my friend even mentioned that she thought the girl was trying to be anti-racist).  I don't get why the adult teacher didn't address the situation.

Yes, I would give a kid - especially one who really did not feel comfortable saying negro - the benefit of the doubt that she thought she was doing the right thing.  Maybe she thought that, like the more egregious n-word, it was something she wasn't allowed to say but a black person was?  

It is very troubling that the adult in the room did not just tell her that she could skip or replace that word, and even more so they let another of their students be put on the spot that way.  It's not really up to one student to assign any task that they don't want to do to another student. 

And if it was Huck Finn, I'm in agreement with Thyme and I'm not sure why we are still teaching this.  I really think we could stand to modernize our list of  "classics" overall.  But we probably have to a large extent, I don't have kids in k-12 school, what do I know?  

 

one issue with modernizing the list of "classics" is that many of the people who become English teachers do so because they love the "classics" and want to share them with the next generation.

[imawino]

Apr 14, 2021 16:41:27 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Apr 14, 2021 16:14:04 GMT -5 imawino said:

Yes, I would give a kid - especially one who really did not feel comfortable saying negro - the benefit of the doubt that she thought she was doing the right thing.  Maybe she thought that, like the more egregious n-word, it was something she wasn't allowed to say but a black person was?  

It is very troubling that the adult in the room did not just tell her that she could skip or replace that word, and even more so they let another of their students be put on the spot that way.  It's not really up to one student to assign any task that they don't want to do to another student. 

And if it was Huck Finn, I'm in agreement with Thyme and I'm not sure why we are still teaching this.  I really think we could stand to modernize our list of  "classics" overall.  But we probably have to a large extent, I don't have kids in k-12 school, what do I know?  

 

one issue with modernizing the list of "classics" is that many of the people who become English teachers do so because they love the "classics" and want to share them with the next generation.

I could become an accountant because I love the abacus, but my employer is still going to make me use Excel.     

(I hope that came out more funny than snarky!  That was the intent!)

Anyway, that is entirely possible.  I know zilch about teaching or what motivates anyone to teach, much less be good at it.  But while I agree some are drawn to the classics, I also feel sure that many are put off by them and have a love for newer literature.  Modern classics, as it were.  Maybe a new generation is eager and inspired to share those?   

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

When we did To Kill a Mockingbird it was part of a multi class unit.

We covered the Scottsboro boys in social studies to put the trial into context. I know there was more but that's the one I've always retained.

Same when we read Night in middle school it was a part of an entire unit on the holocaust.

I'm not keen on banning books even if I disagree with them or don't like them. But if we're going to keep considering certain books classics that must be taught more effort needs to be made to ensure kids understand the historical context of the words they are reading.

[swamp]

If I were a teacher I would never make anyone read The Scarlet Letter. I hated that book.

[billisonboard]

Apr 14, 2021 16:50:12 GMT -5 imawino said:

Apr 14, 2021 16:41:27 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

one issue with modernizing the list of "classics" is that many of the people who become English teachers do so because they love the "classics" and want to share them with the next generation.

I could become an accountant because I love the abacus, but my employer is still going to make me use Excel.     

(I hope that came out more funny than snarky!  That was the intent!)

Anyway, that is entirely possible.  I know zilch about teaching or what motivates anyone to teach, much less be good at it.  But while I agree some are drawn to the classics, I also feel sure that many are put off by them and have a love for newer literature.  Modern classics, as it were.  Maybe a new generation is eager and inspired to share those?   

If your boss's prior experience was running the wood shop, you could potentially convince him to trust you that the abacus was still the way to go. After all, you are the accountant.

You are correct that there are English teachers younger and older who do see the need and act to update reading lists. And there are outside pressures on those who don't. But it is far from universal in our decentralized education system. Plenty of teachers just close their door when the bell rings and do their thing.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Apr 14, 2021 17:10:24 GMT -5 swamp said:

If I were a teacher I would never make anyone read The Scarlet Letter. I hated that book.

I read even Hawthorne hated the book. Why do I have to read it if the author himself thought it sucked?

[nidena]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a classic and a much better way to teach a race lesson than Huck Finn ever was or will be.

Hell, teachers could even have kids read Watership Down and draw comparisons to real life from a bunch of awesome rabbits.

[Tennesseer]

Apr 14, 2021 19:54:40 GMT -5 nidena said:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a classic and a much better way to teach a race lesson than Huck Finn ever was or will be.

Hell, teachers could even have kids read Watership Down and draw comparisons to real life from a bunch of awesome rabbits.

Good book. For some reason dust always gets in my eyes and they tear up a bit when I remember of the ending.

[Spellbound454]

The problem is that you think killing POC and "offending public decency" are equal offences. I'm fine with offending a few decencies if it saves a lot of lives.

The above is interesting

We have "outraging public decency" laws
www.inbrief.co.uk/offences/outraging-public-decency/

and normally if there was an incident.......... people would be asked to send their phone footage, Dash cam and CCTV footage to the Police......and not to publish it.
Its not that people haven't filmed it, its just that its not in the public arena where it could be seen by family members......or gawkers.

When Diana passed, there were photographs of her dying in the car taken by the paparazzi. (selling for thousands of pounds)

They were published in the newspapers of many Countries.... but not here.... and the above is the reason why.

[nidena]

Diana died because the car was being chased by paparazzi...who got exactly what they were looking for: new and "exciting" pictures of her.  The U.S. actually changed a few of its laws that would apply to paps when Britney had her meltdown on full display to the world.

People filming Blacks getting victimized and killed by police is a different kind of thing.  That kind of documenting is what is bringing to atrocities to light for those who don't live with it daily.

Unfortunately, I think the laws that apply to paps are more stringent than those that apply to police, even though you think all laws would apply to everybody.  But they don't. 

[Lizard Queen]

Good thing we've got cell phone videos now, so that we can hold these kind of asshole cops accountable:

[Opti]

Assholes. I see the other racist power tripping cop wanted to take her phone. There was no need to put the man on the ground. Kicking or pushing the guy from behind is just wrong. 

[jerseygirl]

Terrible good that is was filmed
Hoping those cops are identified, legally punished and fired

[zibazinski]

Apr 9, 2021 19:39:14 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Apr 9, 2021 18:38:30 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

I teach some kids with personal circumstances that would break your heart.

School is their constant ... because for those hours of the day, they get to be like everyone else.

Their rewards, their hopes and dreams... are just the same as everyone elses.

I ran a program in a small town 6th-12th grade school for students identified with special needs. You name the "need", I likely had it on my case load. I had a student who had inherited his mother's emotionally unstable brain chemistry. One day I got a call he had blown out of his science class. Once I found him, he informed me that he couldn't focus because he was upset that the night before his mother had gone to a bar with the guy they were living with but had gone home with someone else. He said that if she kept that shit up they would be on the street again. I listened to him until the end of that class period, calming him down. After sending him to his next class, I stopped by the sience room to explain to the teacher what was going on. He said he didn't care and the student needed to stay in his seat and learn about osmosis like everyone else.

What a shit for brains teacher.

[ajmom]

Apr 12, 2021 14:27:08 GMT -5 swamp said:

Apr 11, 2021 21:02:05 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I kind of get it, even though the “other” side of me doesn’t want to. But all of me knows first hand how difficult it has been over the last few years, for me try to wrap my mind around the fact that people do things all the time, that I would never, ever do. Things that would never even occur to me as an option. So, yeah.

But I also can’t resist another opportunity to point out that I’ve talked about some of these things occasionally, from the time I’ve been on these boards. Sometimes, I was pretty much told to shut up, I’ve been told to just be grateful I was born here instead of wherever my ancestors come from (which I honestly have no clue), and other times, what I talked about was met with disbelief. When I posted about the Klan having a rally here several years ago, it was dismissed. They aren’t relevant anymore, if they even still exist, it’s in minuscule numbers, we’ve moved past those days. Then here comes Trump, and surprise! The Klan and other groups like them aren’t so small in number and agenda after all. And I’m like “dammit! I TOLD y’all that!”

These thoughts aren’t directed specifically at you swamp, once again, I’m just typing as I think. And if I’ve offended you by seeming to have singled you out just because you honestly replied to a post, I do sincerely apologize.

I’m not offended at all and I hope you keep posting. I’ve learned so much from you. You are willing to tell me things about your experience as a black woman in America that I can’t experience on my own, I’m not comfortable asking anyone, or it never would have occurred to me.

I remember several years ago on the boards you, Carl, and Jenny were discussing some common experiences as black people. I also remember people dismissing your experiences since they as white people hadn’t or couldn’t. I was horrified that some people whom I previously respected and I thought were smart could be that narrow minded. That thread was a game changer for me.

I’m just amazed at how dismissive people are and how they tell others that what they have experienced wasnt so bad, or was misinterpreted, etc. No, Everyone had a right to tell their story and people must listen and not automatically get defensive. I’m sorry some people told you to shut up. They clearly are defensive, delusional, and not too smart.

[azucena]

Could someone knowledgeable point me to some good resources to learn about critical race theory? Parents are upset about a public stl school district email to teachers that got leaked. I'm having trouble understanding the context.

[Artemis Windsong]

Apr 14, 2021 17:10:24 GMT -5 swamp said:

If I were a teacher I would never make anyone read The Scarlet Letter. I hated that book.

I was a problem student.  If I didn't like or understand the book, I didn't read it.  When called on in class I would say I didn't read it.

One day there was that one question the instructor expects the students to miss because they are half asleep.  Only I got it correct on the quiz.

[nidena]

Apr 30, 2021 19:31:33 GMT -5 azucena said:

Could someone knowledgeable point me to some good resources to learn about critical race theory? Parents are upset about a public stl school district email to teachers that got leaked. I'm having trouble understanding the context.

This one came up when I did a search: www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/civil-rights-reimagining-policing/a-lesson-on-critical-race-theory/ 

[Deleted]

I'm increasingly troubled by a friend who puts virtually everything in a racial context.  She called me yesterday to reschedule our weekly grocery trip because there was a blip on her quarterly blood work and the doctor wants to run more tests next week.  No problem with that, BUT she then spoke of the doctor she used to go to and didn't like.  In addition to being located a long way from her, he was apparently very autocratic and sort of male ego tripping.  Fine, but then she said that he was from Venezuela and "they are all that way".

Next she told me she likes her new doctor because he listens to her and welcomes her input.  Great, but then she went on to say "he's black, but very light-skinned".

This is a pattern - she can't say a neighbor's music is too loud, or a store clerk is rude, or the restaurant was slow without bringing up their country of origin or skin color.  

She's close to 80 so I don't think we'll see a change there but it sometimes grates on my nerves. 

[TheOtherMe]

Sadly at age 80, she isn't going to change.  

Dad was careful around me but I started in on him when I was in high school.  As dementia took over, there was no controlling what he said.

[azucena]

www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/culture-struggle-over-equity-and-race-rages-in-rockwood-school-district/article_e12c6a77-d6ed-57cc-9bb5-84577ba82798.html?mode=comments#tracking-source=in-article

"A backlash to diversity and equity efforts in schools has led to suggestions that teachers hide their lesson plans from parents in the Rockwood School District."

"Virtual schooling nationwide has given parents a window into their students’ classes, leading to debates over curriculum. On one side, parents say districts are pushing social justice and equity ideals that amount to a Marxist takeover of schools that paints white students as oppressors and Black students as victims. The other side says schools should acknowledge the legacy and continued effects of slavery and segregation to counteract racism and build more equitable communities."

I hate that StL has once again shown the ugliness of racism.  Is this story getting national attention?  It's all over our local news and social media.  I can't read the comments any more - ignorance and white privilege on display.

ETA - Hiding lesson plans is absolutely wrong.