Found this in my calendar for the semester...

[Aragarthiel]

I always thought we got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off of school for Thanksgiving, but I guess this explains it a bit more...



I live in the South, so it doesn't surprise me at all that these are holidays. What do you guys think?

[Kheldarson]

I always thought we got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off of school for Thanksgiving, but I guess this explains it a bit more...

I live in the South, so it doesn't surprise me at all that these are holidays. What do you guys think?

That I have never seen a school describe those days off as anything but for Thanksgiving, and hoping that it's an oversight from an earlier time that you can point them to to fix.

[wolfie]

Definitely leaving a "hook" for black students to sue over discrimination - after all, if a college/university celebrates Confederate holidays, it's showing that it supports Confederate values.

[HYHYBT]

I don't know... given that neither of those falls anywhere near Thanksgiving, my first guess is that moving them to dates the school would be closed anyway was a way of meeting a technicality without celebrating them in spirit.

[Aragarthiel]

I got on Facebook a few minutes ago to find out that they are actually state holidays that really fall on April 27 and November 27. It's "trending" (quotations because more often than not, news in the "trending" column is stuff I hear about nowhere else) news that the state is eliminating them as official holidays but they'll still technically be celebrated with government building closures and all.

[DGoddess]

Definitely leaving a "hook" for black students to sue over discrimination - after all, if a college/university celebrates Confederate holidays, it's showing that it supports Confederate values.

But at the same time, we do have Black History month. And you don't hear much from the whites about there not being a White History Month, do you?

I think I live in the only state in the South where I've not heard of Confederate Memorial Day or Robert E. Lee's birthday. Or at least I've never heard those days in November described as such. Schools here (or at least public schools) we had only Thursday and Friday off during Thanksgiving week.

[KabeRinnaul]

And you don't hear much from the whites about there not being a White History Month, do you?

You... don't?

Where do you live to escape this?

[Greenday]

But at the same time, we do have Black History month. And you don't hear much from the whites about there not being a White History Month, do you?

All the time?

Also, my black friends and family have clued me in on this but there actually IS a white history month. Actually there's 12 of them.

[the_std]

Black History Month isn't even a thing here in Canada, and all I see on the Internet while it's going is "if they really wanted to be equal, why would they set themselves apart like that? We should have our own history month! That would show them!"

It's very pervasive and very flawed thinking.

[Andara Bledin]

The fact that so many people don't get that history is almost entirely 'whitewashed' is the reason we still need to call out that, well, history includes people who aren't white. >_<

[DGoddess]

You... don't?

Where do you live to escape this?

Greensboro, North Carolina.

Of course, our governor just recently signed a bill into law that protects ALL monuments from being moved w/out state approval (and this does cover Confederate statues and memorials.)

Go figure.

[Gravekeeper]

Black History Month isn't even a thing here in Canada.

Actually it is. It's Feb here in Canada too. Granted it was a fairly recent thing ( 95? ).

Granted I'm not sure as much as done for it up here as we don't have the historical baggage the US does when it comes to black heritage and our history classes already include black history just as a matter of fact.

[the_std]

Actually it is. It's Feb here in Canada too. Granted it was a fairly recent thing ( 95? ).

Granted I'm not sure as much as done for it up here as we don't have the historical baggage the US does when it comes to black heritage and our history classes already include black history just as a matter of fact.

Well, I learned something today, then! It just goes to show how little it's emphasized in comparison to the one in the States, because I had no idea.

Granted, up until recently, I'm pretty sure the population of black people in Saskatchewan was maybe a whole 7 people, but still.

[TheHuckster]

Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, while Canada historically has a track record with racism that's more in line with the north east US (it had slavery but ended/phased it out in the late 18th/early 19th century) Nova Scotia has a history a little more in line with the southern US, going as far as having segregated communities. It also took part in internment camps for Japanese citizens during World War II.

Still, it probably pales in comparison with southern US racism.

[Gravekeeper]

Still, it probably pales in comparison with southern US racism.

Canada had very little in the way of slavery or slave trade. Nova Scotia is significant to Canadian history but barely a blip compared to US history with the slave trade. The amount of slaves, at its peak, in Nova Scotia was only a couple hundred or so ( and some of those were brought in by Americans ).

Being a British colony, Canada officially ended slavery when Britain. But there wasn't much to end in the first place. Most slaves were brought in as existing servants to British or Americans. They were never used for industrial labour ( plantations ) like they were in the southern US so there was no huge industrial demand to fill.

Canada's ugly history lays more with the Japanese and Aboriginals.