School reenactment/klan costumes

[draggar]

Bad decision by the teacher by having the students (actors) walk from one filming area to another in the robes but the reaction blew it out of proportion.

I guess the lesson here is if you don't like an aspect of history complain to the school and demand they not teach it anymore?

So what will the schools teach?

Can't teach science since that contradicts religion.
Can't teach history because there isn't a point in history that pisses someone off.
Can't have phys ed because the "out of shape" students will be picked on.
Can't have math because the kids who can't count might get picked on.
Can't have reading because the illiterate kids will be picked on.
Can't have band because they'd have to purchase their own instruments.
Can't have any kind of government class because it's all politics.

But - I think schools that have a white majority (take the high school I went to - average population of about 1,000 students, the most number of black studens we had was 2, yes, TWO of them) don't teach that much about racism in the US. Yes, we learned about slavery and the civil war but didn't go into the aftermath, segregation, racism, etc.. too much (of course, history classes always went slow so by the time we got to anything "modern" it was rushed since it was nearing the end of the year). I wonder if the students who took part in it were educated to it?

But also, the KKK was started as a vigilante law / militia - not as a white spremisist group, they later became that. People need to learn that, too.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm just glad there weren't any black kids in my American Literature class. We read Huck Finn, and the name "Nigger Jim" is repeatedly in that book, and *gasp* we read nearly the entire book out loud in class, with permission to say "Nigger Jim".

Cheese and Rice, get over it, people.

Couldn't agree more. I remember reading "Animal Farm" in school; doesn't sound as bad as Huck Finn, but don't forget that it's a parable of Stalinism. I'm actually surprised that Stalin is a more acceptable dictator than Hitler.

Oh yeah, and my history teacher did an experiment where the blue eyed and blonde haired kids were told that they could do what they liked to all the other kids in the class. It was to impress on everyone how the Nazis suppressed the Jews and other groups of people. I bet if that happened now, some dickheaded people would be screaming "Racism! The teacher encouraged some of the kids to act like Nazis! Bitch whine blargle blargle!"

[AdminAssistant]

But also, the KKK was started as a vigilante law / militia - not as a white spremisist group, they later became that. People need to learn that, too.

Yup. The formation of the KKK was a reaction to the martial law dictated in the South during Reconstruction.

[Red Panda]

But also, the KKK was started as a vigilante law / militia - not as a white spremisist group, they later became that. People need to learn that, too.

It was pure coincidence that the people they targeted were black, black supporters, or notherners. Had nothing to do with racism.

[Giggle Goose]

*raises an eyebrow* Should the performance of Sound of Music at a school also be Taboo since some of the students would have to be in Nazi uniforms?

Sadly, yes. Maybe just regular uniforms, but not Nazi garb. It wasn't too long ago that I was in high school, and I just can't picture the school administrators letting anyone wear anything with a swastika on it. In ANY context.

But then again, I'm just really paranoid about offending people.

[daleduke17]

Maybe the south should have stayed seceded. Almost anything written about the south during the time period before like 1985 can't be read or discussed in the current PC America because it is "racist".

Huck Finn? Nope
Of Mice and Men? Nope
Depicting history in an acting form? Nope (see original post)
To Kill A Mockingbird? Surprisingly not banned yet.

For crying out loud, IT IS A FUCKING BOOK. Let your kid read them so they know how NOT to act.

I'm just waiting for the movie set in 1940 of Hilter and a bunch of Jews dancing around on stage all happy and giggly with lollipops in their hands and gumdrops falling from the sky with a rainbow in the background.

God forbid we teach real history.

[crashhelmet]

I thought "Of Mice and Men" took place in California? Isn't that where pretty much, if not all of Steinbeck's novels take place?

CH

[daleduke17]

I thought "Of Mice and Men" took place in California? Isn't that where pretty much, if not all of Steinbeck's novels take place?

CH

Yep, it actually does. For some reason I thought it took place in the south.

[draggar]

For crying out loud, IT IS A FUCKING BOOK. Let your kid read them so they know how NOT to act.

I'm just waiting for the movie set in 1940 of Hilter and a bunch of Jews dancing around on stage all happy and giggly with lollipops in their hands and gumdrops falling from the sky with a rainbow in the background.

God forbid we teach real history.

Hey, don't forget a Disney film is banned in the USA (by Disney).

Try to find a legal copy of "Songs of the South". Yes, that movie that gave us
Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah

[Hobbs]

Hey, don't forget a Disney film is banned in the USA (by Disney).

Try to find a legal copy of "Songs of the South". Yes, that movie that gave us
Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah

That movie is racist, though.

[Boozy]

That movie is racist, though.

Oh, no question. It's an interesting film, especially from a historical and sociological perspective, but I would NOT recommend it for children. It's better for film students and the less-impressionable.

[protege]

Of course let's also not forget...that some cartoons, like Bugs Bunny, are no longer allowed to be seen on TV. Quite a few referred to the Japanese as "Nips." Racist, of course...but from a historical perspective, nothing more than propaganda. What's odd, is that I remember seeing them occasionally as a child in the 1970s and '80s...yet they're no longer aired.

[HYHYBT]

I'm just waiting for the movie set in 1940 of Hilter and a bunch of Jews dancing around on stage all happy and giggly with lollipops in their hands and gumdrops falling from the sky with a rainbow in the background.

"Springtime For Hitler?"

[jackfaire]

"Springtime For Hitler?"

Awww you beat me to it.

[Hobbs]

Of course let's also not forget...that some cartoons, like Bugs Bunny, are no longer allowed to be seen on TV. Quite a few referred to the Japanese as "Nips." Racist, of course...but from a historical perspective, nothing more than propaganda. What's odd, is that I remember seeing them occasionally as a child in the 1970s and '80s...yet they're no longer aired.

Are you referring to "Duck-tators" which I saw in high school history class?