Politically Correct Homework Assignment in Texas Enrages Parents

[Fawlty]

Props to Manú, the kid knows what's up.

***Edit, there is a video in the link for this story, and that video is about a different incident involving fourth graders. This story is about an eighth grade class at a different school***



Charter School Alert!
(lulz)



Ah, Texas. You silly golden goose. The suggestion that slavery should be evaluated from a "balanced" point of view is probably the most outlandishly stupid and offensive piece of right wing political correctness today. The teacher is clearly a dolt, but it's not clear whether the teacher is just a "both sides" fool or a racist propagandist.

The Superintendent moved swiftly, placing the teacher on leave and starting an investigation. The worksheet is apparently not connected to the textbook publisher Pearson, and appears to be solely a product of the teacher.

I think if we can agree about any one thing on the teaching of slavery in American schools, it's that we should evaluate it honestly, and not from a presumption that both sides have merit.

Great Hearts Texas Superintendent Aaron Kindel addressed the issue in a statement on Thursday. He said the assignment was only used at the school's Monte Vista North campus and it "was very inappropriate and entirely inconsistent" with the school's "philosophy and culture."


"To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity," Kindel wrote in the statement. "It was a clear mistake and we sincerely apologize for the insensitive nature of this offense."


Kindel said the teacher was placed on leave while "all the facts" surrounding the issue were assessed. The textbook for the course, "Prentice Hall Classics: A History of the United States," was removed from use and will be audited...more at link

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-school-responds-to-homework-12847564.php

 

[Roaming East]

i would have suspected Mississippi until i saw that the paper spelled 'balanced' correctly. Knew it couldnt be from a Mississippi public school right then and there.

 

[Deleted member 391673]

what was their life expectancy in africa compared to slave life in america?

trying to think of potential positives.

uncle toms got decent arrangements, no?

 

[Fawlty]

what was their life expectancy in africa compared to slave life in america?

trying to think of potential positives.

uncle toms got decent arrangements, no?

Don't even fucking get me started on how Uncle Tom has been so successfully maligned.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Seems like a creative way to drive the point home. Can't think of anything I'd put in the left column either.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Pro: people who have nothing to do with slavery can use it as a trump card hundreds of years later over other people who had nothing to do with slavery.

 

[jrams]

trying to think of potential positives.

Blues and Jazz

 

[Deleted member 457759]

Thomas Sowel did some good work on this. Not on positive aspects of slavery but negative aspects some slaves experienced after slavery ended. Believe it or not, some slaves had it ok and their situation deteriorated when they were freed because they didn't know how to govern themselves.

This doesn't mean slavery was good for them, it just means that some slaves had it better while being own which is fucked up, but it occurred.

Apparently because many slaves were skilled construction workers they dominated the construction industry in parts of the south after slavery ended. That came to a stop due to a variety of policies meant to "help" black people. And what we saw was black people doing better right after slavery than several decades later.

I can't remember most of the details as it was 5-6 years ago when I read the literature but it was very interesting.

It's not black and white (pardon the pun)

 

[Madmick]

We're fucking politicizing "Pro/Con" lists, now?

The entire purpose of exercises like this when I was in school, in this context, was to demonstrate how overwhelming one side is. This leads to the question, "How did something so imbalanced ever come to be?" It's an exercise in reason, not false equivocation.

 

[Fawlty]

Seems like a creative way to drive the point home. Can't think of anything I'd put in the left column either.

I find that to be specious as all fuck, considering the language choice.

 

[Fawlty]

We're fucking politicizing "Pro/Con" lists, now?

The entire purpose of exercises like this when I was in school, in this context, was to demonstrate how overwhelming one side is. This leads to the question, "How did something so imbalanced ever come to be?" It's an exercise in reason, not false equivocation.

I don't read it as a "Pro/Con" list. The wording suggests otherwise, clearly. And yes, this should be politicized. Making choices over values in education, particularly with the looseness of charter schools, is an immediate concern.

 

[Roaming East]

Pro: people who have nothing to do with slavery can use it as a trump card hundreds of years later over other people who had nothing to do with slavery.

works better if you're a Jew. You get to ride that little incident into having your own lavishly supported country for generations.

 

[vengeful]

We're fucking politicizing "Pro/Con" lists, now?

The entire purpose of exercises like this when I was in school, in this context, was to demonstrate how overwhelming one side is. This leads to the question, "How did something so imbalanced ever come to be?" It's an exercise in reason, not false equivocation.

I never had a "pro/con" list in school where I couldn't name several pros and cons for each. This is an idiotic assignment.

 

[Slick_36]

We're fucking politicizing "Pro/Con" lists, now?

The entire purpose of exercises like this when I was in school, in this context, was to demonstrate how overwhelming one side is. This leads to the question, "How did something so imbalanced ever come to be?" It's an exercise in reason, not false equivocation.

Depends on which side though in how it's imbalanced. For the wealthy elite in the south, the economy, their wealth, and their political power was entirely based on the practice. Objectively there were pros for some people, the question is which perspective are we looking at it from. I think it's just as dangerous to automatically label the Confederacy as a cartoonishly mindless evil like a movie villain, there were real reasons for what they did and ignoring that means it's harder to avoid making that mistake again. Shitty question though, terrible way to approach the subject.

 

[Rod1]

Thomas Sowel did some good work on this. Not on positive aspects of slavery but negative aspects some slaves experienced after slavery ended. Believe it or not, some slaves had it ok and their situation deteriorated when they were freed because they didn't know how to govern themselves.

This doesn't mean slavery was good for them, it just means that some slaves had it better while being own which is fucked up, but it occurred.

Apparently because many slaves were skilled construction workers they dominated the construction industry in parts of the south after slavery ended. That came to a stop due to a variety of policies meant to "help" black people. And what we saw was black people doing better right after slavery than several decades later.

I can't remember most of the details as it was 5-6 years ago when I read the literature but it was very interesting.

It's not black and white (pardon the pun)

Sure, it totally had to do with blacks not being able to govern themselves and people trying to help them.

Absolutely nothing to do that after the compromise of 1877 and racists came back to power they moved to completely disenfranchise black people at every single step.

 

[spin]

We're fucking politicizing "Pro/Con" lists, now?

The entire purpose of exercises like this when I was in school, in this context, was to demonstrate how overwhelming one side is. This leads to the question, "How did something so imbalanced ever come to be?" It's an exercise in reason, not false equivocation.

i agree, but


the life of slaves: a balanced view




certainly raises suspicions

 

[Fawlty]

 

[vengeful]

Depends on which side though in how it's imbalanced. For the wealthy elite in the south, the economy, their wealth, and their political power was entirely based on the practice. Objectively there were pros for some people, the question is which perspective are we looking at it from. I think it's just as dangerous to automatically label thr Confederacy as a total evil like a movie villain, there were real reasons for what they did and ignoring that means it's harder to avoid making that mistake again. Shitty question though, terrible way to approach the subject.

Well the topic says the question is based on the life of a slave, so it's clear which side the question is being asked from.

 

[vengeful]

#MeToo sympathy

 

[Slick_36]

Well the topic says the question is based on the life of a slave, so it's clear which side the question is being asked from.

Oh wow, I missed that. There's not even a use for that, just a garbage question to ask.