American Americans
Last night at dinner Andrew said, "Dad, did you know there's an African American who's still alive who makes Super Soakers?"
February is Black History Month, so Andrew is learning in school how to categorize people by the color of their skin.
I told Andrew it's neat that the man makes Super Soakers, but it doesn't matter that he's African American.
Andrew then asked, "What are we? Are we American American?"
So we had to do some deprogramming.
There are so many problems with the Black History Month stuff they teach in schools. First of all, Andrew has now learned that the man who makes Super Soakers is able to do this despite the fact that he is black: in other words, black people are not able to accomplish very much, so it is remarkable that one of them is capable of making Super Soakers. What a terrible bias to teach the kids.
Secondly, Andrew is being taught that some of us are African Americans, some of us are Asian Americans, some of us are "American Americans," etc. Aren't we all just Americans?
The way Black History Month is taught in schools perpetuates a legacy of "otherness" that should be forgotten, not enshrined in the curriculum. Until it was taught to him in school, Andrew was blissfully unaware that kids in his class had different shades of skin.
What a destructive thing to teach six year olds.
February is Black History Month, so Andrew is learning in school how to categorize people by the color of their skin.
I told Andrew it's neat that the man makes Super Soakers, but it doesn't matter that he's African American.
Andrew then asked, "What are we? Are we American American?"
So we had to do some deprogramming.
There are so many problems with the Black History Month stuff they teach in schools. First of all, Andrew has now learned that the man who makes Super Soakers is able to do this despite the fact that he is black: in other words, black people are not able to accomplish very much, so it is remarkable that one of them is capable of making Super Soakers. What a terrible bias to teach the kids.
Secondly, Andrew is being taught that some of us are African Americans, some of us are Asian Americans, some of us are "American Americans," etc. Aren't we all just Americans?
The way Black History Month is taught in schools perpetuates a legacy of "otherness" that should be forgotten, not enshrined in the curriculum. Until it was taught to him in school, Andrew was blissfully unaware that kids in his class had different shades of skin.
What a destructive thing to teach six year olds.
posted by elliott at 10:07 AM
4 Comments:
I totally agree. Audrey and Parker think it's neat that people are different colors, and they know it doesn't matter, at least for now they know.
this makes me dread sending my kids to school. they are so pure right now.
That's pretty sad. It's that type of education that keeps racism alive. And I really think that it is bad for minority children to be taught that as well. I've found that the more one of my black classmates was taught to praise the achievements of his race, the more resentment he harbored against whites and the more he would expect a community to hand him.
What I thought was "funny " was when I was reading "Until Now", a book with photographs and commentary by Anne Geddes, and she wrote how hard it is to find an "African-American" baby in New Zealand. Huh??
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