Remember: there is no school Monday due to the national celebration of the contributions of people like Martin Luther King Jr. This man was instrumental in bringing forward the issue of discrimination in our all-men-are created-equal nation. In our class, I have attempted to raise the issue of treating people equally, and not discriminating based on skin color. We have done so when discussing President Thomas Jefferson and his struggle to define equality when writing the Declaration of Independence. We have also talked about the way he wanted the native peoples in the West to be treated when he sent his representatives, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore unknown territories. All the while expressing the desire to get along and maintain positive relations, Jefferson struggled with the fact that his own family owned slaves and depended upon them to live.
Besides the big idea of unfairly treating our fellow man, two concepts have been brought to the forefront in our class. First, the United States history is often ugly, and second, themes in history are definitely more complicated than they appear. Whether talking about the Civil Rights Movement, the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, or the Japanese Internment Camps during World War 2, we must understand that we will not pay justice to the topics with fourth graders. Sometimes things are just too ugly or too complicated for young minds to understand, but that doesn't stop us from beginning the conversation.
Besides the big idea of unfairly treating our fellow man, two concepts have been brought to the forefront in our class. First, the United States history is often ugly, and second, themes in history are definitely more complicated than they appear. Whether talking about the Civil Rights Movement, the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, or the Japanese Internment Camps during World War 2, we must understand that we will not pay justice to the topics with fourth graders. Sometimes things are just too ugly or too complicated for young minds to understand, but that doesn't stop us from beginning the conversation.
"A Class Divided"
While you are out of school, Monday, and as long as you're looking for something to do on the internet, why not check out the Class Divided website? Click on the "Watch the Full Program Online" button, and think about how lessons, classrooms, and attitudes have changed - or not changed - since 1970. In the video, a teacher in an all-white school in Iowa conducts a lesson with a class of third graders. She purposely injects discrimination into her classroom, not to be cruel, but to simulate the consequences of prejudice for her students. Within 15 minutes, she says, her class became a microcosm of society, demonstrating the plasticity of our children's beliefs and attitudes. Once you get to the classroom part of the video, it will be hard for you to stop watching.
Look at how frankly those students speak about the issues and the connections they make. Wonder how their belief systems were developed. Who influenced them to believe such things? Notice the forlorn faces of the students who are assigned minority status. I'll warn you upfront, though, you may get angry at the teacher, and you may be upset with the choices some of the kids make. You may also be unhappy with the inappropriate names that are expressed when dealing with the topic of black people. I am in no means endorsing the use of such derogatory language today, but the brief inclusion of those words in the video wholly demonstrates a culture shift from 1970 to the present.
Look at how frankly those students speak about the issues and the connections they make. Wonder how their belief systems were developed. Who influenced them to believe such things? Notice the forlorn faces of the students who are assigned minority status. I'll warn you upfront, though, you may get angry at the teacher, and you may be upset with the choices some of the kids make. You may also be unhappy with the inappropriate names that are expressed when dealing with the topic of black people. I am in no means endorsing the use of such derogatory language today, but the brief inclusion of those words in the video wholly demonstrates a culture shift from 1970 to the present.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Funeral Wagon
It was an interesting time. As I reflect on my own childhood (I was only three or four years, and a couple of states, away from being in the Class Divided.), I realize I never was in a class with an African American until college. I realize there were only a couple of black students in my elementary school and none in my middle of high schools. When my mom spoke with other moms about their feelings about busing, I didn't know what they were talking about. Not long before, Rosa Parks had inadvertently begun the Montgomery bus boycotts, the Freedom Riders had been viciously beaten in Mississippi, and nine black high school students were escorted by the military to attend a previously all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. King was killed when I was three, long before I became interested in American history or politics. It was a long time before I knew anything about discrimination or racism - though I never liked being called four-eyes.
Since then, I have given a lot of thought to the Civil Rights era. I have seen documentaries and fictionalized movies and TV shows. I have read books and magazine articles outlining many of the issues.
I have made connections throughout history, from the Gullah Islands, Uncle Remus stories, slavery in the American colonies, and the treatment of slaves in the Deep South. I have stood in the courtroom of the infamous Dred Scott Decision right here in Missouri. I have walked in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, at his house in Springfield, Illinois. I have touched cannon and bayonet used during the Civil War. I have been in President Grant's house, have ridden on Huckleberry Finn's river, and have seen Martin Luther King's Ebenezer Baptist Church.
When I had the fortune to visit the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, last spring, I took a few hours to drive to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. While there, I fixated on one object for several minutes - an old, weathered wagon. I learned from the room that surrounded me that this was the wagon that carried King's body to the cemetery. King wanted his funeral to be yet another opportunity to preach about inequality and humility. Drawn by mules, the wagon transported his body through crowds of mourners. All the other items in the museum - the video screens, oversized photos, and the statuary - paled in comparison with this single, real icon.
Our history is still in the process of being written. When I consider the ongoing current world issues involving discrimination - religion, gender, orientation, and politics being among the most obvious - I realize the past, present, and future have been delicately intertwined and can not be simplistically isolated. Our history is ugly, and without a doubt, it is complicated. As we move forward, may our children make righteous and informed decisions.
Since then, I have given a lot of thought to the Civil Rights era. I have seen documentaries and fictionalized movies and TV shows. I have read books and magazine articles outlining many of the issues.
I have made connections throughout history, from the Gullah Islands, Uncle Remus stories, slavery in the American colonies, and the treatment of slaves in the Deep South. I have stood in the courtroom of the infamous Dred Scott Decision right here in Missouri. I have walked in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, at his house in Springfield, Illinois. I have touched cannon and bayonet used during the Civil War. I have been in President Grant's house, have ridden on Huckleberry Finn's river, and have seen Martin Luther King's Ebenezer Baptist Church.
When I had the fortune to visit the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, last spring, I took a few hours to drive to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. While there, I fixated on one object for several minutes - an old, weathered wagon. I learned from the room that surrounded me that this was the wagon that carried King's body to the cemetery. King wanted his funeral to be yet another opportunity to preach about inequality and humility. Drawn by mules, the wagon transported his body through crowds of mourners. All the other items in the museum - the video screens, oversized photos, and the statuary - paled in comparison with this single, real icon.
Our history is still in the process of being written. When I consider the ongoing current world issues involving discrimination - religion, gender, orientation, and politics being among the most obvious - I realize the past, present, and future have been delicately intertwined and can not be simplistically isolated. Our history is ugly, and without a doubt, it is complicated. As we move forward, may our children make righteous and informed decisions.
