Texas charter school apologizes for asking students to list positive aspects of slavery
Source: The Hill
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 04/20/18 10:23 PM EDT
A charter school in Texas apologized on Friday after students were asked to write a list of the positive aspects of slavery.
In a Facebook post, Aaron Kindel, the superintendent of the Great Hearts academies in Texas, apologized for the eighth-grade history class assignment, saying that the incident was limited to just one teacher at one particular school.
"In the 8th grade American History class students were asked to reflect on the differing sides of slavery," the Facebook post reads. "To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity."
Kindel said that Great Hearts academies was taking the incident seriously, and had placed the teacher responsible for the assignment on leave.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/384126-report-ships-carrying-sorghum-from-us-turn-around-after-china-imposes-tariffs
MyOwnPeace
(16,937 posts)it was a lesson plan that came from Secretary DeVos's book on how to give wonderful lessons to those seeking "choice" for their little bigots.
Oh, and by the way, why is "choice" good for students and their parents - but not women?
dawg day
(7,947 posts)Who said there was no choice?
christx30
(6,241 posts)<sweats, adjusts collar> Certainly makes career day easy for some people.
In an administration that seems to have a competition of bad ideas, this is certainly a decent entry into that contest.
flibbitygiblets
(7,220 posts)I am just speechless.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,623 posts)IronLionZion
(45,506 posts)trixie2
(905 posts)He seems very proud of that shirt.
turbinetree
(24,710 posts)rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)This makes me hate charter schools more. There seems to be no standards.
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)Creative thinking, Looking at a period that divided this country down the middle and killed hundreds of thousands of ppl. This teacher could be doing a great job having students examen both sides in depth and roll play their sides reasoning. Seems like it could be a good exercise for creative thinking. I know we all know and including the students that slavery was bad.
trixie2
(905 posts)Do you still think it OK? Any minor child should not have to do an assignment like this. College maybe, not children. At least in college you can decide against taking the class. Children are subjected to shit like this and it makes me crazy.
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)but I can reflect back when I was a kid in school and had teachers that had us look at things that were hard and bad try to come up with understandings of why.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)"list the good things about slavery."
Any lesson plan that starts with "list the good things about slavery" is deeply flawed.
malthaussen
(17,215 posts)... and the link is broken.
According to what is shown, the teacher required his students to examine all sides, not to "list the positive aspects of slavery" as the headline claims. Alas, the link is to a report on sorghum tariffs, would appear at first blush to have nothing to do with the question.
-- Mal
Merlot
(9,696 posts)It's the same as "fair and balanced" news. No such thing.
malthaussen
(17,215 posts)Which does not follow in logic, wherein an argument is neither good nor evil, but in keeping with the rules of logic or not.
-- Mal
trixie2
(905 posts)malthaussen
(17,215 posts)The synopsis of the assignment does not say "list good aspects of slavery," but "examine all sides." "All sides" does not imply a "good" side.
-- Mal
janterry
(4,429 posts)I think the fact that these things getting debated online - with simple blurbs - is nonsense. We don't know the whole story - and something out of context is - (often)
just another half truth.
Had my daughter been given an assignment that I didn't understand or thought was racist - I'd ask to see the complete assignment or talk to the teacher. My daughter came home with a tale about seeing the 'jumpers' on a 9/11 video when she was in 4th or 5th grade. As it turns out - she did NOT. She did see a video that showed - briefly - a tower burning, but the other kids kept talking up the violence (not during class - on the playyard). She didn't mean to lie, so much - but to express some of her horror. But, as it turns out, what she reported was false and needed better processing.
Talking to the teacher is always a good place to start .
Behind the Aegis
(53,975 posts)Last edited Sat Apr 21, 2018, 05:55 AM - Edit history (1)
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Squinch
(50,990 posts)world wide wally
(21,751 posts)If this was the intention, the question should have been phrased differently. Such as "list the justifications slave owners used to keep their slaves, and where did their logic fail"
patricia92243
(12,598 posts)Merlot
(9,696 posts)Which is why that question was so insidious - teaching children to think like slave owners is dispicable.
Ukrainian Yankee
(89 posts)RIGHT??
SunSeeker
(51,649 posts)I shouldn't be shocked, considering who is in the White House.
Solly Mack
(90,779 posts)briv1016
(1,570 posts)When studying the history of evil acts it is often informative to look into why they thought they where justified. If you simply write it off as "they where evil fucks," you miss the underlying psychology of the event.
keithbvadu2
(36,871 posts)List the 'positive' aspects of evangelists and priests molesting children.
Sarcasm thingie goes here.
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)Is that they always slow down in school zones.
Lucky Luciano
(11,258 posts)malthaussen
(17,215 posts)... if that was their intention. As it happens, I took the "pro" side in a second grade debate about slavery (perverse little bugger that I was). Hasn't made me think any less that it was an abomination and a crime against humanity.
If we cannot hold in our minds untrue or contrary thoughts about a subject, how are we supposed to get at the truth?
-- Mal
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Hence, the teacher was suspended for presenting a good way to teach debating techniques... if that was their intention?
Does denial of a positive aspect of a thing (e.g., the holocaust) deny our ability to hold contrary thought? I think not... your logical fallacy (a non sequitur or "it does not necessarily follow" notwithstanding.