These people need to be deprogrammed...they've been drinking the Kool-Aid for far too long as it is.

oh..wait....that is where we are headed....

READ any of these textbooks he's complaining about.

...and the Tea Party, along with the Republican party, could care less about African-Americans - and any other demographic other than ultra-wealthy and white.
They would like Americans to think of slavery of a kind of happy camp of minstrals, mandingos, and mamas who were really well taken care of and content with their lot.
Ignore the beatings, the murders, the rapes. Ignore the free services. Ignore the underlying philosophy of these masters that we're all not created equal - a philosophy alive and well today.
Just keep repeating that none of this actually happened, it's just another by-product of the great, liberal media. Just deny it. When accused of being a racist, just turn it around.

Yup -- and what's their reason for doing this? To make the Founding Fathers not look as bad. Seriously? They can't just erase history and act like nothing happened, like we don't have inequality in this country today. They've already taken Thomas Jefferson out of the textbooks in Texas because he didn't have "Christian values".

They keep crossing the line and it is disgusting.

Can't argue with facts.

I like that turn of phrase and it is such an easy tactic that is used. When it happens in the moment - I am taken aback. I need to expect it coming and learn some techniques for deftly turning the conversation back wround to the matter at hand instead of allowing myself to be lead away from it.

I am engaged in such a conversation with my local school board now.

I requersted that the song Pick a Bale of Cotton be removed from the curriculum.

I went through the formal request process with the School District to have a formal review. They did their review and they reported to me that music teachers in the city are free to use this song if they wish because

"This song is in reference to a time period in American history and is a work song which reflects the experience of workers during this time."

They cited a website that stated that the "singing moved the work along faster and made physical labor and drudgery a little easier to bear."

They also assured me that "Every effort is made to select music with text/lyrics that is not demeaning to any culture or race."

I responded by stating that slaves were not workers because workers get paid and had the freedom to either work or not work. Slaves did not have those freedoms and that their characterization of the institution of slavery in this manner was offensive.

I also asked for details about the "efforts" they made regarding this song.

The Oshkosh Area School District responded with this "We thank you for your concern and consider this curriculum matter to have been appropriately addressed and resolved. Thank you."

I expected surprise and stiff acknowledgement of the inappropriateness of the song and prompt removal accompanying by embarassed apologies. Nope - what I got was fervently engrained White privilege instead.

So my next step is to petition them - my petition is here on change.org https://www.change.org/petitions/oshkosh-area-school-district-remove-the-song-pick-a-bale-of-cotton-from-the-curriculum#

I have signed the petition and I thank you for taking a stand against the less pleasant circumstances of our American history.

I don't remember my kids even mentioning it when they were in school and what I recall from my schooling was just that the slaves were freed during the Civil War. That's about it.

Pretty soon, I suppose they'll bring up legislation for making slavery legal again.

"Had there not been slavery in the South, the economy would've fallen," Rieck said. This country was built by free labor.

But, Had there not been slavery in the South, we probably would not have had a devastating Civil War.

Last edited Thu Nov 15, 2012, 10:08 AM - Edit history (1)

I went through the formal request process with the School District to have a formal review. They did their review and they reported to me that music teachers in the city are free to use this song if they wish because

"This song is in reference to a time period in American history and is a work song which reflects the experience of workers during this time."

They cited a website that stated that the "singing moved the work along faster and made physical labor and drudgery a little easier to bear."

They also assured me that "Every effort is made to select music with text/lyrics that is not demeaning to any culture or race."

I responded by stating that slaves were not workers because workers get paid and had the freedom to either work or not work. Slaves did not have those freedoms and that their characterization of the institution of slavery in this manner was offensive.

I also asked for details about the "efforts" they made regarding this song.

The Oshkosh Area School District responded with this "We thank you for your concern and consider this curriculum matter to have been appropriately addressed and resolved. Thank you."

I created a Petition on Change.org regarding this matter. https://www.change.org/petitions/oshkosh-area-school-district-remove-the-song-pick-a-bale-of-cotton-from-the-curriculum#