Parents: White Teacher Should Not Teach Black History

Check out "Black Like Me" for a good read.

 

Take the time to read it if you can get it. I know he has another book out now too. He is not a conservative like Keyes and Hamlin but he takes issue with the academia in African-American studies. From what I got from that one course after what his book said it seemed like he was right. I know one course and one prof isn't a big sample, but it kind of says something when you read about one guys commentary on things and he is right about most of it.

McWhorter acknowledges civil rights still need to continue to be furthered and that racism exists, but he doesn't like the 1950's attitude that he thinks black academia tends to take with race relations as if there has been little progression and uses any incident as an example of how terrible things still are. That's the basic gist of the book. That's also the basic feeling I got from the course. I remember we read one book. I don't remember the name of it, but it was about this community near Chicago that had a ton of black families move in after WWII. They had money from the GI bill and even though all the white people moved out because the black people were moving in the black people actually had a better income and standard of living at that time. So it was a black upper-middle class suburb. Anyhow, the book goes on to account how the suburb deteriorated through the generations and the prof and the book tended to equate it with racism. But when I read it it's pretty obvious who succeeded and who didn't. The families where the kids didn't have children at like 16, but waited until they were in their 20's succeeded, but the ones who had kids at a young age were screwed. I dunno...I didn't get racism out of the book at all, but it seemed to be used to backup how blacks can't make it in America because of racism. Dunno if that makes sense....I'm just rambling....

Read the book by McWhorter and post a thread after you do and tell me what you think.

 

I will
might take me a minute but I will [Busy]
As for the racist aspects of things. .. . When u look at the
Children at 16 vs Children at 20 thing
their are other things going on beyond that

but let me read the book

and get back with u

Omen River
/ . . . .I wonder if it is on Cassette somewhere

 

well my point is with the kids....when you have a child when you are still in your teens you are pretty much screwed. anyone who i know who had a kid too early got held back significantly because of that responsibility. anyone who waits has a much better chance at succeeding. i just noticed in the book the 3rd generation of girls who did not have kids were able to continue their education and better themselves whereas the girls who did not were tied down and had to take care of the child. that's a pretty universal thing.

 

I know that I'm a huge exception, but becomming a father at 17 helped me get myself together and sped up my desire to succeed, and also helped me emotionally.

But I was able to rely on my family, who were already going to pay for my (original) college and my living expenses for several years. They, thankfully, we able and willing to help out enough to not only support myself, but also my new son.

 

I was taught Black American studies by a white lady and Human Sexuality by a gay man. I was adversely effected by neither.

 

i had a black guy be my prof in a Western Civ class...

it was horrible...whole semester..all he would do is bring race into everything

everything that some old EuroAsian culture would accomplish..he would go off for 30 mins about how some African tribe had done the same thing before Western Civ did...

I droped the class..

I signed up (aka PAID) for Western Civ history class...it wasnt what I was gettin

 

Im glad they are teaching Black History...I just want them to write about the many other thinks that blacks have helped our society.....not just MLK,Rosa Parks,Booker T Washington.....If it is a white lady teaching or black,hispanic...it doesnt matter....just as long as we teach the whole truth......

 

White and Black Teachers Should NOT TEACH BLACK HISTORY!!!! BUT they both should teach a fully inclusive AMERICAN HISTORY to every American of every Color, Creed & Gender.

 

Do we really need to know the history of Creed ?

 

If this is the same book that you almost dedicated an entire thread to a while back then you should just forget having read it because I proved what you quoted from it was statistically and factually inaccurate. The guy's probably not well received because he didn't get much right.

 

First off this is so limited in understanding...

And niether do any white folk have any responsibility for what their ancestors participated in.

ALL RACES "need to understand it is not our fault."

That's why it's history and should be taught by all to all.

LEARN FROM IT.

Staying seperate keeps us seperate.

It's the old "cake and eat it to" again. We want our own class, so we can all be educated about the wrongdoings, but don't you dare try and teach it back to us.

SuperMac34 is right... what my ancestor WAS does NOT define ME. Therefore, I am not the only one allowed to discuss, or teach about my ancestor.

 

precisely.

look, my ancestors came to Louisiana in the 1600's.

it is safe to say that they lived on plantations and owned slaves at one point in time.

not only that, one of my ancestors was named Rommell, from the same lineage that produced the WWII Desert Fox , Hitler's right hand man.(they dropped the ending of their name and changed it to Rome, my mother's mother's maiden name).



so go ahead and call me a slave ownig Nazi if you want, but it is a part of my ancestry and I would share this information with anyone of any race, it is my history.

 

the stats that we were bickering over was whether or not a black 2 parent household earn as much as a white 2 parent household. mcwhorter just says they almost do and used some stats to show that the numbers were very close. he also tried to account for the rest of the difference as demographic and not racial since most black people live in the south and pay is less there. this accounted for about 1 page of the book and the fact that stats can be skewed for anyones use doesn't take away from the points he tries to get across in the book which are valid and should be at least heard and not flat out ignored with the kind of attitude my prof had towards him even though she knew basically nothing about him. his point was that if black families could stay together then they would be much better off economically and it is well known that percentage of single black mothers is far too high. his main point was trying to show that racism is not the main reason in the earnings gap between white and black families. he was trying to show that there are other reasons that are overlooked when stating the earnings gap between white and black families. he was just trying to show that 2 parent households are much stronger and white and black 2 parent households have comparable incomes.

 

My "Women in Politics" professor was a man. He spoke as passionately about the women's movement as any female professor I have ever had.

What makes a professor good or better is his/her passion. I guess the issue is that blacks would PROBABLY be more passionate on the subject of African American history, but I don't believe that all would. The same goes for my women's class.

 

I have never seen such a rash of insensitive comments in all my life. It's difficult for most 'average american whites' to understand the point. If you disagree with me, then you are proving me right. Unless you have grown up as a black in America, then it will be more difficult for you to understand why people take this issue so seriously. I'm sure you experienced something in your life to dismiss this claim but you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss other people's beleifs. But let me throw out a couple scenario's to illustrate the point:

Yes you can technically learn French from somebody born and raised in North Carolina. But you will never learn the nuances of the culture and language that the French have great pride in. To not understand the historical and cultural componants of the language is to miss an integral part of the 'French' experience. I can honestly say you will learn French better from a Frenchman. Can you learn the basics...yes. But you will not learn intagibles that as a whole provide a much richer lesson in the end. For most blacks, the history is still alive and highly relavant today...just like the French language...unlike Latin or Physics. It's the intangibles that brings it alive...rather than simple factual statements.

This is probably a bad example since many brainwashed people will just say 'to hell with the French.' To whom I say, where are the WMD? Anyway, that's a different topic. If you don't like the French, then substitute French for a language that you CAN tolerate.

Let me try some more:

Picture this, a predomantly white Texas rural town's minister steps down from the church. A black woman is appointed. She even teach's Sunday school. In 9 out of 10 cities, race will be an issue. Disagree?

What if the lady was Jewish? She can still teach Christianity, right?

Can you imagine a Christian teaching Hebrew? It wouldn't happen.

What if your child's 1st grade English teacher was a native Japanese speaker with a heavy accent. Inevitably, many children may pronounce certain words with an accent. How many cities in the U.S. would be tolerant of this? I could imagine similar protests.

How about having an openly gay man as your pre-wedding marriage counselor? How would you or your family take that? How would the stereotypical American family take this...esp those who don't beleive in gay marriages?

Not buying it? How about this. Imagine you are a teenager and you want some motorcycle lessons so you can learn to offroad. Dad agrees and takes you to the school and Richard Simmons is leading the class. What's your initial response? How seriously are you going to take him?

When we are discussing an issue as grave as the American Race Relations, is it so unthinkable for people to want teachers that can offer a first hand account rather than reciting facts from a book?

When I payed for classes out of my pocket for continuing education spanish classes, I look for a native spanish speaker. That way I know I've got a better chance of learning from a pro...not a wanna be.

It's an investment and I spend my money wisely.

 

I can give it in three sentence:

Once upon a time, there was a band named Creed. They sucked ass. The end.

 

krosfyah,

You would have a point if that class was "Contemporary Life of African American." But the course in question was "Black History." And the reason they gave for the objection was "the person teaching it is the same type of person who did the enslaving." That's what got all the outrage in this thread.

 

There wasn't really any need to read anything beyond this line.

 

So if I agree with you am I proving you wrong...?