Washington State History Lessons will Now Include Tribal History
Update: the Stranger followed up its story with another story about the 29 legislators who voted against this bill. Some of the names may surprise you.
end of update.
In the "what took so long" category, a great story from The Stranger on the signing of legislation by Governor Inslee that mandates the teaching of tribal histories of the state's 29 recognized tribes. The curriculum is called "Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum."
According to The Stranger, it goes in effect on July 24th which naturally means it needs to start by the beginning of the school year (or so you would hope).
From the article:
Washington is only the second state in the country to require teachings about this country from its indigenous people; Montana was the first. But unlike the $4.4 million the Montana legislature allocated for its tribal curriculum, Washington's law didn't set aside any funding. Whatever funding there is comes from the tribes themselves, private organizations, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's internal budget. Together, they've raised about $300,000.
Will you look at that? Apparently, it ISN'T just initiatives that come with no dollars attached to them.
Now (Shana) Brown and trainers like her are tasked with using that money to spread the curriculum to the state's 295 school districts.
"It's a big fucking deal," she says, momentarily breaking her teacher-trained poise.
And why?
Then there's the Native American achievement gap. In 2011, President Obama signed an executive order declaring the "urgent need" to improve educational outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native kids dropping out of high school at disproportionate rates. In 2012, less than half of the low-income American Indian and Alaskan Native kids enrolled in Washington public schools met the state's fourth- and seventh-grade reading, math, and writing standards, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. American Indian kids are consistently failing more often than their white, Asian, Asian-Pacific Islander, black, and Hispanic peers.
Add in that most students probably do want to know the good, the bad and ugly about their state. It's likely to make them better citizens and better people.
"Middle-school kids, unlike any other brand of animal, have an intense, fierce sense of fairness," Brown says. "I haven't in my classroom experienced or witnessed the white guilt that some people have experienced. But it is more along the lines of 'I can't believe that that happened,' and 'What do we do now?'"
I don't recall being taught much from my own schooling and I grew up in Arizona where we have many tribes. It's really a pity to lose that much history.
It's a very good piece.
end of update.
In the "what took so long" category, a great story from The Stranger on the signing of legislation by Governor Inslee that mandates the teaching of tribal histories of the state's 29 recognized tribes. The curriculum is called "Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum."
According to The Stranger, it goes in effect on July 24th which naturally means it needs to start by the beginning of the school year (or so you would hope).
From the article:
Washington is only the second state in the country to require teachings about this country from its indigenous people; Montana was the first. But unlike the $4.4 million the Montana legislature allocated for its tribal curriculum, Washington's law didn't set aside any funding. Whatever funding there is comes from the tribes themselves, private organizations, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's internal budget. Together, they've raised about $300,000.
Will you look at that? Apparently, it ISN'T just initiatives that come with no dollars attached to them.
Now (Shana) Brown and trainers like her are tasked with using that money to spread the curriculum to the state's 295 school districts.
"It's a big fucking deal," she says, momentarily breaking her teacher-trained poise.
And why?
Then there's the Native American achievement gap. In 2011, President Obama signed an executive order declaring the "urgent need" to improve educational outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native kids dropping out of high school at disproportionate rates. In 2012, less than half of the low-income American Indian and Alaskan Native kids enrolled in Washington public schools met the state's fourth- and seventh-grade reading, math, and writing standards, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. American Indian kids are consistently failing more often than their white, Asian, Asian-Pacific Islander, black, and Hispanic peers.
Add in that most students probably do want to know the good, the bad and ugly about their state. It's likely to make them better citizens and better people.
"Middle-school kids, unlike any other brand of animal, have an intense, fierce sense of fairness," Brown says. "I haven't in my classroom experienced or witnessed the white guilt that some people have experienced. But it is more along the lines of 'I can't believe that that happened,' and 'What do we do now?'"
I don't recall being taught much from my own schooling and I grew up in Arizona where we have many tribes. It's really a pity to lose that much history.
It's a very good piece.
Comments
"Animal" really ?
Why should people who have done nothing wrong feel guilty for the crimes of others just because of the color of their skin. What is the purpose of the shaming, to educate or to make the students feel guilty? This type of approach has been going on since 70s in Seattle public schools. It was aligned with forced busing that started in 1973. I had to debrief my daughter many times while she was subjected to a several months long "white people are evil packet" attending a SOCIAL JUSTICE focused middle school. Unbelievable, no wonder so many flee Public schools. We noticed the class having a negative effect on the student's relationships manifesting in more friendship pooling of students base on ethnicity. Shaming approaches disguised as educational opportunities do more to keep racism flourishing then stopping it. They are in fact a form of bulling that needs to stop.
X
I would like to see the "white people are evil packet." Please let me know if I might be able to copy or scan it.
But you should read the whole article. I think it is about learning about the time/place of the state you live in (history) and how/why it evolved.
Remember the absolute farce in regard to Seattle District Office's programs for Native kids a few years back.
If the goal is to improve the opportunity for Native Americans to get a quality education, then spending $300,000 on this program will hardly impact the huge problems in Indian Country. I do like the program and it may positively impact some students.
#1 The lowest tests scores are coming from rural schools on the Rez and schools like Chief Leschi, Lummi, Tahola, and White Swan many of which have more culturally relevant curriculum elements. Their test scores are low when compared with Indian kids in metropolitan areas.
#2 I would be a lot more impressed if the Governor and OSPI actually analyzed the problem and developed solutions....
#3 In looking up Lummi Schools under Ferndale SD on OSPI School Report Card, I found the following message:
Lummi Elementary School closed 10-23-2014
Lummi High School closed 10-23-2014
and yet these schools are still open and my buddy teaches at the high school and has a contract for next year.... So much for OSPI's School Report card's report on the demise of two schools.
Here are some MSP scores from Spring 2014
2013-14 MSP Results @Chief Leschi Schools (lots of culturally relevant activities)
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 45.3% 20.3%
4th Grade 38.1% 28.9%
5th Grade 58.7% 42.8%
6th Grade 41.6% 18.3%
7th Grade 35.7% 14.2%
State-wide results for all Native American & Alaska Native students =>
2013-14 MSP Results
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 49.7% 39.5%
4th Grade 46.0% 34.8%
5th Grade 52.6% 42.4%
6th Grade 49.1% 36.7%
7th Grade 43.4% 30.3%
Results for Native Americans & Alaska Natives in Seattle Schools =>
2013-14 MSP Results
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 45.4% 45.4%
4th Grade 50.0% 44.4%
5th Grade 57.1% 50.0%
6th Grade 53.3% 40.0%
7th Grade 41.9% 32.2%
Mount Adams SD @ White Swan (Yakima Nation)
2013-14 MSP Results
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 23.2% 20.0%
4th Grade 25.6% 20.5%
5th Grade 17.9% 7.6%
6th Grade 17.9% 12.8%
7th Grade SBAC SBAC
The results for rural schools in Indian Country are generally very poor ... yet our supposed education leaders have done nothing to positively effect any solutions. It is a really difficult situation with many causes. So does anyone care enough to improve this situation?
Gates Foundation participated in funding the Lummi Youth Academy for high school youth which has a residential component.
2013-14 MSP Results for Native Americans in all Ferndale Schools
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 40.0% 16.0%
4th Grade 33.3% 24.2%
5th Grade 18.1% 15.0%
6th Grade SBAC SBAC
7th Grade 46.8% 43.7%
2013-14 MSP Results for Native Americans in Marysville schools (Tulalip tribe)
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 43.8% 31.5%
4th Grade 38.3% 30.0%
5th Grade 32.5% 25.5%
6th Grade 41.1% 26.9%
7th Grade 37.2% 14.2%
2013-14 MSP Results for Native Americans in Tacoma Public Schools
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 48.5% 41.1%
4th Grade 61.9% 42.8%
5th Grade 65.3% 46.1%
6th Grade 47.3% 43.5%
7th Grade 53.5% 41.3%
So what is Tacoma doing in Reading?
Taholah SD 70+% Native and 80% poverty (free & reduced meals)
2013-14 MSP Results for all students in Taholah SD
Grade Level Reading Math
3rd Grade 33.3% 8.3%
4th Grade 66.6% 46.6%
5th Grade 35.7% 21.4%
6th Grade <5.0% <5.0%
7th Grade <5.0% <5.0%
In both reading and math of 12 sixth graders more than 95% did not meet standard.
In both reading and math of 15 seventh graders more than 95% did not meet standard.
To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data.
--- Dan Dempsey
A few more moons, a few more winters, and not one of the descendants of the mighty hosts that once moved over this broad land or lived in happy homes, protected by the Great Spirit, will remain to mourn over the graves of a people once more powerful and hopeful than yours. But why should I mourn at the untimely fate of my people? Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We will see.
We will ponder your proposition and when we decide we will let you know. But should we accept it, I here and now make this condition that we will not be denied the privilege without molestation of visiting at any time the tombs of our ancestors, friends, and children. Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as the swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch. Our departed braves, fond mothers, glad, happy hearted maidens, and even the little children who lived here and rejoiced here for a brief season, will love these somber solitudes and at eventide they greet shadowy returning spirits. And when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the White Men, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone.
Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds.
X
Was that text you quoted above from the "white people are evil packet?"
Just Curious
A "packet" is what the school calls a class or a portion of study for a quarter. Don't get caught up on the semantics. Do I really need to prove that white bashing exist in school curriculum in SPS, really? Do you think a 12 year old needs to experience "white guilt"? to understand human cruelty?, I don't.
X
I do, and have an idea that would extend its effectiveness to underserved, underperforming children of poverty. Feed them properly. Properly means no processed, carbohydrate-heavy foods, but natural, whole foods. Properly means restoring their original, pre-reservation diets to them.
The Pacific coastal tribes subsisted on salmon and smelt, high in Omega-3 fats, protein and Vitamin B-12. Tribes such as the Kootenai and Nez Perce had diets consisting of such foods as roots, moose, buffalo, elk, salmon, potatoes, carrots, blackberries, elderberries, pine nuts, strawberries, and sunflower seeds. That's similar to today's trendy paleo and low-carb diets.
Treaties made in the 1830s and 1840s by the US government relegated the Indians to reservations. By the 1890s they were no longer allowed to hunt for their food. Read more here. The protein-rich, low-carbohydrate foodstuffs of the traditional diet were replaced with lard, flour and sugar.
The Washington tribes are now plagued with diabetes and obesity, having become as sedentary as the stereotypical American. When the natives were leading active lifestyles, their brains used the lactase their physical energy generated. Now they, along with a large majority of US people, are on a high-carbohydrate diet, which generates glucose, but remain at risk of hyperinsulemia, diabetes and obesity.
However, "a complete reliance on glucose indicates an underachieving brain, a brain that could do so much better, a brain that could really use a coconut milk curry and some intense exercise every now and again," writes Mark Sisson. I'd wager that more venison and salmon jerky would be of more benefit than chips and candy. Berries like the ones in native traditional diets are complex carbohydrate fruits, which have the quality of slow-release sustained energy rather than the fast-acting high and crash of the simple carbohydrate diet.
So if I won Mega Millions, I would like to develop philanthropic programs in partnership with tribe elders and nutritionists that is a brain-boosting, restorative diet accessible to reservations. I believe academic performance would improve.
--Christina
From a paper titled Alcoholism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Native American Woman: "In startling contrast, 75 percent of Native American men and one third of Native American women can be classified as alcoholics or alcohol abusers (Mancall 1995)."
http://firstpeoples.org/wp/alcoholism-fetal-alcohol-syndrome-and-the-native-american-woman/
Anyway, it's good to round out the history book with different historical perspectives. Favorite Rev. war history read was from studying the British and Royalist views of the "rebellion". Puts a different spin, not to mention giving big picture timeline and significance with what went on in the world at the time. Same when studying the Six Nation Confederacy. It's fascinating stuff and made history that much more tangible, especially when you see similar events and circumstances continually reoccurring throughout human history. It's as if we are all playing from the same game book.
reader
And yes, if you're going to claim that there is "white bashing" happening in SPS curriculum, you should provide examples of it. Otherwise it's merely your opinion.
Granted, I'm sure the tribal info has been downplayed these days in Arizona given the right-winger/English-only/white-segregation culture that now rules a good portion of the state, but back in the mid-80s to mid-90s, I feel like I got a fairly in-depth look into Native history and culture in AZ, though definitely more on the Navajo than the other tribes.
CT
Why is there no comparable discussion of "privilege" with other segments of the population that outperform the societal average? Many other groups outperform "whites" in terms of income, education, etc.. Where is the discussion on "Asian privilege", "Jewish privilege", "Indian-American privilege", etc..
The answer is that it's only PC to bash "whites".
Disgusted by racism
White privilege exists whether you choose to see it or not. There are benefits in just being white. There is no need to feel guilt about it. You just need to recognize it and understand.
Also, many do not seem to understand what racism is: Racism = prejudice + power.
I am white and of German heritage, I do not feel guilt for white privilege nor for the Holocaust but I recognize that my ancestors played a part in both. Please take your white fragility elsewhere.
HP
My circumstances are not unique. There are many more Americans with white skin with backgrounds similar to mine than there are Americans with white skin descended from people that came over on the Mayflower that sit around and play polo all day.
I re-iterate, "white privilege" is racist white bashing. I laugh at the above post about my "white fragility" as more racist white bashing.
Disgusted by racism
Today's youth need to understand that many people are still suffering the repercussions of actions taken against their family members in the past. We can show children that others are not always treated fairly and encourage them to work for solutions without sending the message that it's immoral for them to not encounter prejudice.
Westside
And Christina, I love your point of view and agree with it completely. As a teacher, I see so many kids coming to school with a wide variety of issues that concern parents and teachers and I just think - well, look at what's in their lunchboxes. One cellophane-wrapped processed food after another.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/extreme-opinions-right-wing-attitudes-on-the-rise-in-germany-a-722868.html
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/tea-party-ukip-21st-century-different
http://politicsandpolicy.org/article/right-wing-resurgence-haunts-europe
UKIP anyone? La famille Le Pen? Greece's Golden Dawn counterpoint to Greece's economic crash? Not to worry, that's Europe. Except Puerto Rico, our colony, I mean commonwealth. China's growing debt burden. All of this alongside other present economic and geopolitical crisis all around the blue marble. Irrelevance to us, no? Except when they affect 401k and pension and jobs and trade bills and U.S. Debt and bond market and immigration. And that SC church shooting thing.
History is for the books. Lesson well learned huh?
reader
If you are white, you can:
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
And that is just the first 20 from http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
I should include 21: 21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
HP
Privileged White
Getting together with old friends made me realized all that learning left lasting results. In adulthood, we sought to keep up with events as they become history. Some of us were part of or witnessed history. A few made the news even. We also live with these legacies and their unexpected (though Mr. S. Would say - "did you not learn that already") consequences.
reader
This thread is too funny.
BS
Disgusted by Racism
reader
Even if you feel that guilt is an appropriate method to encourage people to behave properly, you can't think we should expect people to feel guilty for something they did not do.
Unhealthy diets are correlated with poor academic results - they don't cause them. Kids who aren't provided healthy meals often have young, poor, over stressed and overworked or unemployed parents. This is the source of their problems. I'm not saying that nutrition isn't important - just that providing healthy home-prepared food isn't likely to change much.
HP,
I am not arguing with you - I agree that these facts are true. I just don't believe we should consider feeling safe and secure in our society a privilege. This should be the experience of anyone living here. The problem isn't that some people have a sense of security - it's that others don't. That's the way the issue should be presented to our children.
reader
Yes, I do. Institutional neglect, recism, genocide? I absolutely do think we all should pay attention, feel the guilt and make sure we never do it again. Jon Greenberg, the reason so many of his kids when into fields that make our society better is that he made them feel the consequences of ignorant and racist behavior. I admire that.
Also, those who forget history are deigned to repeat history. This notion that everyone starts with a clean slate means that slate will be rewritten over and over again with the repeated transgressions of the past. We must learn from the past rather than repeat it.
As for the Nazi story, apples and oranges and sensationalistic without proving anything.
I don't think anyone is suggesting we should not teach the full history of our nation, lest we be doomed to repeat the wrongs of the past.
Gee Disgusted. You sure get worked up quickly. We thank your dad for his service. Doesn't mean it wasn't a privilege. Maybe you should run for school board and stamp out that institutional racism stuff from all the instruction.
PW
These shaming attempts are not limited to U.S. history, they drag in WWII atrocities, African conflicts and current middle eastern strife. They seemed to focus on either white Americans or White European oppression of non-white people. I have not seen any focus on Latin America pre European slavery or pre European African slavery or European slavery or pre Columbus native American slavery.
Oh yes "white guilt" is all the rage and seems to sell books, magazines and news papers and possibly get you on national TV.
Reginald Denny
I think the current polarization between rich and poor is already a new kind of oppression. I wonder how many people are aware of it and working for change? There are always people willing to oppress other people. It never ends.
Yes, it should be "rich guilt" and it was greed then that drove and still drives much of the oppression many experience. The powers that be benefit as long as we continue to focus and be distracted by race and not economics. Look at what many of the early industrialist did to American workers. My god they committed murder of all races for money, then went on to become well established in US politics setting policies that made them and their friends even richer and more powerful. We still haven't eluded their influence over almost every facet of our lives. We need to ALL focus on economics while Seattle is in it's boon cycle and insure we all benefit equally from it.
Reginald Denny
Why should we all benefit equally from Seattle's economic boom, when some have contributed to the boom far more than others? Maybe you should change your name from Reginald Denny to Karl Marx.
More lefty psycho babble intended to make the most productive people in society feel guilty about it.
Enjoying this conversation
Perhaps we've drifted away from our discussion of Native American history and classroom discussions of how to handle such academic topics. I believe "all in" when it comes to teaching kids empathy and history.
I'm done on this. You all know how I feel. Jon Greenberg lives on!
Yep those pesky investment bankers with their IPOs, stock splits and other paper tiger tricks have contributed way more than the rest of us to Seattle. How soon we forget 2001 Dot Bomb or 2008 stock crash resulting in the theft of billions of 401K in funds right into the pockets of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Jeff Bezos, Howard (I steal park property)Shultz, PBA glaser and many more underlings. Yep they sure worked for that cash. They came back richer than before, jeez I wonder how they did that? It's funny that people still don't understand the corruption in the markets the unlimited issuing of stocks for manipulation of the markets. They seem not to understand many of these companies main product is the stock and that they are free to print an unlimited amount of preferred shares for themselves and their friends. It's the best club to be in. A very exclusive white only club, except for that very pesky Oprah, but they use her as a distraction.
Reginald Denny
CT
:)
So, in the end it is all about money and greed. Same with the Native Americans who stood in the way of landgrabbers, miners and others greedy to profit from the natural resources of this new land.
Reginald, thanks for putting it into perspective. I still disagree about the latest "rage" but can't argue your basic point. And yes, we still owe our kids a proper accounting of our behavior - as if it will do any good. Also, it's been thirty years since I read Zinn's book so feel free to correct me. It was a stunning and eye-opening read.
Work has such redeeming quality as a reality check.
This post was about introducing a NA curriculum. Yet it becomes one about white guilt. Does no one see the irony? I find white guilt to be the straw man here. It's a good way to stop and deflect a conversation. This isn't about original sin. Children face and deal with racism, sexism, and all the other -isms out there. Some face it quite early. To be able to recognize it, talk about it, become more aware of it takes deliberative effort. To throw shades and shut down the curriculum because this is about imposing white guilt on something your child had no part of essentially end the mean to move society forward and reconcile its past with its present.
If discussing how Belgian colonialism left a genocidal legacy by installing a minority group in power while leaving the majority languishing and setting up an unequal society that eventually imploded into a genocide is about white guilt. Then people completely missed the lesson. Learning this isn't about white guilt. It isn't about slavery pre-colonialism. It's about what happened when people intrude into a place they really have very understanding of simply because they are mightier and they can, and by doing so changed history. I worked in S. Sudan in another conflict when this occurred. My French speaking team mates who went in afterward and saw it had very little to say. Even now. Since then, 5 million people have died in this protracted conflict which grew beyond borders and even the original reason which started it. The fighting continues today.
For me this is about history. It's also about reconciliation which isn't easy. There are many people who will detract. Really, this is about your children and how well prepared they are to deal with life's vagaries and uncertainty in a very complicated world. For me, learning history with all the good, the bad, and the ambiguity is part of that preparation.
reader
The existing WA State social studies standards (7th grade, WA State history) use tribal sovereignty as an example of meeting specific GLEs, yet our child's class still didn't explicitly cover it, nor did they cover many, many other GLEs. How will this new requirement be any different? SPS does not seem interested in ensuring State GLES are adequately covered.
Required GLE:
Understands how key ideals set forth in fundamental documents, including the Washington State Constitution and tribal treaties, define the goals of our state.
Various suggested examples for GLEs:
* Explains how the exchange of land for continued fishing and hunting rights in the Point No Point Treaty helps to define the treaty-making period.
* Presents a position on the causes and outcomes of the Indian Wars in Washington Territory demonstrating understanding of varying viewpoints of the conflict.
* Explains how sovereignty is defined in tribal treaties.
* Examines how the history of damming the Snake and Columbia Rivers helps us understand tension between the agricultural, environmental, and tribal communities.
As far as the off-topic discussion, I understand the reference to the "white guilt packet." From our experience, the way topics were covered did border on indoctrination. We didn't object to the topics, but did object to the method of presentation and discussion in some cases. I'd call it the Zinnification of history, where "facts" are selectively presented to support a preconceived idea, rather than laying out the facts (the good and the bad) and having a more robust discussion. The focus on "isms" tended to dominate the class, and supplant historical content, rather than supplement and support the core content that should have been covered. The discussions of race came down to "white" and "others," which is straight out of the Critical Race Theory teachings used in training SPS staff. I think middle school students are still too young to be unpacking their sacks, so to speak.
another perspective
Reader
http://thehumanist.com/commentary/want-to-help-end-systemic-racism-first-step-drop-the-white-guilt
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/01/gary-younge-farewell-to-america
As to assigning blame for Rwanda. Just research the UN International Criminal Tribunal, you'll find the attempt to bring those responsible to justice wasn't about white guilt. There are parallels with what is happening in Syria and ISIS. People talk about unintended consequences as if these events are so surprising. They are not. People seem quite stuck on blame rather than examining how events in the past shape events later on. IMO, that's an important piece to understand when people talk about systemic and institutionalized racism or sexism within the US. The civil rights movement was not that long ago and the opportunity to make good on the hopes and dreams may seem forever, but if you look at the timeline, it's not that long before attempts to chisel the laws down, find loopholes, detract from the spirit of equality and MLK started. Bringing fear coincide with the use of white guilt here are part of that pushback.
reader
Disgusted, I find your example of WWII to be lacking because the armed forces were one of the FIRST places to desegregate in this country.
Westside, you should write to me and tell me where you grew up. I suspect it was near me (or maybe the same place?). sss.westbrook@gmail.com
Airsoft guns have orange tips on them to mark them as not real guns. My point was, a black man in Walmart was shot and killed while holding an airsoft gun he was contemplating purchasing. A black boy was killed at a park because he was playing with a toy gun. Yet white boys in northeast Seattle can run around in the woods and battle it out and no says 'boo'.
HP
Thank you.
I think my daughter did feel the school was piling on the guilt trip. Maybe if they stuck to Washington state native American history it would have not felt so anti-white to her. She just came home feeling terrible and at one point wanted to leave the school and that's why I said I had to debrief her. She was 12 and truly didn't need to see the horrific photos added on top of guilt by association indoctrination.
If I had to do it all over again I would have home schooled her for the social studies/World history in middle school.
X
The Zinn-ism I relayed earlier suggested to me that the seeds of white superiority may have been sewn at that time. I would appreciate another perspective's evidence that the "zinn-ism" related above is incorrect. It may be. If it is, please correct me. I am always learning.
I believe it is dangerous for any teen to run around in a park with one of these. That's why I said no.