Parents Say ...

Ayo: Trying to get public/private school education to tell the truth about us is an uphill battle. As long as you and your family knows the truth. That's what counts. Wendi: You know that story (fable?) about training the elephant? It says they trained the elephant by tying it to a large tree, it tried with all its might to get away but couldn't so it stopped trying. After it was broken all they had to do was tie it to a twig (?) and if it felt the slightest resistance it would sit down in defeat. Once you break someone you don't have to physically enslave them, they will enslave themselves. Moroskistamps: My children are young 6 and 8. They are African/European. I am European and my husband African. You have to tell the truth. The truth is not nice. Europeans colonized and underdeveloped Africa, South America, Australia, etc. Everywhere you have so called "third world" conditions it is the result of colonization and / or the depletion of resources. (unless people are living "simply" not "third world" outside of western influence by their own choice) I would love to know why Europeans have done this for so many hundreds of years and don't have a conscience about it. They are doing it today in the middle east. So I guess historically europeans are as a group greedy, violent, and wanting power. I am 29 and I have feelings of resentment and dislike for those who support Columbus Day, war in the middle East, prejudice, ignorance, etc. So how can we expect our children not to? I saw Sonia Sanchez last week and she said to us "How can the U.S. go all over the world behaving as it does and then not expect someone at some point to fight back?." Teach African history from the very beginning and as they develop the knowledge and pride they will look at what the Europeans did throughout history and actually take pity on them . My children think it is sad that the Europeans hearts were/ are so filled with hatred and greed. What kind of spirtual life is that? My son likes to show me all the karate kicks he would deliver the slave catchers had he lived in the 1800's but he does not hate Europeans. He hates the ideology that exists and he will never accept it. he will always fight it. He has a fire in him that history keeps going. I am giving them the knowlege they need to survive in this world. He knows there are 2 kinds of Europeans. Those who contribute to the problem and those who are trying to help solve it. We focus a lot in history on those who rebelled and fought for human rights. I wish I had an easy explanation for why Europeans have gone all over the world exploiting and killing. Teach the truth and let them form their own opinions about the people involved. In school they teach lies so people will NOT get angry. What would happen if the history books in school told the truth about the colonization of this country and slavery in this country. (Well if they actually included it to any degree would be a step.) My theory is that they want to keep the masses ignorant of the REAL STORY so they will grow up to be good little factory workers and office workers. Children especially are emotional and idealistic,. If they were all raised with in depth knowledge of what really happened their would be outright revolution!! So Teach the truth!!! Angela: I think a tendency toward war is a very human trait, not something that any one race is more inclined toward. I'm reminded of an exchange in the movie, Cry Freedom, in which the white newspaperman claims that whites have civilized the blacks in South Africa, saying something along the lines of "look at all the tribal wars you used to have." Steven Biko (played by Denzel Washington, for those who aren't familiar with the movie) says, "What do you call World War I and World War II?" Tene: We (my husband and I) have lived in the south all our lives. I was born in North Carolina. I have Negro on my birth certificate. My husband was born in Miami. The only black baby in the hospital. By the time I gave birth to Idris, Miami was a melting pot. We have culturism, not racism. Color issues cross all the races there and Caucasians were a rare commodity. When we moved to Georgia, I found an old mistrust of caucasians brewing in my system. I try to keep that from Idris. Being a military brat, he is exposed to every kind of race and race mixture known to man. He had his first racial confrontation with some little Puerto Rican girls that moved next door. They were as brown as he, but they labeled him and his neighborhood as black and loud. They told him that he was black and that his best friend was white. Dillon responded that he was pink and Idris said I am brown like you. You and your mama do not know what you are talking about. It was a proud moment for me, he saw color for what it is, a color. When we moved into first grade curriculum and discussed music from a time period. Spirituals were one of the types of music we discussed. I explained to him "Swing Low", while being a spiritual song, was also, a song of oppression. I explained line by line the religious significance and the alternative meaning. I put in that there is still oppression, but not with blacks alone. It is all over the world. I let him know that as humans we do things that are not nice and great, but we always have the potential for greatness. Judge a person by their actions and character, not what they look like. I admit I fall into the trap, like my mother and grandmother before me, of not saying positive things about other races and nationalities. What makes it worse, I know better. I was raised with the resentment and self worthlessness, that I was taught. My mother tried to do better than her mother by insisting that not one caucasion doll entered our house. She did not like the black Barbies, because their noses were not wide enough. In effect, she bred a racial pride, but some resentment. It was not what I faced in school or anywhere for that matter. At five, I wanted to be "white". I brought tears to my mother's eyes, by saying that I was saying that she nor I were beautiful. I decided to take it a step further with Idris, he had dolls at birth for the eradication of sexism and he had exposure to every nationality and culture within our grasp. He does not grasp prejudice. I not sure he can identify it, yet. I hope(unrealistically) he never has to. I think there needs to be a balance in the introduction of something negative like slavery; and the minority of caucasions that have fought for us are worth something. It might help to go to the bible and show where we enslaved them. What goes around, comes around. Open the perspective. Slavery is wrong, but we were not the first to be enslaved, probably will not be the last. Are we innocent in the slave trade? We can learn something from past ignorance. Through history/mystory/ourstory we can try to heal and not repeat. Christal: Last year, I read a book called "Ten Lessons: An Introduction to Black History" and learned quite a bit of about our history. But after seeing the post regarding Lincoln's speech, I realize once again that there's still more to learn. As a result, I revisited a website that I haven't been to in a while... it's maintained by one of the authors of "Ten Lessons". What I found is below. Here's the link for more info: http://www.asetbooks.com/Us/AsetU/Courses/Education101/BlackHomeLearning.html WHAT BLACK STUDENTS SHOULD LEARN AT HOME (1) Black students should learn about Black Nationalism. Why? So they can develop a comfort zone with the thought of Black People being independent and self-governing people. They should be taught that Black nationalism is natural because it is natural for politically responsible people to want to govern themselves and not be dominated by others. Since quality of life issues are determined by those who govern, the only way Black People can determine the quality of Black People's lives is if Black People govern themselves under a Black system. (2) Black students should learn about Black History. When learning Black History, they should be taught that: (A) Black People have traditionally been independent and self governing people; (B) Black People have established some of the greatest nations and societies known to mankind; (C) Black People were major players who made major contributions to the development of the United States of America; (D) Black People were not enslaved because We were ignorant, underdeveloped barbarians who needed to be Christianized. Black People were enslaved because of Our high level of development and discipline, because We were accustomed to working hard and in an organized manner, because We had the skills, intelligence and know-how to build the type of country white people wanted to build, because we were a peace loving people who could not defend Ourselves against white militaries and because some of Our leaders were too short-sighted and weak-minded to realize that they should not collaborate with white people because white people were nothing but bad news for Black People. While learning Black history, they should also be taught the following: (a) The slaves were not interested in integrating with white people, so integration was never a major objective of Black People who were in their right minds; (b) Black People ended slavery by freeing themselves. No one "freed" Us, We freed Ourselves; (c) If We had not freed Ourselves during the Civil War, We still might be slaves today because neither white people in the North, South or West cared enough about Black People to free Black People; and (d) According to international law, Black People in the United States have the right to claim part of this land mass and form Our own country and government. Black students need to know that that option is presently open to Us, whether We choose to take advantage of it or not. (3) Black students need to learn about integration. They need to be taught that people need to be equal before integration is possible. They need to be taught that people who feel equal have do not seek to integrate because they are satisfied with who they are. They also need to be taught that, when people seek to integrate, they are usually motivated by a feeling of inferiority; they don't consider themselves "as good as" the people they seek to integrate with. People who are proud of who they are seek equality, not integration. Equality means that every group of people has the right to make the decisions that determine the quality of their lives. They make the laws they live by and are not handicapped by the laws of others. (4) Black students need to learn the truth about white American history. Black students need to learn the history of this country from people who are not tied to white America's apron strings or controlled by white America's checkbook. They need to be taught that white people, like all people, possess many qualities that are admirable, but that white people have a tendency to use those qualities in negative ways and in the pursuit of unhealthy and unwise objectives. They also need to be taught that the United States of America is primarily concerned about the welfare of business, not people. Because of that, the concerns of Black People will be de-prioritized for as long as Black People continue to be dominated by a white system. Being educated is more than knowing formulas, concepts and bits and pieces of information. Being educated involves understanding where you stand in the context of those formulas, concepts and bits and pieces of information. For that reason, Black People cannot afford to educate their students with the intent of getting them the best job possible in the white American scheme of things. We need to break that link between Black education and white jobs and concentrate on providing Black students with the knowledge they need to take control of the critical quality of life factors. That is not as risky as it will sound to some insecure parents because well educated people do not tend to be handicapped; they are able to figure out what they need to do to make their lives successful, fulfilling and meaningful. Again, these are not my words... credit is due to Mba Mbulu (http://www.asetbooks.com) Cheryl: HSing is actually a part of a plan. It's a segment of one's child's upbringing. Some folk will homeschool all the way through, while others will stop at a certain age, while others will only homeschool *some* of their children while the others attend a mainstream school. What I think the public fails to realise is that HSing is all about choice and adaptability. Each family differs and does what's best *and* feasible for itself. What works best. And if grocery store math isn't in that family's curriculum, that doesn't make it less of a homeschooling one. One thing I love about HSing is that a family can be flexible w/o undermining the children's education. When I was in the big city, trips, regular karate classes, martial arts classes, soccer, gymnastics, swimming classes, and frequent community events were a part of our HS lifestyle. However, when we moved away they pretty much stopped. Homeschooling is different now, but it's not worse. [??]: What is institutional racism? "The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people." From the Macpherson report The brainwashing of Americans doesn't just affect Blacks it also affects Whites. It prevents people from moving beyond the antiquated idea of racial supremacy. This is a small example, but… - Last night I was reviewing one of the boy's encyclopedias on mask and the various ways they were used throughout history. When I got to the part about Africa it said "primitive cultures in Africa used mask for religious ceremonies…" Well… the entire text was about old customs, but only Africa was listed as a "primitive" culture. That to me was designed to promote Africa as backwards. Because no other ancient group was mentioned as primitive they were by default indicated as superior. Well, that's the way I read into the text. Let a child read enough educational material like this and the hidden message becomes embedded in their mind. This is a form of brainwashing that makes otherwise "good" people unwittingly practice discrimination.