Slavery is a topic most Americans can’t discuss with confidence because the history of it has been so skewed.
In our youth, social studies instructors used washed history books that told a sanitized story of white cruelty, which diverted our adolescent minds from the truth about Blacks arriving to this country in chains.
Probably an explanation as to why most people still don’t get it. It’s insane to believe that people will still say to this day, ‘Just forget it, slavery was in the past.’ Yeah FOH! It’s time to awaken those who are asleep.
In a recent study, the Southern Poverty Law Center looked at how slavery is presented in K – 12 classrooms and the results were astounding.
The conclusion of the study:
“Schools are not adequately teaching the history of American slavery, educators are not sufficiently prepared to teach it, textbooks do not have enough material about it, and – as a result – students lack a basic knowledge of the important role it played in shaping the United States and the impact it continues to have on race relations in America.”
The study found that only 8 percent of high school seniors surveyed knew that slavery was a main driver behind the American Civil War.
Nearly 50 percent thought the main cause of the Civil War was tax protests. Sheesh, talk about a disconnect.
The kids are not at fault here, it’s the teachers who are failing to portray an exact image of the dark history of African slavery in America.
Surveying more than 1,700 social studies teachers, Southern Poverty Law Center found that only about 66 percent of teachers actually touch on the immortality of slavery.
They’re shook to tell these kids the truth but they need to. Although 90 percent of teachers said they felt just dandy discussing slavery in the classroom, a lot of them expressed a feeling of discomfort when answering open ended questions.
One teacher wrote, “I focus on the resistance factor more to avoid the children being scared by man’s humanity to man. I don’t want to steal any child’s innocence, though I want to make sure that the children know the real history of their country…”
Yeah bro? Well, tough break. This slavery shit really happened. There’s no sugar coating whipped backs, bloody cotton, and separated families.
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7WIGYkuAz9hApreo
In order for us to progress as a society we need to stop lying to ourselves, in fact John Jay College of Criminal Justice is helping to ensure that.
The CUNY school recently revealed that they’ve gathered 35,000 records of slaves and their owners in New York state dating back to as early as 1525.
Compiled by John Jay professors Ned Benton and Judy-Lynne Peters and a couple of graduate students, the work looks to bridge a disconnection.
Karol V. Mason, president of John Jay College, said in a statement,
“The launch of this index marks a significant contribution to understanding and remembering the country’s history of slavery and advances the College’s mission of educating for justice.”
You can probably find your ancestors through this index if you are lucky, I know I’m going to give it a shot.
The index includes census records, slave trade transactions, cemetery records, birth certificates, newspaper accounts, and other documents of import.
Find out who might’ve owned your great great grandpappy too. The index also includes records of New York state senators who owned slaves in 1790 and 1800.
Data from nearly 200 “Underground Railroad” fugitives who came to New York after escaping slavery in the South, and 550 advertisements that sought the capture and return of enslaved New Yorkers can be looked up as well.
This is a great thing and the only way to push the Kulture forward, ya digg. That Southern Poverty Law Center report said it best,
“If we don’t get the early history of our country right, we are unlikely to be equipped to do the heavy lifting necessary to bridge racial divides now and in the future… It is a moral necessity if we are to move the country forward toward healing slavery’s persistent wounds.”