San Antonio school assignment asking students to list 'positives' of slavery

[GMDino]

https://www.chron.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-school-responds-to-homework-12847564.php?ipid=hpctp

Quote:Middle school students at Great Hearts Monte Vista in San Antonio were asked to weigh the "positive" and "negative" aspects of slavery for an assignment.



Great Hearts Monte Vista, a local charter school, confirmed an 8th-grade American History class was assigned a worksheet titled "The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View." The assignment was posted on social media Wednesday by a parent who asked to remain anonymous at this time.


The post was shared with other parents at the school and has garnered growing concern from members of the community, including U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who asked the parent to send him a copy of the assignment.


Great Hearts Texas Superintendent Aaron Kindel addressed the issue in a statement on Thursday. He said the assignment was only used at the school's Monte Vista North campus and it "was very inappropriate and entirely inconsistent" with the school's "philosophy and culture."


"To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity," Kindel wrote in the statement. "It was a clear mistake and we sincerely apologize for the insensitive nature of this offense."

Kindel said the teacher was placed on leave while "all the facts" surrounding the issue were assessed. The textbook for the course, "Prentice Hall Classics: A History of the United States," was removed from use and will be audited.


"If we deem this textbook imprudent, we will permanently remove it and replace it with a history book that accurately reflects our values," Kindel's statement reads.


In addition, headmasters and teachers will meet with student who were assigned the worksheet to explain the "mistake" and "engage them in lessons that are more thoughtful about this period."



"We fully intend to make sure something like this does not happen again and will keep parents posted as we address this issue further," the statement said.

[*bfine32*]

When I went through Equal Opportunity Adviser training my task was to write a paper on the positives of the Klu Klux Clan. I think it is imperative that we know the "other" side so we can have empathy for those that need guidance. WTS, positives of slavery may be a little to advanced for middle schoolers.

[GMDino]

(04-19-2018, 10:28 PM)bfine32 Wrote: When I went through Equal Opportunity Adviser training my task was to write a paper on the positives of the Klu Klux Clan. I think it is imperative that we know the "other" side so we can have empathy for those that need guidance. WTS, positives of slavery may be a little to advanced for middle schoolers.

Can't we understand a group while knowing there is no "positive" of a hate group or slavery?

Out of curiosity though what did you come with?  

• Teaches people how to keep their sheets very white.
• Encourages gathering in groups outside. Helps make like minded friends.
  

I agree that if we can understand why someone joins such an organization maybe we can try to get them out of it.  I just think that's different than looking for positives.  

And I think slavery is even more different.

 

[*bfine32*]

(04-19-2018, 11:08 PM)GMDino Wrote: Can't we understand a group while knowing there is no "positive" of a hate group or slavery?

Out of curiosity though what did you come with?  

• Teaches people how to keep their sheets very white.
• Encourages gathering in groups outside. Helps make like minded friends.
  

I agree that if we can understand why someone joins such an organization maybe we can try to get them out of it.  I just think that's different than looking for positives.  

And I think slavery is even more different.

 

About the only thing was that they were a key force in fighting carpetbaggers from the north that came to exploit the south

[JustWinBaby]

It's actually a great exercise.

Now I will step back to get flamed by the ignorant before I explain why.


All joking aside.....this is truly a great opporutunity for discussion

[Au165]

Discussing the internal struggle that some in the south went through in regards to the economical impact of slavery but the obvious moral dilemmas seems like a fair assignment. The assignment didn't really give any context of who's point of view it was supposed to be from or what the larger theme was other than a "balanced view".

It's hard to really judge the appropriateness without context. I do think though that we as a country need to do a better job of teaching kids early about empathy and while you don't have to agree with things others do it is good to understand how they could think those ways.

[BmorePat87]

"Sure Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but he lowered unemployment".

It's definitely too advanced for their age, but, rather than asking for "positives", ask what motivated the South to want to preserve slavery and then have your students explain the immorality of slavery.

[hollodero]

(04-20-2018, 08:53 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: "Sure Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but he lowered unemployment".

It's definitely too advanced for their age, but, rather than asking for "positives", ask what motivated the South to want to preserve slavery and then have your students explain the immorality of slavery.

1) Also, highways.

2) I don't know if the fundamental concept of slavery is so hard to grasp. In that the obvióus benefit is, hey, there's work to do, I'd prefer someone else do it, and it'd be swell if I just owned that person and wouldn't have to pay for the work. I guess kids can relate to that.

[fredtoast]

(04-20-2018, 08:49 AM)Au165 Wrote: It's hard to really judge the appropriateness without context. 

(04-20-2018, 08:53 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: "Sure Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but he lowered unemployment".

It's definitely too advanced for their age, but, rather than asking for "positives", ask what motivated the South to want to preserve slavery and then have your students explain the immorality of slavery.

I agree.  I need to see the context of how this was presented.  The fact that it was called a "balanced view" makes me think it was VERY inappropriate.  Basically this teacher is saying that the "positive" aspects of slavery do not get mentioned enough.

I can see how some course on rhetoric could require a student to find the positive in a negative situation, but this was a history class.  I would not want a "Life Skills" teacher asking the students to list the positive aspects of pedophilia in order to provide a "balanced view".

[BmorePat87]

(04-20-2018, 09:01 AM)hollodero Wrote: 1) Also, highways.

2) I don't know if the fundamental concept of slavery is so hard to grasp. In that the obvióus benefit is, hey, there's work to do, I'd prefer someone else do it, and it'd be swell if I just owned that person and wouldn't have to pay for the work. I guess kids can relate to that.

On a most basic level that explains it, but if you pose the question to older students, they can discuss the  economic factors and the unwillingness of the South to industrialize in their answer... but of course explaining that this is a poor excuse for an immoral system. 

[hollodero]

(04-20-2018, 09:57 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: On a most basic level that explains it, but if you pose the question to older students, they can discuss the  economic factors and the unwillingness of the South to industrialize in their answer... but of course explaining that this is a poor excuse for an immoral system. 

Yeah I was going for the most basic levels, for the most basic kids. It's not like this level is untrue or irrelevant. All the explanations for the existence of slavery does have this basic aspect in it, and it doesn't have to be more complicated until the kids are older, meaning smarter.

I read asking for the "positive" in slavery as a question for why it existed. Sure, adding the "balanced view" was, say, unfortunate.

[Dill]

(04-19-2018, 10:06 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.chron.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-school-responds-to-homework-12847564.php?ipid=hpctp

Great Hearts Monte Vista, a local charter school, confirmed an 8th-grade American History class was assigned a worksheet titled "The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View."

Balance is important. There were good people on both sides.

Can't get that balance in public schools anymore because of leftists.

[Dill]

(04-19-2018, 11:08 PM)GMDino Wrote: Can't we understand a group while knowing there is no "positive" of a hate group or slavery?

Out of curiosity though what did you come with?  

• Teaches people how to keep their sheets very white.
• Encourages gathering in groups outside. Helps make like minded friends.
  

I agree that if we can understand why someone joins such an organization maybe we can try to get them out of it.  I just think that's different than looking for positives.  

And I think slavery is even more different.

There has been some interesting and "empathetic" research done on the Klan. But the point was not to look for "positives," rather how does the ebb and flow of its membership correlate to things like economic downturns or demographic changes.

[Dill]

(04-20-2018, 08:49 AM)Au165 Wrote: Discussing the internal struggle that some in the south went through in regards to the economical impact of slavery but the obvious moral dilemmas seems like a fair assignment. The assignment didn't really give any context of who's point of view it was supposed to be from or what the larger theme was other than a "balanced view".

It's hard to really judge the appropriateness without context. I do think though that we as a country need to do a better job of teaching kids early about empathy and while you don't have to agree with things others do it is good to understand how they could think those ways.

I do get the impression that all the kids have heard about is the negative side of slavery--loss of freedom, whipping, rape, abject poverty, poor rations, being worked to death, families separated on the auction block, people bred like cattle--and so some teacher wants to make sure they get the positive side too, why it wasn't all bad. If it were really all bad then why would God condone it in the Bible?

This sounds rather like a neoconfederate lesson plan to me, not an accident.

[*bfine32*]

(04-20-2018, 08:53 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: "Sure Hitler killed 6 million Jews, but he lowered unemployment".

It's definitely too advanced for their age, but, rather than asking for "positives", ask what motivated the South to want to preserve slavery and then have your students explain the immorality of slavery.

Is it your assertion that Jews of working age that were killed in the holocaust did not work?  

[BmorePat87]

(04-20-2018, 08:49 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Is it your assertion that Jews of working age that were killed in the holocaust did not work?  

No, I'm referring to the known Nazi policy of excluding women from the workforce that resulted in unemployed men getting jobs, lowering the unemployment rate. 

But that would have been a really cute attempt at trying to burn me on something, huh? Just use google next time before embarrassing yourself. 

[*michaelsean*]

If she said benefits, I guess you could come up with some for those who owned slaves, but positives is the wrong word to use.

[Dill]

(04-23-2018, 04:49 PM)michaelsean Wrote: If she said benefits, I guess you could come up with some for those who owned slaves, but positives is the wrong word to use.

Whoa Michael! 

List the "benefits" of slavery? That's the ok word?

Still a question Jefferson Davis would be happy to answer.

[*michaelsean*]

(04-24-2018, 10:16 PM)Dill Wrote: Whoa Michael! 

List the "benefits" of slavery? That's the ok word?

Still a question Jefferson Davis would be happy to answer.

Certainly there were benefits to slaveholders.  

[Dill]

(04-25-2018, 08:57 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Certainly there were benefits to slaveholders.  

There were benefits to slaves too, under the right circumstances.

https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/were-there-black-slave-owners/Content?oid=2160247

Free blacks were fairly common in the antebellum south, constituting 8 percent of southern blacks in 1840. Slaves who’d been permitted to earn money in their spare time sometimes made enough to buy their freedom. Another route was being bought and freed by free relatives or friends.

But some who bought slaves in this way didn’t formally free them for years, partly because freedmen paid higher taxes than slaves or whites. Courts since colonial times had recognized the right of free blacks to own slaves. This gave rise to an odd arrangement in which people lived as free but were legally someone else’s property.

Between 1800 and 1830 slave states began restricting manumission, seeing free blacks as potential fomenters of slave rebellion. Now you could buy your friends, but you couldn’t free them unless they left the state­—which for the freed slave could mean leaving behind family still in bondage. So more free blacks took to owning slaves benevolently.

Being a nominal slave was risky­—among other things, you could be seized as payment for your nominal owner’s debts. But at least one state, South Carolina, granted nominal slaves certain rights, including the right to buy slaves of their own.

Nobody’s sure how many such arrangements existed. A widely cited but imperfect source is the 1830 federal census. One count, taking the data at face value, found 3,777 free black heads of household who had slaves living with them. If that’s accurate, about 2 percent of southern free blacks owned slaves.