Posted on 06/11/2005 1:13:55 AM PDT by MissouriConservative
PHILADELPHIA - In what could be a first in the United States, the Philadelphia school system will soon require that all high school students take a year of African and African-American studies.
Leaders of the school district, where two-thirds of students are black, hope the course will not only keep those students interested in their academic work but also give others a more accurate view of history.
“We have the opportunity ... to do something under our watch that is really going to do right by our students, to say, ‘We’ve come from some pretty great places,”’ said assistant superintendent Cecilia Cannon.
The course, already offered as an elective at 11 of the city’s 54 high schools, covers topics including classical African civilizations, civil rights and black nationalism, and teachers say it has captivated students.
At the nearly all-black Strawberry Mansion High School, the class chose a top student to have a $360 genetic test designed to help black Americans trace their roots back to Africa. James Sullivan, a senior, learned that his maternal family descends from the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, and that his ancestors came to the United States as slaves.
“There were tears in his eyes, but joy also,” said Principal Lois Powell Mondesire, who added that other students are now interested in genetic testing.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
All I can say is...."Oh good grief...."
I can see a predominately white school district having a "white" studies class mandatory.
Instead of what other subject?
Philadelphia schools to require African, black history
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1419797/posts
Muhammed Ali said, "I'm glad my granddaddy got on that slave boat..." after visiting Africa.
Article doesn't say....maybe a western civ class....you know how they hate to study about white europeans and other such trivial stuff anymore.
On the up side, I guess prior to this course, the students will have to learn to read first.
Revisionist history.
The "educators" are busily trying to un-ring a bell.
Wonder how many illegitimate children that will reveal.
Re: "class chose a top student to have a $360 genetic test"
and "other students are now interested in genetic testing."
That's big cash. I don't think many families will shell that $$$ out. Will the schools pick it up? Tax deduction?
Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., has assembled the largest collection of DNA records from West and Central Africa in the world, some 3,800 samples in all. The collection concentrates on ethnic groups in areas where most slaves in the United States came from.
Howard U plans to begin offering genetic testing so Americans of African ancestry can determine where on the continent their ancestors came from. In the meantime, Cambridge University Press, North America, is now offering a CD-ROM containing the records of two-thirds of all slave ship voyages.
Not if it replaces English.
Probably a useless subject like Math or English. Amen.
They still won't be able to count change, or balance a bank account, but they will be politicly correct.
Maybe the class ought to take a field trip to some of these African nations to get an idea of what they are missing. Maybe some of them will get to Somalia and the Sudan and see that slavery is still alive and thriving.
[Leaders of the school district, where two-thirds of students are black, hope the course will not only keep those students interested in their academic work but also give others a more accurate view of history.]
If there's interest as an elective, fine, but a requirement? Come on. This is totally inappropriate. There are hundreds of subjects that would better enrich these student's futures. High school is about building a base of skills that allow one to (a) get by as an adult and/or (b) go further in whatever direction you choose. Learning who your ancestors were 200 years ago is neither and the 1/3 who aren't black don't even get that.
No doubt, we will be reading in a year how Philadelphia students score below average on standardized college admissions exams. What a waste. I believe we will see a boom in private schooling in the next decades. The public schools are just ridiculously ineffective at basic education.
***** James Sullivan, a senior, learned that his maternal family descends from the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, and that his ancestors came to the United States as slaves. *****
Most blacks in this country have DNA from a lot of sources. few are pure African Negroes. Did the test tell this kid that perhaps he has some of Thomas Jeffersons blood or was any strain of white DNA left out of the report?.
So, how does a genetic link to a certain tribe prove that his ancestors were slaves?
It is still impossible to make a silk purse out of a sows ear no matter what courses are provided.
That's Philly history!
Something that I just have never been able to "get," is that I think most blacks (their families, actually) in the US have actually been here longer than many whites. You would think that should give them even greater ties to America. Now don't get me wrong, I know that in most cases, their ancestors were brought her as slaves, but then so were many Irish (not as slaves, but indentured servants), and their lives were nothing to speak of. But the simple fact is that slavery ended a very long time ago.
And American history is filled with things that American citizen who just happen to be black have accomplished.
Of course, there's the much touted George Washington Carver. But there are many others as well, far to many to count and list here. One example that's made a huge impression on me is Dr. Charles Drew, the man who developed the procedure for blood transfusions. Think of the number of lives his research saved. But the reason that he made such an impression on me is the fact that he bled to death after a car accident, when he was refused a blood transfusion because he was black.
I guess what I'm saying is that for the race baiters and warlords, it's important to reinforce the belief that all blacks are victims of slavery, and that this country is their enemy: That individual black people can't accomplish anything without them. And that if they were to actually study the amazing contributions that blacks have made to American society (often while being resisted by that society), then those race warlords are afraid that black people will realize the level of opportunity that America provides, and the fact that they can do anything that they set their minds to.
There's NO reason that a recent (legal) immigrant from Jamaica or the East Indies who happens to be black can succeed here, but 4th and 5th generation black people can't. Let me rephrase that... There shouldn't be. But there is. The race warlords work to ensure they have their job security, by trying to keep black people from succeeding! And then blaming it on America!
Mark Mark
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