Posted on 07/27/2003 11:11:10 PM PDT by Michael2001
OBERLIN, Ohio -- A group of parents said they will fight a possible decision to allow a white teacher to lead classes in black history at Oberlin High School.
NewsChannel5 reported that the parents said using a white teacher would send the wrong message to black students.
A scheduling conflict could cause the district to reassign the black teacher who has taught the course for seven years.
The parents have protested the move to the school board, but the district's superintendent has not commented on the case.
LOL. I know one who would be perfect, but I doubt he'll take the paycut.
Then I want a white taught, "White History" class.
I mean, that's FAIR isn't it? Surely these parents would support such a proposition..
OBERLIN, Ohio, Updated 1:33 p.m. EDT July 28, 2003 -- A group of parents said they will fight a possible decision to allow a white teacher to lead classes in black history at Oberlin High School.
NewsChannel5 reported that a scheduling conflict could cause the district to reassign the black teacher who has taught the course for seven years.
Using a white teacher at Oberlin High School would send the wrong message to black students, said A.G. Miller, an associate professor of American and African religious history at Oberlin College.
"The message is that we are not concerned about the importance of your historical background ... that that is less important than a schedule conflict," said Miller, whose three children graduated from Oberlin High School.
Jaqui Willis, a black Oberlin parent, said the teacher is a role model and that removing him from the class would be detrimental to students.
The parents have protested the move to the school board, but the district's superintendent, Beverly Reep, has not commented on the case. Reep told parents at a school board meeting that scheduling issues would be addressed this week.
Schools and community leaders in the Cleveland area are split over the issue of whether blacks should be the only ones to teach black history.
In Cleveland, white and black teachers teach black history. A black teacher teaches black history at Shaker Heights High School, but a white teacher handles classes on oppression and human relations, both which deal extensively with race relations and slavery.
Little research has been done to determine whether same-race teachers lead to higher achievement by minority students. Ronald Ehrenberg, director of Cornell University's Higher Education Research Institute, said many researchers steer clear of the topic out of fear of being attacked.
Michael Williams, interim director of Cleveland State University's black studies program, said schools should choose a black teacher if that person is most qualified, not just because the teacher happens to be black.
If two teachers are equally qualified, Williams gives the edge to the black teacher.
"That person still has the advantage of the culture," said Williams, who is black. "They understand the nuances of the culture."
Phyllis Yarber Hogan, a member of the Oberlin Black Alliance for Progress, said a white teacher wouldn't be well-suited to teaching students about subjects like slavery.
"When you talk about slavery, students need to understand it is not our fault," she said. "Our ancestors did nothing wrong to be enslaved.
"How do you work through that when the person teaching it is the same type of person who did the enslaving?"
"That person still has the advantage of the culture," said Williams, who is black. "They understand the nuances of the culture."
What a load of rubbish! Last year, I had a college course in literature, featuring the old dead white people classics. It was taught by a black female instructor and was my favorite course. Never once did the fact that she is black detract from the course.
i.e. White teachers are "the same type of person" as slave owners...
Not all slave owners were white...Some blacks were slave owners and it was black tribes who sold rival tribe members to the slave traders...
Should a black be allowed to teach black history???
I thought there was a "compelling interest" in diversity that even trumps the 14th Amendment. Wait till Sandra Day O'C hears this.
I seem to remember reading in the "old days" politically incorrect history books that tell of tribal warfare in Africa where the victorious tribe would sell the vanquished tribal members who survived to Arab slave traders who then brought the soon-to-be slaves to the Ivory Coast where they were sold around the world.
This little dirty secret seems to be forgotten today.
Another little spoken of fact is that there were free African-American slave holders in the Old South.
This information could impair someone's victimhood.
They also demanded that the proper instructor would wear a size 9 and 1/2 shoe, eat frosted flakes on peanut butter and not use the word, "basically", in sentences.
Oh… Guess you haven’t heard yet. You’re not allowed to do that because it’s racist. You see as long as it is part of a liberal agenda, we have to allow for double standards. Here are a few to help you understand:
1. Just because blacks want blacks to teach black history doesn’t mean that whites are entitled to have whites teach white history.
2. If a school is created for homosexuals because they are a minority it doesn’t mean that Orthodox Jews can have a school just for Orthodox Jews on the premise of being a minority.
3. If people who elect not to work get free medical treatment paid for by workers taxes it does not mean that as a worker and taxpayer you are allowed to have the free medical treatment you’re paying for.
4. It’s within a woman’s rights to demand admission to a private club that is traditionally all male but it is not OK for you to join Living Well Lady.
5. It’s acceptable not to prosecute an illegal immigrant who is exploiting your tax base but it is wrong for you to think you will not be prosecuted if you elect not to contribute to it.
6. It’s fine for the UN to demand multilateral consent and participation with a situation like Iraq but foolish that we think we deserve the same consideration with North Korea.
Hope this helped clarify the world we are living in now. Try not to make the same mistake again.
A great text is Joseph T. Wilson's The Black Phalanx. It's a history of black troops in the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Wilson was in the 54th Massachusetts, and after the war interviewed every black soldier and his commander that he could find, as well as doing exhaustive research on black troops in US forces. But, because the book is so very densely written in the style of the emphatic, didactic late 19th century History teacher, most folks wouldn't be able to finish it.
Another good book is The Black Swallow of Death, about the first black aviator, Eugene Bullard. Bullard was from Georgia, and flew in the Lafayette Escadrille. He shot down a couple of German machines, and led an extremely colorful life. He spoke French and German, and during WWII spied on the Germans. He was finally fingered for the Gestapo. He made it back to the USA by the skin of his teeth, shot up pretty badly. He got the Croix de Guerre for his efforts.
The trouble is that none of these seriously tough hombres are of any interest to today's students, as they were extremely patriotic and some seriously bad dudes in uniform.
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