Racism? Or, just stupidity?

[FindersKeepers]

I vote for "stupidity."

A Social Studies teacher brought cotton bolls to class and said the students could race to see who could clean theirs the quickest.

All the kids. White kids. Black kids. All kids.

The mother of two 14-year-old black girls threw a fit.

You just can't make this $#@! up.

"For you to pass out cotton and to my children [and tell them] that essentially, they're going to pick the cotton clean and it's a race of who can get it clean first, that was extremely bothersome to me and my children," said the twin girls' mother. "Under no circumstance ... do they need to be taught what it's like to be a slave or what it's like to be Black."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/washington...ry?id=78086469

In reality, it could have been a fun assignment for the kids -- a break from their work. My husband's late grandmother used to pick cotton in the south--with a baby tied on her back and her other kids helping her. She was white.

Yes, some slaves did pick cotton. Others tended horses. Others cooked. Others worked in houses. To identify a simple fun task with slavery is the height of stupidity.

[Daily Bread]

Thin skinned $#@!heads like her need to be moved back to their ex homelands .

[Chris]

The mother does seem to be stereotyping.

[Mister D]

The mother does seem to be stereotyping.

She's an idiot. People keep telling me that I need to empathize with Black people or try to understand their pain. This doesn't help.

[Standing Wolf]

"Under no circumstance ... do they need to be taught what it's like to be a slave...

I read the article and it only made the situation more confusing. The mother is White. Is she objecting to the exercise on the grounds that it made her daughters think about slavery and that was what she objected to? I have to wonder where she stands on the CRT controversy - because if she's in favor of CRT teaching, the bottom line of which is essentially that people should be thinking about slavery all the time, then her reaction to the exercise makes no sense. Does she allow her daughters to read books about slavery or watch movies and t.v. shows that contain depictions of it?

From the article, the students were learning about the Industrial Revolution - specifically the importance of the invention of the cotton gin. That two - only two? - of the students in the class were Black is, or should be, irrelevant. Should the invention itself, and the effect that it had on the perceived need of the plantations for slave labor not have been mentioned because such a discussion might have made the girls uncomfortable or self conscious? Most slaves were brought to the New World on sailing ships; should mention of sailing ships be edited out of the curriculum?

It appears to have been simply an attempt by the teacher to provide her students with a hands-on experience - something that would bring the cold text of the lesson plan to life, in some small way.

[Hoosier8]

It’s racist to assume only black people pick cotton. My ex used to ride on her mamas cotton sack as her mama picked cotton.

[Collateral Damage]

I vote for "stupidity."

A Social Studies teacher brought cotton bolls to class and said the students could race to see who could clean theirs the quickest.

All the kids. White kids. Black kids. All kids.

The mother of two 14-year-old black girls threw a fit.

You just can't make this $#@! up.



https://abcnews.go.com/US/washington...ry?id=78086469

In reality, it could have been a fun assignment for the kids -- a break from their work. My husband's late grandmother used to pick cotton in the south--with a baby tied on her back and her other kids helping her. She was white.

Yes, some slaves did pick cotton. Others tended horses. Others cooked. Others worked in houses. To identify a simple fun task with slavery is the height of stupidity.

Creating angst where there doesn't need to be any. One can (and they apparently do) find racism in just about anything. This woman brings to mind a young lady that got bent about Hobby Lobby carrying a twig of cotton boles for country decor purposes. She put up a video about it, I don't believe it lasted long for the absurdity of it.

For those who find racism everywhere, they are demeaning the true racist events.... just as with everything else where 'wolf' is cried, it loses value and impact.

[Cotton1]

[MMC]

Just what Obama is saying, huh?

[Cotton1]

Maybe she was trying to prove a point that there is a record of some people working