3rd Grade Perspective on Race

During our Social Studies period, the kids and I were having a discussion on the the colonies and the founding of Jamestown. Because the history that is taught tends to be lopsided, I infused in that same conversation how the Europeans of the day treated the Native Americans and how many African men, women, and children were forced over to the colonies.

I also mentioned that those of us who are African American in the class (all), were descendants of slaves and that slaves were considered property.

Somewhere during the conversation a kid said,

"That's why we can't come to school and act up because that's just what the white people want us to do. We come here to learn."

This is from an 8 year old black boy. His opinion is real to him and necessitates a conversation and he felt comfortable enough to express that thought to his black male teacher and classmates.

What I didn't do was shoot down his opinion. At 8, he already has some thoughts about how he sees the world. I did address the fact that the racist ones probably would expect that behavior from him and that not all white people are racist.

Mildred Taylor's, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken"

For the xth time I'm reading the sequel to Mildred Taylor's, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. The book, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, picks up where the first book leaves off. With each rereading of books that I love, I get something different out them every time. With each rereading, I read with a different set of experiences based on which I form different opinions and draw different conclusions from previous readings of the books.

This is how reading and English classes should be; discussions of themes in literature based on the myriad experiences and background knowledge that students bring to the classroom. In this education reform era, teaching, much to our chagrin, has become everything but!!!

In any event, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent. My primary point was that this book deals with themes that we are very much experiencing today: race relations, unionism, the coming of age of a 14 year old black boy, unemployment, the role of strong women holding down households, etc.

Movies, videos, and games cannot capture the experiences that can be had in the reading of good quality books!!