A sprinkling of Haiku’s and Poems from middle schoolers reflecting on our lesson regarding the Lost Cause.
A note on the lesson: The students read both primary and secondary sources that discussed the rise of the LMA’s and the UDC. The prompt was to use poetry format to answer one of the following questions: “What was the Lost Cause Narrative?” or “How was the Lost Cause Narrative Spread?” What follows is their own assessment based on their prior knowledge of enslavement (both colonial and antebellum) and the Civil War. You may find our classroom textbook here.
On October 25, the New York Times released a visual story on their Instagram page with pictures and short blurbs of men and women who were making the choice not to get vaccinated. The stories discuss their reasons which ranged from hesitancy regarding the safety of the vaccine to fears about breastfeeding to religious reasons.
However, what they did not include were pictures and short blurbs about men and women who could not* get vaccinated. This is an important part of the puzzle and leaving out this piece of information glorifies the idea of choice, rather than the idea of social need.
Because you see, by choosing for non-medical purposes to refuse the vaccine, the unvaccinated are making a choice for those who can’t get the vaccine for medical purposes.
*The Times did release an opinion piece that went into more detail – but let’s be real, people get their news from social media
Barriers and Misinformation
Before I go further, I want to note that I’m very aware of the barriers that prevent people in the United States from getting the vaccine. Not having a car, living in a rural space, communities mistrusting medical providers for various reasons – I understand these. Additionally, there’s been a raft of misinformation – largely for political purposes – regarding the Coronavirus and Vaccines. I get it. Don’t at me.
Can’t is different than Won’t.
Recently I had a student break down in my class because his mask broke. He’s a student with underlying medical conditions already. As he descended into panic mode, he told me he was afraid he was going to die because he was only able to get one shot. He had a bad reaction to the first one, and the doctor said he couldn’t get the second. This wasn’t a choice that he and his family made – they tried to protect him. However, he’s only partially vaccinated because of necessity, not a choice.
Ok…So What?
The conversation regarding vaccination often revolves around those who are making a choice to remain unvaccinated. I think this is in an effort to humanize and understand the various reasons so many refuse the vaccine. However, there are people who actually can’t get vaccinated. Up until recently, that meant any child under the age of 12. It also means those who had an allergic reaction to the first shot, those who are undergoing chemotherapy, or those who have other underlying health conditions.
This is important because vaccination provides a shield for the most vulnerable people in the nation. While an unvaccinated person may feel comfortable taking risks with their own health and their family’s health; those who can’t get vaccinated are forced to remain in isolation. Telling the stories of the vaccine-hesitant glorifies that choice, and leaves out an incredibly important piece of the puzzle.
The unvaccinated are preventing children from going to school, preventing families from seeing their loved ones, and very literally may cause the death of another person.
The voices of the medically vulnerable deserve to be heard. Large news outlets like The Atlantic and The New York Times should do better, and flip the narrative.
And, if you aren’t vaccinated. You should get vaccinated.
It’s a serious post, so here’s a dog eating pasta.
Although this is a post that is specific to my personal state, I suspect that characters like the one I’m going to talk about today are present in every school board in every state. If you don’t already know, school boards are elected officials, with quite a bit of power to dictate what students learn – and don’t learn – in school.
And, in the wake of the pandemic, school boards have a lot of eyeballs on them. Over the past five weeks my state school board alone has heard arguments over masks, voted on anti-CRT legislation, and recently the most contentious school board members posted anti-LGBTQ propaganda.
That’s right, I’m talking about Natalie Cline. I’ll tell you this, I had to really be thoughtful in making this post, as well as consider whether it’s worth it. Natalie Cline has a track record of personally targeting educators. When she chooses to target someone, she has a mass of far-right followers who threaten, harass, and scare the individual she’s targeted.
Well, she’s been censured by the state, but I’m not sure it solves the problem. She was elected in the 2020 election, which means she’s been in her post for less than a year. During that time she’s caused controversy after controversy, and seemed to lob insults at every community who is not her own, insular, far-right, religious community.
OK…So What?
Although Biden won the presidential election, locally elected posts have been filled with Natalie Clines: far right conservative politicians that scrambled their way into local politics. While the Democrats were focused on the Presidency, the conservatives were winning locally. This is a problem because local politics matter and local politicians are much more likely to make an impact on your day to day life.
Cline, for example, is part of a board who decides what your child does and doesn’t learn in school. If Cline had her way (and she didn’t) I wouldn’t be able to say the word “systemic” in my classroom. In fact, because of Cline, a fellow teacher straight up asked me if I taught CRT. Why? Because I was the history teacher. No other reason.
Politicians like Cline do nothing more than put stress on an already burdened system. Their cult of personality requires that they use incendiary language to inflame their cult of followers, causing local politics to spend time on ridiculous amendments and demands.
It’s like that one kid in class who always shouts out because they think they know the answer, but they never do. Except this time, it’s an adult who’s in an elected position with absolute power to bring the class to a screeching halt over nothing.
Our own local politician, Natalie Cline, is currently under censure. However, she’s elected and with us for the next three years. So far, Cline hasn’t succeeded in pushing through much of her agenda – but when the arguments over CRT wane that’s when she’ll strike, affecting the education system in Utah for years to come.
This is why I’m constantly screaming about local politics on my blog. It impacts you, your children, and the citizens your children grow up to be. Education matters. The Conservatives know it, and they’re targeting education laws because of it. We can’t let censorship into our schools. History, real history, deserves to be taught. If not, we will continue to perpetuate the very things we’re fighting against.
Don’t let the Clines of the world make you fear speaking out. Stand up for what you believe is right. Stand up for educators, stand up for children. Do it in your home, your office, your schools, your gym. Be vocal. This is no longer “feel good” politics. Disagreement is natural and correct. In fact, it’s only wrong when viewed from a lens of partisan politicians who believe any criticism is an attack on their character.
Local boards could vote to bring these suckers back, because kids should “learn what it’s like to get burned.”
On Monday, the nation celebrated what is now proclaimed as Indigenous Peoples day. Previously, it was called Columbus day. The name of this day has been the cause of quite a bit of controversy over the years, but while the name change is a good step forward, it doesn’t really do anything actionable for Indigenous People in the United States. Americans will continue to receive the day off whether they call it Columbus Day or Indigenous People day, and the worst kinds of these people will whine about the name change.
That whining is what I want to talk about today.
It is well documented that Columbus is the worst. He stumbled into what is modern day Bahamas by luck and/or accident. He wrote about how he planned to enslave the people he encountered, and he was so awful that he was brought home in disgrace and jailed. There’s no real argument that he was awful.
The argument comes in whether we can judge him for how shitty he was.
This is something that comes up a lot when people talk about history. I say something like “UGH, I HATE Columbus.” And, inevitably, some dude bro (probably Deuce) says “ok, but you can’t judge someone in history based on modern day values.” As though it was perfectly fine to rape, murder, exploit, and enslave people (it may surprise to you find out there were laws back then.)
You too, may have run into this problem when talking about history. This idea, that we can’t judge historical actors is usually a bad argument. It’s an attempt to shut down the conversation while still uplifting one of the “hero’s” of history that’s on the decline. Because here’s the thing, it’s true that we shouldn’t judge historical actors based on our modern day values (though there’s another argument about “progress” in there somewhere). However, we CAN judge historical actors based on how contemporaries judged them.
Take Columbus for example. I’ve already mentioned that the Spanish monarchs had him jailed for tyranny he was doing in the new colonies. But if we only talk about colonizers, then we are missing a large part of the story.
You see, we are missing the voices of the exploited.
The argument of “you can’t judge someone on modern day values” excludes the judgement of people who were colonized, enslaved, and exploited. It takes away their agency and their story. The Indigenous People of what became the Bahama’s weren’t like “Oh hi, yes, please! Take my land, take my labor, take my body!” NO, they resisted. They did not want Columbus to exploit them. Their voices matter, and the argument of “don’t judge” ensures that the voices of victims remain obscured.
Ok…So What?
People who were exploited, colonized, enslaved – all of them resisted. Their constant, daily resistance was a judgement against their exploiters. They judged Columbus, just as enslaved people judged their enslavers.
So, when someone is shitty in history, your first thought should not be “Yes, well he was shitty but…” *gestures* “It was the 1500’s” *shrug*. Your thought should be, “how did people resist this exploitation?” Because guaranteed, the people being exploited did not want to be exploited. They had agency, and they absolutely judged.
Part of growing up is complicating the stories you thought were true. That includes the people who were pitched to us as historical hero’s. We can and should judge them, and we do that by listening to the voices of the exploited. As a nation, and as a people, this is the only way we can “progress.”
It’s no surprise to find out that Facebook is complete trash. We’ve known that Facebook is complicit in lots of things, including election meddling. Now, we know that Facebook and Instagram are doing damage to teens 13+ and under 13. And, honestly, we all knew this anyway, because social media can really mess with us mentally.
But…what do we do about it?
It’s very difficult for me, as someone who is connected to so many people on the internet, to say something like “burn it down.” We know Facebook is shit, but places like Twitter or Tik Tok also come with a ton of problems. However, these apps, and the internet, connect us in ways we’ve never been connected before. Never has that been more apparent than the past 18 months as we’ve lived through the isolation of Covid.
Social media as the Triangular Trade
In class, I often bring up the the internet and social media as a sort of modern day Triangular Trade. If you don’t know, the Triangular Trade (you may have learned it as the Columbian Exchange, but fuck that guy) is the global exchange of people, plants, animals, goods, and diseases.
The triangular trade ushered in a new era, opening the world in a way it had never been before. People were suddenly connected to a world across the ocean. They talked about it, read about it, ate new foods, learned new information, and some moved there and became colonizers.
But contact also meant that 90% of indigenous people died. It meant that millions and millions of Africans were enslaved in the Americas. It meant that the people and the land was used, abused, and forever remade to shape a new vision of the world.
So, you know. Not great.
Ok…So What?
In the years after 1492, there were many people who wanted to make gobs of money by doing absolute shitty things. Why? Because it didn’t matter, they’d be rich, so they took advantage of an opportunity.
That’s kind of like Zuckerberg right now. Facebook is shitty – but so are a lot of internet companies and people. The internet is so new, and we are all still learning how to use – and abuse – it. So what can you do about it?
Focus on the kids
Look, we can’t hide the internet from kids, it’s here, and they are way better at internetting than we are. They have finsta’s (fake insta’s), they have Tik Tok, Facebook, and Snapchat (also terrible) and they will and do hide it from you. I know, because I’m a teacher, and they will straight up tell me that they hide social from their parents.
Adults must have hard conversations with kids. These conversations must center around teaching kids how to be good internet citizens – just like we should try to teach them how to be good global citizens. How do you do this? Well, you, as the adult, must be willing to set rules, and follow them. This is super difficult, but there are apps for that. My family has Disney Circle, which allows us to limit access to the internet on their devices and see what they are looking at. This provides them with autonomy, and it provides us with control. This isn’t the only option available though, so do your research and find what’s best for your family.
You should also speak to your kids, or kids in your life, frequently, about the internet. Don’t demand their phone and go through it. Instead, build a tech relationship with them. Discuss the pros and cons of the internet. The pro’s and cons of apps. Teach them how to Twitter, and lead by example.
Because, bottom line, tech is progressing at an unprecedented pace. As an average human, we don’t have the ability to stop shitty people from being awful. However, we can teach our children, and ourselves, how to be responsible on the internet. How to spot bad facts, how to look up valid sources. Essentially, we have to learn how to consume the internet without it consuming us.
Recently surfaced early photo of Christopher Columbus (colorized). Strange resemblance, right?
If you’ve been a part of the interwebz at all then you know that the way history is taught in k-12 schools is underattack. I’ve already created a few blog posts that discuss the attack on history and here I am again, singing another song. This time it’s a ballad.
School boards and/or state legislatures are attempting to ban certain language in a history classroom. This is an insidious move, because language matters, and the way we speak about the past matters. By attempting to ban specific language, Conservatives imply to their base that “systemic racism” and “equity” either doesn’t exist or are an attempt to make white people feel bad.
Do you teach CRT?
Before school started, a colleague straight up asked if I teach CRT. I asked them to define what they meant by CRT. This person said “well, like, do you teach about systemic racism?” and I said “yes, because racist systems have and do exist in history.” Then, I said “why don’t you define what you mean by the terms “systemic and racism'” They couldn’t define the terms.
This is a problem, because Conservatives are spreading fear about language to a base that doesn’t even understand the language being used.
So let’s break it down.
One word that makes every “banned” list is the word “systemic.” Of course, systemic simply means affecting all parts of a system, whatever that system may be. In a historical sense, it usually means the system of laws that define our nation.
And see, here’s the thing. We do have systemic racism built into the very fabric of our laws. This is true now, as well as historically. Banning the word only bans the history, which perpetuates bias and…wait for it…more systemic racism.
If you’re saying, yes, but what laws?! Well, that’s a long answer, but I’ll give you a run down. I wont even talk about the slave codes or the 3/5 compromise. Let’s talk about citizenship and the rights of citizens.
Dred Scott v Sanford stated that Black people in the United States (free or enslaved) were not citizens. It wasn’t until the Fourteenth Amendment that the Black community received citizenship (Indigenous peoples wouldn’t receive citizenship until 1924).
Ok ok ok, that was so long ago right? Well yes…but…we know that the Reconstruction Amendments didn’t fix racism, instead it was woven into laws in different ways. For example, Black men were segregated during war time until Vietnam. Often, this meant that Black families couldn’t benefit from the service acts that came after WWII.
These are just a smattering of real, impactful, lasting laws that were made by this country that directly impacted citizens. These laws weren’t based on birth, rather they were based on heritage and skin color.
So…they are examples of systemic racism!
OK…So What?
One thing that Conservatives don’t want to feel is guilt for the past. Another thing they don’t want is the education of demonstrable truths. You see, if teachers educate students in straight facts about the laws in our nation, then the students might grow up to tear those laws apart, resulting in a loss of privilege for Conservative politicians and their base (white liberals I’m eyeing a lot of you too).
The strategy to teach a Conservative history of the United States is not new. However, this is its current iteration. Just like book banning, the banning of language is an attempt to hamstring teachers from teaching about the darker parts of our American past. Here’s the problem with that attitude…we can’t continue to “progress” if we don’t change.
And there’s the crux of the matter. Change means the loss of power and priviledge. It also means discomfort and reckoning with actions of the past. Redlining was legal until 1968, and it still exists outside of the law through “standard practices.” This is not a long ago past, this is our present. Until we fix the laws that treat citizens unequally, we will never be a United country.
School board elections are as important as national elections
I have a lot of “soap boxes” in my life. One is that history is the most important subject to learn. Another is that we as individuals, communities, nation, and as a world, must make radical changes to save our planet.
Let’s talk about the intersection.
I teach American history to 7th and 8th graders. As part of the curriculum, we delve into the colonization of the Americas, the Triangular Trade, and the enslavement of Africans. My MA is in American history, with an emphasis on colonial enslavement, so these are always some of my favorite lessons to teach. It’s also where those seeds of climate justice can begin to be planted.
Most adults know, at some level, that the colonization of the Americas was a brutal process. 90% of indigenous Americans died as a result of disease and tens of millions of Africans were enslaved and brought to the Americas. However, what’s not often talked about is how brutal colonization was on the land as well.
Turned out, the Americas were perfect for growing cash crops (rice, tobacco, indigo, sugar, cotton, among others). With the indigenous population dying from disease and enslavement, Europeans had more access to fertile land. So what did they do?
They wrecked it.
Europeans forced their enslaved labor to cut down the forests, damed up the waterways, and burned the land, why? Those money making cash crops. They wanted gold and glory, and honestly they didn’t fucking care what it did to the people or the land – as long as they could live how they thought they should live. This goes for any colonizer, by the way. Don’t at me and tell me that the Quakers didn’t like slavery. I fucking know. They still took land and made it their own.
OK…So What?
Colonization is the brutal extraction of resources from the land and the people that live on the land. Which, really, is no different than what hundreds of companies are doing now. This is why history is important and this is why history teachers should intersect their lessons with lessons about climate injustice.
You see, if students understand the motivations of European Colonizers, they’ll also recognize the motivations of oil companies that try to put pipelines on sacred land. If students understand the remaking and reshaping of land for capitalistic purposes, they’ll understand the continued destruction of the Amazon Rainforest. If students understand the enslavement of humans for profit, they’ll understand the use of migrant labor for farming and other industries.
Look, the “other side” (by which I mean the conservatives who think I teach some random version of CRT) try to control what’s taught in history exactly so that effective change is not made. So that the profits continue to roll in – gold and glory and all that. Therefore, it becomes essential to teach real history. The truth. Not a garbled and whitewashed version of it.
History has the power to create radical change makers, and all you have to do is connect the dots from the past to the present.
Hipstory 