If the Klan robes are revealing our sordid history, what’s the problem with historical reenactment?
Updated at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday with comments from the Anti-Defamation League.
Updated at 1:29 p.m. Tuesday with news on civil rights meeting today.
Without knowing the exact context of the school assignment, it is hard for me to get worked up over the four Lumpkin County students wearing Klan costumes. If the purpose of the class assignment was to show how cowardly, hateful and pathetic the Klan was, then I have no objections to the historic reenactment. I want students to see what guises hate has taken historically so they can recognize it today.
I would have asked the principal beforehand and likely sent a note home to parents, but all that may have happened in this case. It is not surprising that the sight of students in white robes would be startling, but I would want to see the finished product and whether it contributed to students learning about this dreadful part of American history.
A history teacher in Dahlonega was placed on administrative leave Monday after she let four students wear Ku Klux Klan outfits in a historical reenactment. Catherine Ariemma, a five-year veteran with the Lumpkin County school system, teaches an advanced placement history class at Lumpkin County High.
Her students were filming reenactments of various historical periods last week, and four donned Klan outfits, superintendent Dewey Moye told the AJC.
Students from other classrooms saw them as they walked through a hallway while wearing the costumes to an outdoor shoot, he said, adding that the parents of an African-American child later complained about it.
She said she continues to stand behind the video project and the lesson it was to convey to her students.
“This project was about racism in U.S. history,” Ariemma said. “Not just racism against African Americans, but racism as a whole.”
She said including the Ku Klux Klan was an essential piece.
“You cannot discuss racism without discussing the Klan,” she said. “To do so would be to condone their actions.”
She admitted that she may have made a mistake by letting the students film the Klan reenactment on campus.
“I feel terrible that I have students who feel threatened because of something from my class,” Ariemma told the AJC. “In hindsight, I wouldn’t have had them film that part at school.”
Ariemma is an award-winning teaching. Last year, the Georgia Senate passed a resolution lauding her “dedication to her students and her profession” after she was honored as Lumpkin County High School’s 2009 STAR Teacher. The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program is sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and recognizes teaching excellence.
Moye said Ariemma has never been reprimanded for missteps and that she has always been an “outstanding” teacher. But he said he could not ignore this incident.
She could lose her job over it.
The Anti-Defamation League weighed in Tuesday with this statement:
The Anti-Defamation League, today said that Lumpkin County School Administrators acted appropriately in ordering administrative leave for a teacher who allowed students to parade in Ku Klux Klan costumes in the school. The teacher, Catherine Ariemma, acknowledges now that it was a mistake to allow her students to walk through school in the Klan attire. “But,” said ADL Southeast Regional Director Bill Nigut, “unfortunately she should have known better than to allow it.”
“Some students tell us they were offended, others say they were frightened when confronted with fellow students dressed in Klan garb, one of the most toxic symbols of racism and religious bigotry in American history.” After a conversation with Lumpkin County Superintendent, Dewey Moye, Nigut said he was pleased that school officials recognize the seriousness of the incident. “We understand the teacher involved has had a stellar career but the school had no choice but to condemn her decision in this matter.”
And now there is a release about a meeting between Lumpkin school officials and civil rights activists Tuesday afternoon:
Civil and human rights leader Rev. Markel Hutchins has called a meeting today at 4:00 pm with Lumpkin County Schools Superintendent Dewey Moye, Sheriff Stacy Jarrard, County Commission Chairman Dr. John Radar, Dahlonega Mayor Gary McCollough and other officials to discuss the recent high-profile, racially tense incident of students wearing KKK attire at Lumpkin County High School in Dahlonega, a small city in North Georgia. The leaders will meet at the Lumpkin County School System and will emerge at approximately 5:00 pm to address the media.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
361 comments Add your comment
drew (former teacher)
May 25th, 2010
6:01 am
Much ado about nothing. It just amazes me what causes people to get their panties in a wad (except for PBM…his panties STAY in a wad). Yeah…let’s just ignore history and pretend the KKK never existed…like the Holocaust.
Good teaching gets trumped by a spineless adminstrator. So this is the reward for teaching outside the box. Teachers are constantly told that engaging students is the best way to improve learning. I guess from now on this great teacher will just lecture about the klan…or better yet, just show them a video.
The truth??? Apparently some sensitive souls can’t handle the truth.
Dramalonega
May 25th, 2010
6:29 am
It sounds like this has been blown way out of proportion. But Dahlonega is also known as “Dramalonega”.
GB
May 25th, 2010
7:23 am
Several comments:
Yeah, right: Rev. Markel Hutchins is helping to “quell frustration.”
Rider has a record of fighting.
It is not as obvious to me as it is to Moye that the teacher used poor judgment. The students were wearing theatrical costumes.
There are concerns about Rider’s safety? He is the one who threatened violence.
And Moye says this is a teachable moment. Of course. A teachable moment. Maybe he should see about teaching Rider not to react with threats of violence when he sees something he does not like. Maybe Rider has “anger management issues.”
Finally, I suggest a new headline: Black Student With Record of Fighting Threatens To Assault Thespians.
A CONSERVATIVE
May 25th, 2010
7:24 am
LIBERALs always reWrite history of that period…..SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS CREATED JIM COW & ALSO CREATED THE KKK….there were no republicans in the KLAN…..all southern Democrats…the liberal Media has lied about that history…just lied about it..
catlady
May 25th, 2010
7:28 am
Knowing some of the backwoods parts of Lumpkin County even today, I am willing to bet that most of the local folks who were upset were NOT the few black folks, but those who even today are involved in the Klan. You see, Ms. Downey, you cannot use the past tense with the Klan. They are alive and kicking in some parts of the state, and those that sympathize with them are legion.
So, please, I would posit that it is not political correctness, but, instead, the sensitivity that Klan members have to being made fun of that drives this.
One of my family members worked under Mr. Moye and found him to be a decent and honorable man.
catlady
May 25th, 2010
7:34 am
Early for the filter to be clogged….
Leigh
May 25th, 2010
7:36 am
And this is news how? I once saw a chair decorated with serial killers of the past in an APUSH class. Did anyone complain about it? NO! Get a grip people. It was just a class assignment, not a recruiting video. These AP assignments are done after students take the AP test, and are designed to let students pick something they have studied about over the course of the year and do a project on it. You people really need to get a life.
Proud Black Man
May 25th, 2010
7:39 am
It is so amusing watching the closet bigots work themselves in a lather because some “exemplary” teacher is supposedly being throw under the bus due to blacks over reacting. I call BS on all you tea (insert the name that cannot be mentioned)!
Logic 88
May 25th, 2010
7:42 am
Somehow I think if everyone saw the video that the advance placement students made everyone would agree there was considerable overreaction to this event.
Vince
May 25th, 2010
7:44 am
@PBM… Actually look through the standards and you will find it. I believe it is SSUSH10 d.
Are there other characters from history that cannot be depicted in a film or reenactment without the teacher getting in trouble? I would be terribly affronted by a student dressed as Malcolm X, Hitler, King Henry VIII, etc……
Just wondering….
Son of an Educator
May 25th, 2010
7:46 am
Gee, as a former teacher myself, I will attempt (foolishly?) to make this a “teaching moment”. Has your immediate family been “raped” or “lynched” or otherwised terrorized by the KKK? Do you have ancestors (parents, aunts/uncles, grandparents or great-grandparents) who perished in Nazi Death Camps? Let’s go a step further. Did you have relatives die on 9/11? Any family members killed on December 7th 1941? How about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? As a previous poster notes; what about Darfur, Rawanda or Somalia? Kosovo? Last time I checked, we are ALL members of the human race. To “segregate” or compartmentalize history, or to ignore 800 lbs. gorillas enables and perhaps even encourages racism, bigotry and religious intollerance. Discrimination is a fact of life. Life, at times, can be “offensive”. When one race, or one faith, or one gender, or one ethnic group claims title to “suffering” or “persecution” or suggests IT alone is permitted to be “offended” by KKK robes, Swastikas, Confederate flags, or burning American flags; we perpetuate racism, as opposed to confronting it. I pray you do not have teenage children, but if you do, you should move to Lumpkin County and enroll them in the AP History program. “…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am part of mankinde… …therefore, never seek to know form whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…”
Enough already
May 25th, 2010
7:46 am
To not FULLY understand history and to the impact has on us today is to be ignorant. If we are ignorant, then we will inevitably suffer through the same events again since we would not have that resource to learn from.
This was a mistake on judgment in not informing parents of the project, that is all.
Some of these comments are ridiculous. First of all, every one of our ancestors were persecuted at one time or another. How far back do we go to use this crutch? We are GENERATIONS away from what happened in the US. If you think that today’s racism only happens to Afro-Americans, than you are quite self-absorbed and on and pity wagon. Suck it up and deal with it. Racism is going to be around as long as there are people in the world. I wish it weren’t so, but it is.
To all the Afro-Americans out that think that they are being discriminated against, ask yourself this question and try to be honest with yourself. Are you seeking a racial equality or racial supremacy?
Elizabeth
May 25th, 2010
7:46 am
We are so careful not to “offend” anyone with the truth– if they happen to be nonCaucasian. I am not a racist, but every day my race is assaulted and vilified for mistakes made by those of long ago. Yet if someone wants to renevate a Confederate cemetaryor fly a confederate flag or pay at a foot ball game, we get vilified for it.
Its only me
May 25th, 2010
7:46 am
I am so sick of this. You have a history teacher doing her job…..Teaching history. This is America and she is teaching OUR history and yes it does include the KKK and slavery and all the past good and bad. Yet dont let anyone teach the facts. Just put Obama in the history books beside Bill Clinton.
I am so sick of this fight. She is a good teacher and because of her teaching ways these kids learn the facts. Ok, so she was wrong to let them prade through the schools, but other students also have to learn that its not all about them either. We are a country of mixes and that is a fact. Leave this teacher alone. The way I see it, we dont have a lot of teachers who love the job and do as well as this teacher. We need more like her, and to suspend her? What a joke. TEACH AMERICAN HISTORY THE WAY IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE LAND.
Oh by the way, Black history month insults me. You need to stop teaching that as well in schools. Think thats fair? Of course you dont. And Martin Luther King day is the only day that you support his teachings. The rest of the time you do what you want. Its only for your day off that you care.
Its time to shut up and let these teachers teach the history of the America and crying every time you dont like something. Its history people, deal with it. Its what made a lot of people who they are today.
Son of an Educator
May 25th, 2010
7:53 am
or perhaps the history editors would prefer GA and Lumpkin county adopt the Texas Board of Education model.
Sign of things to come
May 25th, 2010
7:54 am
Nabe….Maybe you should join the school kids and learn something. Might want to start with English…………”Methinks” ? What the heck is that. Oh I know, its what a 2 year old says when he/she starts talking. Grow up! This was a history lesson pure and simple. The KKK is part of history so deal with it!
Good teachers are few and far between. Let her do her job and shut up about what you dont like. Its not about you, its about AMERICAN HISTORY.
Vince
May 25th, 2010
7:55 am
Unbelieveable. Principal to principal….? You should have had her back, buddy.
Proud Black Man
May 25th, 2010
7:59 am
@ Vince
SSUSH10 The student will identify legal, political, and social dimensions of Reconstruction.
d. Explain Black Codes, the Ku Klux Klan, and other forms of resistance to racial equality during Reconstruction.
So you have to dress as a klucker to be able to “explain” this? You tea (insert the name that cannot be mentioned) have no shame do you? Lets face facts; the teacher made a piss poor decision. No wonder Georgia is fast on its way to being last in education.
Patricia Stultz
May 25th, 2010
8:01 am
Much ado about nothing, again. It’s history, so is the holocaust, the Civil War, etc. Let teachers teach and leave them alone! Why deny or ignore that it happened? Or say it didn’t happen (as some say about the holocaust).
Proud Black Man
May 25th, 2010
8:02 am
@ Enough already
“To all the Afro-Americans out that think that they are being discriminated against, ask yourself this question and try to be honest with yourself. Are you seeking a racial equality or racial supremacy?”
Fair question. I’m seeking a racial payback. Satisfied?
a_mom
May 25th, 2010
8:03 am
Wow. This situation is the perfect poster child for political correctness run amuck.
People are always complaining about education in Georgia. Here we have an outstanding AP History teacher, who was a 2009 STAR teacher, who was acknowledged by the Georgia Senate for her dedication to her students… but she could LOSE HER JOB over a re-enactment of an actual period in history. Unbelievable!!
So, do African-Americans protest Hollywood every time a movie, TV show, or theater production depict the Klan? Do you protest if it is mentioned in history texts? No, you’d probably protest if it was left out of texts, claiming some sort of white cover-up.
Incidentally, the same arguments could be said of any movie, plays or texts which covers the Nazis during WWII. I’m pretty darned sure they depict the Nazis in their uniform.
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Political correctness will be the downfall of this country.
Corey
May 25th, 2010
8:05 am
Hypocrites, your ignorance is glaring. Comparing the Black Panthers to the KKK? You really don’t know anything about the BLack Panthers. You are just repeating what you heard from others who don’t have a clue. When did the Black Panthers go into white neighborhoods and pulled family members out in the middle of the night and lynced them? The Black Panther Party started in Alabama as the Freedom Party during the Civil Rights Movement as an orginization pushing for voting rights. Sure the organization later became identified with more radical elements who left SNCC(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) because they thought SNCC was not aggressive enough in its fight against Jim Crow and racial inequality. The term “Black Panther” was coined by an elderly gentleman who joined the struggle against racial injustice. When the Freedom Party was looking for a symbol the elderly gentleman suggested a panther. “Until the lions have their historians the hunt will always glorify the hunter” – African proverb.
hotlanta
May 25th, 2010
8:10 am
Her interpetation of the Klan is not accurate. They are not wearing sheets anymore they are wearing 3 piece suits.
catlady
May 25th, 2010
8:12 am
Methinks is Shakespeare-era English. Also, watch out for “Much ado about nothing.”
Shelly
May 25th, 2010
8:13 am
What’s the problem? If history can’t be reenacted without people getting upset then maybe they still need to be kept it is obvious they can’t get on with life.
williev2000
May 25th, 2010
8:14 am
I’m African American and a retired school administrator. The problem with the activity was that there should have been discussion and full disclosure up front about what was happening. If handled appropriately and with care, it could be a great class activity.
Son of an Educator
May 25th, 2010
8:14 am
Proud Black Man, and how would you like to be “paid back”? You’ll have to get in line with the Cherokee, Navajo, Seminole, Delaware, et al; and let’s not forget the Polynesians of Hawai’i; the natives of what is now Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Oh, and the Eskimo-Aleut’s of Alaska. And even is there were some master plan or model for the racial payback you seek, how does firing or suspending a decorated educator fit into the mix? You need to get off this blog and call your Congressman to share your ideas. My guess is, he’s probably too busy being wined and dined by a labor union, defense contractor, drug company or some other special interest lobbyist. I suspect you will learn a great deal about American History.
Proud Black Man
May 25th, 2010
8:18 am
@ Son of an Educator
Not “paid back” but “payback.” This might help you to understand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsOmvSlPuys
theGMan
May 25th, 2010
8:20 am
When you are trying to teach kids brutal lessons from the past, sometimes you must push the limits. I applaud this teacher and hope for the best. Political correctness is killing this country.
Wondering
May 25th, 2010
8:22 am
I have been wondering . . . if everyone gets riled up over history . . . why doesn’t the Frontier Indians go on the warpath??? Heck, they had their homeland taken from them, rounded up like cattle and herded to reservations. Why would they be any different than African-Americans who are so upset over a piece of history. And also, why must you be called African Americans instead of just Americans?? Does that added part of the name give you more rights than the average American? If you are born in the United States you are an American period! Stop the foolishness if you really love America and just be part of society. History is history, like it or not.
Son of an Educator
May 25th, 2010
8:30 am
Proud Black Man, I don’t open YouTube links. FYI, I used “paid” as the past tense of pay. I understand the verb “pay” does not exclusively denote financial compensation. But, if you are seeking revenge or even justice, my guess is you will remain bitterly disappointed. As stated, it is not prudent or even possible for any American to seek or receive “payback” for the proverbial sins of our fathers. What is done is done. There is a difference between studying history and living in the past.
Muntu Obe
May 25th, 2010
8:35 am
Keith, regarding the 5/24 8:07 comment – This is the reason that racism is alive and well in Georgia and across America. How dare you say that all Black people are criminals and thugs. Do you realize that the President of the United States is Black? How do you live with yourself with your racist comments. The KKK murdered and lynched Black people for years and are still marching. How do you condone murder of any race of people for the colors of their skin. There are millions of professional Black folks at all levels of society. Racists like you should crawl back under the rock you came from.
AllHistoryTeacher
May 25th, 2010
8:41 am
Just another example of an out of control AP history/Humanities teacher – they teach only the brightest and think they control some type of think-tank cult mentality. I have seen this many times, they cross the line then think they are above reproach and have type of right and authority above others!. But one question, what was the group that was in the cafeteria – that wouldn’t have been In school suspension was it?
V for Vendetta
May 25th, 2010
8:43 am
Wondering,
Good point. Why don’t we just make a list of all people who have been oppressed throughout history, and those races, religions, and/or sexual preferences will be “hands off.” Of course, that would include everyone . . .
My ancestors were Irish. They came to America and were welcomed by signs that said “Irish need not apply” and what not (which led to an enormous subculture of Irish gang violence and crime in south Boston). No biggie. Tolerance always spreads. More education = more tolerance.
But that’s not what many of you are after. Some, such as Lee, are for resegregation and racial inequality. Some, such as PBM, are for the same, but for different reasons. Either way, they’re both ignorant. (Supporting your asinine viewpoints with a neverending stream of internet factoids does not make you relevant, by the way.)
There are more than enough things to dislike about people; we don’t need to use something as arbitrary as skin color to add to it. This teacher was showing her students the horrors and injustices that an organization such as the Klan embodies, despite what bigots such as Lee claims. She was doing her job–spreading tolerance by spreading education–and she should NOT be raked over the coals for it. If you don’t value, support, and honor teachers such as her, then it is YOU who is spreading intolerance by not allowing students to rise above the intolerance that surrounds them.
I’m sure the trolls will have something cute or pithy to say in response, but it will just be empty rhetoric.
Education = tolerance. We would do well to remember that.
rolliep
May 25th, 2010
8:44 am
The students were walking thru the cafeteria.You know they knew it would cause commotion. Don’t put all the blame on the teacher.
Maureen Downey
May 25th, 2010
8:45 am
To all, As regular Get Schooled posters know, race issues — or issues that provoke comments about race — are the most controversial and bring out the nutcases. While I give folks leeway, I have been removing some comments from this blog today that I feel cross the line. Let me know if you think I need a heavier hand. The consensus on this blog has always been to let people speak and the community respond. That said, there are comments that are simply unacceptable.
I think the best metaphor for a healthy blogging community is a front porch debate among neighbors. So, please be neighborly.
There are valid arguments on both sides of this question of Klan costumes. I appreciate those sane and thoughtful remarks.
Maureen
Learn the facts first
May 25th, 2010
8:47 am
To Proud Black Man,
Learn some facts before making ignorant comments. AP classes do not have to correlate to State of Georgia standards. Their standards are national standards put in place by the College Board. But since you asked, here are the standards this would apply to: 13 c. The politics of segregation: Jim Crow and disfranchisement, 15 f. Proponents and opponents of the new order, e.g., Social Darwinism and Social Gospel, 17 e. Black America: urban migration and civil rights initiatives, 19 e. The ongoing struggle for equality: African Americans and women, 24 a. Emergence of the modern civil rights movement.
Enough already
May 25th, 2010
8:47 am
@Wondering. Very well put. I wasn’t going to go there in my post. I didn’t want to be perceived as racist in order for my point to come across unobstructed. I am all for equality. I feel deeply about treating everyone with DUE respect. I cannot respect those that are supremacists, for they look down on others. That is unacceptable.
I guess I need to start referring to my self as Franco-American, as my Grandparents are from Quebec. I wonder how weird looks I’ll get.
Eric
May 25th, 2010
8:48 am
As a young black man, I don’t see anything wrong with the “project”. HOWEVER! Not notifying the Administrators and Parents was a bad choice in judgement. Being that we live in a world that the KKK is still prevalent made it bad judgement to not properly communicate to Admin, Parents, and Student body of the project. I know If I seen that as a student and didn’t know what was going on, I would of freaked out. Just the thought of what could of been unfolding ( A Massacre on Black students) would of been very startling to me. We had a situation when i was in school (the year 2000) where black students and faculty members lives were threaten if attended school. That was a situation that wasn’t taken lightly. Also there was a big cross burned in front of our school. And this did not take place in the South. I attended school in California. We have to be mindful of how we teach things of this nature. It’s a very sensitive topic and should be taken on with precaution.
ADO
May 25th, 2010
8:50 am
Pi$$onaDAWG
May 25th, 2010
12:06 am
Why don’t all the RICH BLACK SLAVE Bit..h and wine? The Pro Athlete is an Owned SLAVE.
This is about the most ignorant statement I’ve read in a while. Pro Athletes are performing a job just like the rest of us that actually work……what you’re really saying is…..”If I’m Black and I work, I’m a slave.
This teacher who supposedly is a star teacher (if this is an example of what star teachers do, I’m losing all respect I ever head for star teachers) should have known better than to stage something like that……it’s only aggravating the already tense racial problem in this country. It’s teaching blacks to hate whites more than they already do even tho blacks would be in a sorry state without us
See Zimbabwe and Haiti as examples
the prof
May 25th, 2010
8:55 am
PBM, was that you under one of those robes???
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
May 25th, 2010
8:56 am
As stated in the AJC’s story, the biggest failure here was one of communication … everyone should have been told what was going on and why, so that it could not be misinterpreted. Also, it’d have been best for the students not to don their costumes until they got to where they were going and take them off right afterward. I hope everyone learns from this and the teacher is not fired.
Cutty
May 25th, 2010
9:00 am
She should’ve let the other students dress up as black panthers and be done…………..oh……….. they don’t teach much black history in many schools? Except for the chapter on the Emancipation Proclamation and the ‘I have a dream’ speech? Oh! Either you tell both sides of the story or neither then.
Carol P
May 25th, 2010
9:04 am
How could an intelligent teacher not anticipate the problem she could cause by escorting students dressed in full KKK outfits, without explanation, through a predominately white school? This is not a hate group that no longer exists. On 9/11, I wonder how many of these same students would be willing to try an exercise where they donned burkas and the markings of the Taliban and marched into the cafeteria at a school on a military base? How about having those same students don their KKK outfits and send them to the cafeteria at a school in South Atlanta. You want to give your class a lesson in racism, why not try that on for size??? I’m white and from the south and your actions were offensive.
V for Vendetta
May 25th, 2010
9:04 am
Eric,
I agree, but remember, it is an AP class. These students are expected to perform and be treated like college students. Would you send home a letter to college students’ parents? I think not. If they can’t handle being treated as adults, then perhaps they shouldn’t take the class.
Maureen,
It is unfortunate it has come to this. Part of me thinks we should just let them through, but I have become increasingly cynical when it comes to the South pulling out of its persisting racist tendencies. (Note: I am most definitely talking about both sides of the debate: racism goes both ways.) However, I would contend that our topics regarding homosexuality have been equally charged with hate and intolerance. Must be all the open-minded religious folks down here.
Alecia
May 25th, 2010
9:05 am
A teacher that does not water down history lessons with political correctness. I can only wish that my daughter gets a teacher half as realistic,passionate, and creative in her future. What lucky students. History is filled full of unpleasant events and parents and teachers need to educated their children on this reality. The “offended” parent should have used the opportunity to educate their child.
We did a lot of re-enactments of different events in school. As long as the students are not burning crosses, making racist comments, using gas chambers, whipping students (several races in this category), I am fine. Also, the KKK does not discriminate soley against blacks. Anyone that is not WASP is their target. That includes my catholics, like myself and hispanics like my husband.
Learn the facts first
May 25th, 2010
9:06 am
@ Cutty,
Why don’t you learn a little bit about AP standards and the requirements placed on AP classes by the College Board before making ignorant, generalized statements about what you assume is being taught in schools.
Roy
May 25th, 2010
9:06 am
Great Jeez Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! Please! The teacher was working on a school history project, get over it! That’s like making a school documentary about, say, the WW II holocaust & not allowing any SS uniforms! What the hell would you have them wear for the film? A Brooks Brothers suit!
Maybe to placate some people the teacher should’ve had them wear pants hanging below the glutes showing underwear, and they could’ve driven up in purple caprices with renta-wheels, then hosted a deadly dog fight!!! Would that be OK??
chris
May 25th, 2010
9:06 am
Not sure what to make of this kinda of teaching. Most folks would rather not talk about such an ugly part of our history. Was it racist not sure it was really. We don’t want to just shove the evils of the KKK under the rug. Our society is and can be over the top politically correct. If the point was to show the evils of the KKK, then it makes sense. I kinda doubt it was some kinda of celebration of the KKK. Moreover, this open wounds in folks, but we do have to accept the facts of history, good and bad. I understand that this is a very passionate teacher, but you gotta use some common sense in terms of how to deal with these subjects.
Eric
May 25th, 2010
9:09 am
@Wondering
Actually we are aren’t African American. That name was given to us in a sense. I have never been to African. And that isn’t my true Identity. Most Blacks are made up of multiple nationalities but to classify race in America we were given the name African American or Black American (Black: Having some indigenous African decent). I think blacks and whites in America just live two different lives and have to work together on bridging that Gap!