Lyle,
I wish I'd said what you said.
Gus
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 9:48 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Nat Turner and unchanging history
> On Jul 2, 2007, at 11:50 AM, Anne Pemberton wrote:
>
>> Gus,
>>
>> It would be a rare fourth grader who would be able to read and get
>> sense out of that document.
> We are there in agreement.
>>
>> I was thinking more that the teacher would point out that Nat
>> Turner sought to free his people from slavery, even if the attempt
>> was unsuccessful. The bloody details would not be appropriate for
>> 4th graders any more than the bloody details of other wars are
>> generally provided to this age group. It is the ideas, intents, and
>> the sincerety with which the ideals are pursued that would be of
>> interest at this age. Freedom is a powerful idea that is understood
>> at this age, and the knowledge that slaves did not quietly accept
>> their condition without any attempt at rebellion can be quite
>> comforting to those children who see the folley of one human owning
>> another.
> Children can see the folly of human ownership, true. But the
> literature is replete with examples of small "rebellions" without
> bloodshed by which enslaved African-Americans coped with their lives.
> To then put that on the same footing with the intended slaughter of
> any person of another race is way beyond any moral teaching out
> there. That is the danger. You use the past as prelude. If, for some
> catastrophic reason, one of us ended in slavery, one would hope that
> actions taken to achieve freedom weren't futile, resulting in death
> and then worse for those who remained. That can be taught. But it
> needs to be taught at high school or higher where nuances can be
> dealt with. You rail against mass murder by authorities, but say it's
> OK for someone else oppressed? I think not.
>
>
>> In the same grade, the children also learn about Martin Luther King
>> who achieved gave his life for his ideals which were met after his
>> death.
> Putting Nat Turner on a par with MLK is as absurd as putting him on a
> par with GW & TJ. It just doesn't work. It's a very mixed message.
>
> Lyle
>
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