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
>