The Florida Board of Education set new social studies standards for middle schoolers July 19.
In a section about the duties and trades performed by enslaved people, the state adopted a clarification that said "instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
Experts on Black history said that such language is factually misleading and offensive.
And no doubt it was those long days and strict discipline in the concentration camps that led Jews after the war to become successful in business.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with discussing slavery is that there is no good justification for it. You cannot ever say "Well it was bad except for..."
ReplyDeleteThe proper approach should be to point out that, until the 1800's, every major economy in the world, including Black ones in Africa, ran on slavery. Everyone did it, including the Blacks in Africa who enslaved each other and sold their fellow Blacks to the West. The US shouldn't try to find positives from slavery but to point out that they were unexceptional when it came to this crime and that the people who are pointing fingers at them were guilty of it to.