Shedding light on slavery in the north

[saraphen]

Educators want more public school students to know

OYSTER BAY, New York (AP) -- A group of mostly white seventh and eighth graders sleepily sauntered into their school library one recent morning, soon to get a surprise awakening about a part of their town's history they never knew existed.

"Did anybody in this room know there were 60 enslaved Africans, people, human beings, buried a mile from here?" Alan Singer, a professor at Hofstra University, asked them. "Those people have been erased from history. It is as if they never existed."

Singer and Mary Carter, a retired middle school social studies teacher, were in Oyster Bay to speak to the kids -- part of a quest to develop a public school curriculum guide focusing on slavery's impact in the northern U.S., specifically New York.

Their efforts have been buoyed by state legislation enacted last year creating the Amistad Commission to examine whether the slave trade is being adequately taught in New York schools.

The commission, one of a number formed around the country in recent years, is named for the slave ship Amistad, which was commandeered by slaves who eventually won their freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Many people are surprised when you talk about slavery's existence in New York," Carter said. "They're surprised because it's taught as something that happened in the South."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/03....ap/index.html

One day OurStory will be part of the general curriculum!!!

[goodcookinmama]

amem to that
it should have a long time ago

[shankems2000]

Originally Posted by saraphen

One day OurStory will be part of the general curriculum!!!

Hopefully, but right now it seems that white people believe that any divergence from euro-centric teachings is a threat to the educational system in America.

[tiptop53]

A couple of years ago did they not find slaves buried in NYC and was not NYC the place that slave where auction from before they where sent to the other 13 colonies. May be this is why Morgan Freeman wants our history made apart of american history. Last year congress just found out we built alot of DC. Slave owners rent out slave to bulid parts of the nation captial. There is alot of stuff white america does not know about us. We are more than just slaves and thier decedents. America would not be if it was not for all of the free labor.

[MrAtlanta]

Yeah, slavery was big business in New York. Not nearly as big as it was in the south, but big nonetheless. Some of the very first slaves to arrive in this country, arrived through what was known as New Amsterdam during the 17th century. To ward off any possible attacks from the British and the Native Indians, the Dutch used slave labor to build a long wall along the northern edge of New Amsterdam as fortification. This long wall was built and situated where Wall Street now exists, which is how Wall Street got it's name.

I don't see how anyone could overlook the role the Dutch played in the slave trade in the North, and the MAJOR role our ancestors played in building the chief financial district of New York City. Most black people probably don't even know that the name Harlem, as in Harlem, N.Y., is a Dutch name. These are things black students really should know.

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by goodcookinmama

amem to that
it should have a long time ago

Agreed. It's more than long overdue. I'm glad that I'm not the only educator who is incorporating our history into the regular curriculum. Hopefully, this will encourage districts accross the nation to get with the program.