Mississippi Students to Learn About Civil Rights... (Tupelo, New Albany: chapel, private schools)

[aiangel_writer]

This headline in on our Local WTVA website caught my attention. Many times, I have found posts on here wondering about race relations, read many negative threads and posts on race relations, and had to bear thru comments on how we are so bad.

Well, this new pilot program is the first of it's kind in the whole country. IT is to teach our children and future generations and give them an understanding of our history while teaching them to rise above that history and become better people.

here is the news link:

wtva.com - Your Digital Information Center

[poptones]

You must be fairly near me, as you watch WTVA!

I'm not sure what this is meant to solve. I don't see many KIDS around here for whom bigotry is a problem - it's mostly the adults who have the problem. School isn't going to solve that. I know of a LOT of younger interracial couples around here which (if one is to believe Bullworth actually had an answer) only opens more hope still for the future.

From what I have seen, they need this sort of thing in Michigan more than Mississippi. But if it's not about that sort of agenda, then what? "Civil rights" covers a LOT of ground - wonder if they're going to teach our kids about the history patent and copyright law? About freedom of expression and right to association? About how corporations, through government lobbying, have replaced government as the primary source of oppression of these civil rights in America?

Naaaahhhh...

[aiangel_writer]

I am between Tupelo and New Albany.

You bring up some good questions. I hope though that this program will be something that will show the country that most of us have moved past the race issue and our state is proactive in showing this.

one can only hope.

[Huckleberry3911948]

i think the 1st lesson that needs to be learned is that civil rights is not about payback. way too much
revenge behavior played out in the schools. the kids did not learn that on their own they had help.

[Nivalis]

Here are some articles with added details:

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/civil_rights_added_to_schools_curriculum_081409/ (broken link)
Mississippi to make civil rights history part of K-12 instruction - Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com

Personally, I think that those who benefit the most from this are students that go to schools with overwhelmingly white majorities (say, 90%+) since schools with black majorities usually have majority black teachers who integrate civil rights in the curriculum on their own. I don't have any research, but having went to majority black schools all my life, this does tend to be the case.

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

i think the 1st lesson that needs to be learned is that civil rights is not about payback. way too much
revenge behavior played out in the schools. the kids did not learn that on their own they had help.

This is important. I've met some Afrocentric people who claim to have been "enlightened" (in reality, they just hate anything dealing with white people) after learning more about civil rights. Payback isn't the answer, especially considering that an African American was elected as president, and hopefully this curriculum gives room for a "we've come a long way" approach instead of an "evil whitey" approach.

[poptones]

I would imagine the only schools in MS with that sort of white/black imbalance are private schools, and private schools are not bound by this sort of state law - they can teach pretty much how they (and the parents who fund them) want.

If this is truly about civil rights and not simply "race relations" it will be interesting to see how it plays out. How is conservative MS going to teach (justify?) the current battle going on over our puritanical prohibitions on things like marijuana use and gay marriage? Civil rights are nothing new - Locke wrote about them and Jefferson defended them in his letter to the Danbury Baptists. One would think we'd already be teaching our kids this, but I sure couldn't prove it by anything my brother's kids seem to know about our Constitution...

[Nivalis]

NE MS is pretty white. I've found a few public schools in that area that are close to, if not exactly, 100% white. Some that I've found are West Union Att Ctr, Pine Grove High, Hills Chapel School, and Tishomingo County High. I'm nitpicking a bit here, but you get my drift.

Also, there is nothing I've come across to suggest that the curriculum will discuss the textbook definition of civil rights, unfortunately. The only thing I'm hearing about is the Civil Rights Movement during the 50s and 60s.

Maybe instead of stating that the curriculum will include civil rights, it should be stated that the curriculum will include "the Civil Rights Movement." I'm somewhat fascinated that there are public schools in this state that don't include this in the curriculum already considering the impact it had here.