So you're a racist AND a sexist. How do the girls keep their hands off you.

Ok, let's assume that men have done more in the past. But you said yourself that women were important in American history yet are hardly ever mentioned in the textbooks. Are their efforts somehow less important than the ones by their male counterparts? American history textbooks go up well into the later 20th century, which women have already begun to take a larger part in history yet their mentions in the text are still ridiculously low.

It's because of the chauvinistic caucasian perspective of history that modern textbooks display that is the reason behind it.

What the hell does this have to do with anything?

What's important is what helped this nation arise to the point where it is today. And I'm sorry, but black culture is not as major of a part of that as what you want to think it is. Where our nation started was with a disagreement with england over religous rights. Pilgrims came here, founded a colony, eventually got pissed off at england, won our independance. In short. Obviously there's a shitload more in between there, but I'm going to assume you hopefully know all that and that I don't need to repeat 100 years of history.

Native Americans are part of America. Westward expansion? Interactions with the first settlers? European history which needs to be known to explain certain actions by Americans needs to be a part of curriculum. I'm with you (at least I think I am) though on saying that we do place too much emphasis on pre-american history.


No. How on earth are you going understand the need for the Declaration of Independence if you don't know about the tensions beforehand? That's very much a part of how America arose.

America started with the deaths of militiamen in the revolutionary war. Regardless, I hope you don't honestly think I think we shouldn't learn about slavery in American history classes. It's a large part of what America was, and what some people seem to want to keep it as today.

Read a fucking book if you want to know about it.

I know African history as it pertains to America. I don't give a shit about how Kenya arose, it has nothing to do with America.

And you have no fucking brains.

Please, explain to me why the hell I need to spend a week learning about AFRICAN history in an AMERICAN history class.

West African culture is an entirely different story. It is something that EXISTED IN AMERICA. Something with a DIRECT effect on American culture.

Learn the difference between the two.

Definitely so. But I'm talking about early American history :).

How, exactly, do we then go about fixing it? The problem with encompassing everything required to accurately--if such is even possible--teach American history comes in its massive scope: how can all of that--plus anything that's already taught, minus any revisions for accuracy's sake--be fit into current course time? Or, are students to spend 75% of their time taking history classes... which really wouldn't be all that bad.

I'm racist and sexist simply for acknowledging the FACT that men and europeans play a larger part in American history than women or minorities?

Get a dictionary. Look up racist. Look up sexist.

Racism and Sexism are actively discriminating against people simply because of their race and sex, respectively.

Realizing that men and europeans proportionately have a larger role in our history, and wanting our history classes as a result to spend an equally proportionate time learning about this isn't sexist or racist.

At least read the post, I was talking about AFTER THE FACT. African importation for slavery started for we need cheap labor and Africa was a convenient human source but after generations and generations of slave culture in America, the justification for keeping THEN to keep the slave culture alive and well was predominately RACE. And greed but they really touted the race thing because it appealed to the hearts and minds of fellow racists.

I use the words interchangably. God forbid I actually do something the rest of the fucking country does.

If you believe that cock and bull about pilgrims, you don't know a damn thing about history.

Do you honestly think that a whole new landmass ripe for the taking wouldn't attract other kinds of visitors, just a cult of people who hate sex and niggers? I mean christ.

But you don't want us teaching about the settlers before whitey, the tensions between them and the europeans; you don't want us teaching about the slave trade outside of America and how it impacted America. I don't know why you're so against education, maybe it takes funding away from auto class (lol whitey car worship).

America existed before those men were a twinkle in their fathers' eyes.

So I'm justified in assuming you know fuck-all about African history? No wonder you think it's not important in understanding American history or colonial politics.

Okay, honestly, listen to me here: America was a colonized continent, right? And so was Africa during the same time frame. DO YOU THINK THERE MIGHT BE POSSIBLY SOME RELEVANT PARALELLS BETWEEN TWO COLONIZED AND OPPRESSED CONTINENTS DURING THE SAME ERA OF TIME POSSIBLY?

No, you don't, because you're stupid and you're racist. Go buy a Dodge Ram.

Double Post:
Can you tell me about West Africa; the culture, the history, the location?

YOu can't be serious! You can't. Are you telling me that slavery and the pressures (tensions) between whites and blacks TO THIS VERY DAY have nothing on religious hissy fits in England back in the early 18th century?

The spanish and the french among others.

What became political America started with that colony, which is why it is given focus. The disagreements with those Puritans and England basically just grew until the Revolutionary war erupted.



You haven't been reading any of my posts.

I'm talking about political America. America as a country. I assume you just mean the land.

You are missing the point. The point there is no point in learning about how a bunch of fucking tribes in Africa killed eachother in why in an American history course.

Gee, you think that just might be the SLAVE TRADE? Something I've repeatedly emphasized should be taught in American History courses? Or have you been too busy blowing your top to read what I've been saying for the past hour?

Fixed.

Africans were brought here direct from Africa due to the slave trade. Slave traders stripped most of their cultural identity from them basically causing them to have to re-create their own unique culture. Most of this developed in the deep south. A different African-American culture developed in the North due to different ideals, beliefs, practices, etc, even after the conclusion of the civil war when freed slaves migrated to the North.

Fuck this. I'm not here to give you a history lesson. What do you want me to say, that they are all a bunch of fucking niggers with huge lower lips that like spicy cajun food and fried chicken? Would that satisfy you? Would that make you more secure, to think that I'm a racist?

Whatever makes you happy.

The feminist movement has at most a paragraph in most texts. Only Susan B Anthony is mentioned because she's on a coin, while other figures aren't even acknowledged and women's suffrage is reduced to several sentences at best. Also women's important role in many of wars and many important women politicians and other public figures are hardly mentioned.

And yet you have these huge chapters on bad meat practices when I'd argue that women's rights would be a much more important topic for the ~50% of students that are girls that are reading it.

You said yourself that women had an important role in American history, why aren't they portrayed more then? Instead they are barely mentioned and the instances they are, it's only a sentence or two.

The fact that you stubbornly insist that men and europeans have a larger role in history shows your innate ignorance on history as truth. You are lead to believe that history, or the history that is important anyways, is largely male and caucasian and you don't question it. History is ALWAYS about questioning what is given to us, do you really believe those textbooks you read are the absolute truth? Because history is not just one story from a couple very exclusive people, first hand sources, second hand, an unbiased view (because what we are reading IS biased), I'm sure you'd get a much broader and larger ranged and eventually, a history that is much closer to the real fact.

But for girls reading the textbooks, they are lead to believe that women aren't important because they haven't been in history. That's the real underlying issue, the sort of subtle inferiority you are giving the minorities and women because they don't see their own portrayed in what they are reading, in the history they are given. But it's so far from the truth because minorites and women HAVE been important but they just aren't accurately portrayed.

Apologies. For some reason I heard West Africa and made a completely illogical leap to the southern united states. Late night brain farts =/.

If you are learning about American history, in a standard 1 year high school course, all you really need to know about West Africa is that that is primarily where we got our slave labor from.

If we are talking about a college course for a history major, maybe a little more knowledge would be called for.

I was under the impression we were just talking about basic American history.

How old are you son?

Am I happy about this? No. And it isn't a sentence or two. Usually its a small separate section sandwiched between everything else. It should just be intergrated with the rest of the sections. There isn't any need to separate important American women just because they are women.

They have a larger role in American history, and men in general have a larger role in other country's histories also. You are so pissed off about historic injustice towards women that you can't just acknowledge this simple fact.

I and I hope noone else is denying the importance of women in american history. I don't see why its just a huge injustice just to acknowledge that due to the social status of women in the past, it has pretty much made it close to impossible for them to have a massive part in history until recent times.

I think the way history is portrayed is just a by-product of society's attitude towards race and until we change that, we can't really make drastic changes.

But a more well rounded view of history would be nice. The role the teacher has in teaching the students is also key, because a textbook is largely created to appeal to the masses and be as sanitary as possible when history is neither. To have a teacher more devoted to a more multicultural and bi-gender history would be the first step, who would supplement the text with his/her own information that the book leaves out. When you change kid's attitudes towards race and gender, it will eventually filters all through society.