Last night I signed an online petition requesting Marisol Alba and Sean Strauss, the teachers that lost their jobs for signing a student petition supporting a Black History Month presentation on Emmitt Till, get their jobs back. I'm number 75. I support these teachers, a Latina and white man, because their motivation was correct. Also the reason Mr. Strauss was given for his termination was troublesome.
In the letter terminating his employment, dated March 6, Strauss was said to have been "disparaging the school to students and parents and authorizing by physical signature a nonsupportive message to the administrative staff."
I guess my problem is I can't imaging them doing a reenactment of the lynching or anything. Well, that and the principal justifying the lynching as a response to sexual harassment.
You know, if they teach a fully integrated history of America I'd say a mention, like "the murder of Emmitt Till was a turning point," followed by a description of what came after the turn. But the fact is, nothing in American history make much sense without understanding what really happened.
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Yahoo | A People's History of the United States: 1492 to the Present author: Howard Zinn asin: 0060194480 |
 | Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong author: James W. Loewen asin: 0684818868 |
