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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 12/14/08

They Bound Their Hands and Feet

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It is a violation of an unnerving kind. We read so many things that sometimes we become desensitized, but when I read about two young black girls being violated by their own teacher, I was upset. The way they were violated sent chills down my spine. When a teacher is so bent on demonstrating her lesson to students, but fails to think things through before going through with such a bizarre way of demonstrating something, this clearly shows lack of forethought and preparation. When you tape the hands and feet of children together to demonstrate something, one has to be very careful. When you tape the hands and feet of anyone together, I would think that one should think about what they are doing, and what will be the repercussions of doing something so bizarre. I believe that this demonstration was a violation of those students' rights. I also believe that this teacher should be taught a lesson that she will never forget.

This teacher picked two young black girls from her class and bound their hands and feet, and then made them crawl under a desk so that she could demonstrate what the conditions were like for slaves on a ship coming to America during the Middle Passage. This part of America's history was a very dark period; Black Africans that were stolen, kidnapped and taken captive were brought to this country and sold into slavery. The dept of this period in American history was not taught where I grew up.

The American history that was taught left out of so much of the real history of the United States of America; many students that are now adults were never taught this integral part of what led to the America dream. As students they never realized to what extent their ancestral history played in building this country. So many sacrifices have gone unnoticed; sacrifices of a beaten enslaved people that were used to build this country were treated as if we were invisible. 

If this teacher was so bent on demonstrating and teaching this particular lesson in this way, why didn't she demonstrate this herself? It would have been easy enough to have the students tape her hands and feet, just as she'd done to those young black girls. Perhaps it would have been harder for her to make her way underneath a desk because of her size, but it would have demonstrated how tough it was on those ships.

This was not Hollywood where a film was being made, where actors might have done something like that to get a feeling of what that ordeal to be bound was probably like. Actors and directors do many things so that they could better portray a more realistic picture, perhaps they would have used something like this to get a feel of what it was like on those ships, but this was not an acting class or film, nor was it a theatre history class.

Why didn't the teacher present this idea to the school administrators beforehand, so that she could get some feedback on her project? Did she think that it didn't matter, and that this was the norm? This was a flagrant abuse of those students' human rights. How dare this teacher or any teacher put a child on that spot and humiliate and frighten them the way this teacher did.

In my opinion this was like a rape. This was unnecessary trauma; it was a violation, which was the rape of two young black girls' minds, which could possibly leave scars and affect them in years to come. One might say that this could be considered a kind of terrorism in a classroom.

Why weren't white students chosen to demonstrate this lesson, so that they could possibly feel how those slaves must have felt, so that they could identify more with their fellow black classmates and African American People of Color?

We read many times where the criminal binds their victims, where children and adults were bound and gagged by the rapist. Why use something like this which makes one think of the ugly things that have been done to women, children and some men? The imagery is not pleasant, and for young girls it can be horrifying. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E3DF1439F93BA35752C1A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=allhttp://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opncavtx/1749061.txt

Did the teacher ask them had they been beaten by anyone, tortured or forced to comply with any demands? Did she ask them would they be afraid or if they were afraid of being bound, and did she ask if they were willing to do what she told them to do? Did she ask the parents if it was okay to have their girls participate in this kind of class activity?

Did she ask them what they were told about slavery, or and what their thoughts were at their tender age about what happened to their forefathers and foremothers? Did she ask them any of these questions, or did she not think period? Did she tell them that many of those slaves were bound and beaten, and some of those beatings were so brutal that many were scarred for life and that others didn't survive?

 

Antagonism is not nice. Arrogance is really the epitome of stupidity at times. Ego has no place in any classroom, whether it be a White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, or whoever is teaching. Teaching should be done in an unbiased way when one is attempting to impart knowledge to their students. Unbiased doesn't mean binding your black students, black girls and making them crawl to demonstrate what this teacher says that she wanted to teach.

How dare she make a mockery out of black history, our ancestral history and say that it was done so that a lesson could to be taught! This was unconscionable, a travesty and an abomination of how a teacher should teach.

How dare she do this. Did she all of a sudden become stupid or was she always this way? Was she waiting for this moment to pull a stunt like this, and make a name for herself? Well if she was, the name is shame and she should be without a job. Also if one has to wait until the student is upset to define whether something is a bad idea, then perhaps this superintendent should be replaced.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,462785,00.html

What if these two young black girls had been previously victimized, and this only reminded them of that frightening ordeal? Children are tender; they are not as tough as their elders.

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One might say that writing has become my fondest passion; it is a love that always gives, and one that I feel comfortable sharing. I write because writing has become the voice in which I can speak to many people, share experiences, stories and (more...)
 
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