Frances Wheatley

Tumblr user ultang-blog sent me a message asking me to investigate this painting after seeing this one from their hometown of Dublin. Specifically, to try and figure out who the dark-skinned man in the center here might be:

From the message:

One theory is that he might be Sake Dean Mahomed, the Bengali adopted son of an Anglo-Irish officer Baker whom he moved to Ireland with in 1784.

But these dates don’t match, unless he was visiting a few years earlier. Of course it is perfectly possible that the man in the picture is a completely different man. Being part of the British Empire at the time Ireland would have been the home of more than one POC. Either way I searched the site and couldn’t find anything on Sake Dean Mahomed, who is worthy of note anyway, having brought shampoo to Europe and opening the first Indian Restaurant in England. His grandson Frederick Akbar Mahomed is also note worthy as he was a famous doctor who helped refine the understanding of hypertension in the late 1800s.

This is a later portrait of Sake Dean Mahomed:

He may have been the first Indian man to publish a book in English: The Travels of Dean Mahomet. You can read his entire book here!

Now, whether or not the man in the first painting is the same as in the second one? Suuuper debatable. I did look into it, and I’d say there might be officially no way to know. The possibility of just some random guy being there is not without appeal, in my humble opinion. Not every historic person of color is going to be notable for some inspiring or exceptional reason.

We were just there. No reason. No “justification” for our presence necessary.

Just undeniably, visibly, factually there.

#art #history #medievalpoc #Sake Dean Mahomed #Ireland #India #politics #books

medievalpoc

sidestepup2thestreets asked:

Why don't they teach in schools what you blog about here?? If I had been given a more accurate version of past history in class, maybe I would have been more interested in the class, let alone much better informed on what medieval history really looked like.

Assuming that your question is not rhetorical, the reason(s) you might not learn anything about people of color in your history classroom might be because it is actually illegal in your state. For example, in Arizona anything considered “Ethnic studies” is banned by law. As in, it is illegal to teach. The case is currently ongoing, and according to the most recent update I have read, the fact that these laws are openly discriminating against students of color is painfully and embarrassingly obvious:

The Cabrera Report and the Cambium Audit are 2 major studies that prove Mexican American courses helps students pass standardized Math and English tests and graduate. Arizona fought to keep the findings from being used as evidence in court.

Arizona’s justification for ignoring the data was mind-blowing. Arizona argued that “student achievement is irrelevant.”

Evidently, generations of teachers have the concept all wrong. Here we thought just the opposite.

The sense this makes is nonsense. And the judges thought so, too.

One judge said that ignoring the findings, “… would seem to demonstrate evidence of discriminatory intent.”

You really do have to see it to believe it, and to do so-click here for a link to a video of the oral arguments.

[…]

The judges asked AZ counsel, “Suppose you had a class in Chinese Language, one that helps Chinese students, would that be illegal in AZ?”

The lawyer for AZ answered-“Yes.”

Even on his last day of office, outgoing Education Chief Huppenthal notified TUSD that an African American Studies course was breaking the law by teaching KRS-One Lyrics.

The political and financial battle over what is allowed to be learned also exploded in Jefferson County in Colorado last year, leading hundreds of students to stage protests and walkouts over whitewashed and inaccurate American History courses.

^^ Those petitions acquired more than twice the required amount of signatures required to force the resignation of the three School Board members who were trying to push the changes:

Activists behind the recall effort say the three have violated open-meeting laws, spent lavishly on legal expenses and hired a new superintendent at a salary significantly higher than his more experienced predecessor.

But the conflict that drew national attention to the state’s second-largest school district came last fall, when Newkirk, Witt and Williams indicated they wanted to “review” the content of the AP U.S. History course taught in county high schools because it failed to promote patriotism.

The College Board, which administers exams to students upon the completion of AP courses, revised the history curriculum in ways that have angered conservatives, who say it paints a darker picture of the country’s heritage and undervalues concepts such as “American exceptionalism.”

The revised AP history curriculum adds two periods: life in the Americas from 1491 to 1607, which addresses the conflicts between Native Americans and European settlers, and from 1980 to the present, which includes the rise of social conservatism and the battles over issues such as abortion, as well as the fight against terrorism after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and demographic and economic shifts of the 21st century.

Newkirk, Witt and Williams wanted to set up a new committee to review the curriculum with the goal of assuring that courses — in the words of Williams — “present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage” and “promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system.”Williams also wrote that “materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder [or] social strife.”

As an overall trend, more schools are banning books that deal with topics like diversity, racism, sexism, and gender and sexuality. The latter being needlessly fraught; consider the case of Northville, Michigan, in which a woman tried to get The Diary of Anne Frank banned because she believed Frank’s descriptions of her own body were “pornographic”.

When it comes to history that has already been erased, and people who have already been disenfranchised, consider The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a book about the Black woman whose cells are crucial to medical research today (and were taken without her knowledge or consent- I have read the book and it is quite harrowing). A woman in Tennessee is trying to get this book banned from classrooms because, according to her, information about cervical cancer is “pornographic”.

Also recently, consider the case of Chiitaanibah Johnson, a 19 year old sophomore student at Cal State Sacramento University.

When she told her U.S. History Professor Maury Wiseman that she disagreed with his assessment that Native Americans did not face Genocide, the professor said she was hijacking his class, was accusing him of bigotry and racism and she was expelled from the class.

“He said, ‘Genocide is not what happened.’ I stood up and started reading from an article by the United Nations that said: ‘Genocide is the deliberate killing of another people, a sterilization of people and/or a kidnapping of their children,’ and he said, ‘That is enough.’

“I said, ‘No. You have to tell the truth.’

"He said, 'If you want to come talk to me after class, now is not the time, you are hijacking my class.'”

After a bit more discussion which Johnson says became heated, the professor dismissed the class. Additionally, other students defended the professor.

“He said, ‘You know what class? I am so sorry to everybody that this is happening. Please everyone come back on Wednesday have a good weekend.’”

After the class was dismissed, Johnson said she was expelled from the course by her professor.

“He said, ‘I do not appreciate this in my classroom.’ He began shaking his finger at me and said, 'I don’t appreciate you making me sound like a racist and a bigot in my classroom. You have hijacked my lesson, taken everything out of context and I don’t care what kind of scholarship you have, or what kind of affiliation you have with the university, you will be disenrolled and expelled from this classroom.’

The people who are making decisions about what is and is not learned by students in grade school, high school, and even colleges are often not experts in these topics, but are rather politicians, administrators, and financial advisers.

The people who dictate what is and is not included in textbooks are often the same, and the companies that print them exert financial pressure on the people writing them to include or omit topics in adherence with various political platforms. An entire curriculum can be dictated not by historians, but by people like Don McLeroy, a dentist:

History, Winston Churchill famously said, is written by the victors. Don McLeroy no doubt agrees.

McLeroy is a dentist from Bryan, Texas, a self-described Christian fundamentalist, and an outgoing member of state school board of education (SBOE). Over the past year, McLeroy and his allies formed a powerful bloc on the 15-member elected board and pushed through controversial revisions to the statewide social studies curriculum.

“Sometimes it boggles my mind the kind of power we have,” McLeroy recently boasted.

To many Texans, however, what’s more mind-boggling are some of the revisions. Critics charge that they promote Christian fundamentalism, boost conservative political figures, and force-feed American “exceptionalism,” while downplaying the historical contributions of minorities.

And that is why they don’t teach this in schools.

#bisexualorbust #ask #medievalpoc #education #politics #american history #banned history #illegal history #political pressure #corruption

medievalpoc

anondo-deactivated20240630 asked:

I work at a historical archive in a southern US state. Ultra conservative legislature. Director is being pressured to erase anything from black history that will "disturb the peace" so to speak. Revisionist white washing. Was wondering if you or followers had any sources on why that's awful? Have to make argument to director. Trying to get director to stop, but we might be de-funded if we do. Need help if you have time/ want to help.

Well, this is depressing and disheartening to read.

Especially since your request is for “sources” to explain to the director of a historical archive why history is important and valuable. How is it possible that the value of art and history, the value of humanity, must be “proven” in order to save it from being obliterated, or taken away from the people who need it the most? This is anti-Black racism in action; this is its function. This is racism at its most insidious, its most destructive, and its most harmful. Also notice that what has been specified for removal is Black history in particular. As if the history of Black people is somehow capable of “disturbing the peace” just by existing, and being accessible to people who are interested in it.

But I suppose it’s part of why I do this, because we’re at that point, and we’ve been at that point in the U.S. for a while now.

When I speak on how history is constantly being reshaped to serve the present, this is one of the uglier sides of that. Although I try to show how histories that have been marginalized or erased can be celebrated, it’s almost impossible to do so without also taking into account the pressure that is constantly happening to shove it back to the margins, or to push it out of the sphere of human knowledge entirely.

When it comes down to it, the visual nature of this blog undermines the constant devaluation our society and culture directs aggressively towards Black Americans. It creates a conflict by showing an art style and origin that we’ve been conditioned and trained to value above other styles, but with subjects we are conditioned to devalue. The way people react to this conflict says a lot about them, and their values. For many it is uplifting, enlightening, and illuminating. Other react as if they’re being attacked. I don’t think I really need to state explicitly what factors associate with which reactions.

But honestly, do I really need to argue, does anyone need to argue that THIS has VALUE?

[Alessandro Longhi; Portrait of a Young Black Man. Italy (c. 1760s)]

What about the fact that Millie and Christine McCoy existed, and spoke five languages, sang and danced, and traveled the world? Does celebrating their existence and their fascinating lives somehow “disturb the peace”?

Is it somehow disruptive to society to celebrate the life and achievements of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, a learned West African cleric whose memoirs were read across Europe?

What’s being removed? The thesis of Jacobus Ioannes Eliza Capitein?

Or the works of Alexander Pushkin, the father of modern Russian Literature?

The works of of Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo?

Are we somehow causing society to break down because we know Saint Maurice existed?

We’re expected to “prove” this history has value? That it is important?

[Allegory of Music; Italy c. 1670s]

Maybe we should ask: what happens when these histories are erased?

We are left in a world where we could possibly never know the name or the life of this woman, seen in a photograph that was found on Ebay:

I can give countless more individual examples, and in fact I do so every day. The MPoC Tumblr alone has more than 5,000 entries. In the end, I have no idea how to explain to someone (whose job is ostensibly to preserve and celebrate history) that priceless knowledge and objects should NOT be tossed away like trash or shoved under the rug because of racism.

History is important. Water is wet. Human lives have value.

We are enriched by learning from the past, and acknowledging its bearing on our present. Erasing information undermines our humanity. These aren’t just ideas, this affects people living right now. It affects you, me, and anyone reading this.

I refuse to stand by and let this happen. I will continue to write about, share images from, and discuss marginalized histories as long as I have breath.

#history #racism #medievalpoc #bemundolack #Black history #WTF #disturbing the peace #erasure #politics #Anti-Black racism #violence

medievalpoc

Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, A Morroccan Embassy arrived in England. The best-known evidence of such contacts can be seen in the haunting portrait of Abd el-Ouahed Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, ambassador to Elizabeth from Muly Hamet [sic] (the only claimant to the throne of Morocco to survive the real Battle of Alcazar), which now hangs in the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon. El-Ouahed, who spent six months in London during 1600, was sent to the court to negotiate an alliance against Spain. Muly Hamet wanted an English fleet to help him invade Spain, a design too quixotic for Elizabeth's pragmatic diplomacy; his ambassador had to be content with trade agreements instead.

Performing Blackness on English Stages, 1500-1800 By Virginia Mason Vaughan (p.57)

You can read an overview of the Anglo-Moroccan alliance here. The alliance lasted for more than a century, and diplomatic missions back and forth were necessary to maintain it. Another portrait was made in the 1730s of Admiral Abdelkader Pérez, another ambassador from Morocco to the monarch of England:

#history #art #Elizabeth I #diplomacy #Morocco #England #Spain #alliances #politics #political history #Anglo-Moroccan aliiance #1600s #1700s #Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud #Performing Blackness on English Stages #Virginia Mason Vaughan

medievalpoc

Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History

thinkprogress.org

For some lawmakers, the bill doesn't go far enough.

An Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History class, persuaded by the argument that it only teaches students “what is bad about America.” Other lawmakers are seeking a court ruling that would effectively prohibit the teaching of all AP courses in public schools.

Oklahoma Rep. Dan Fisher (R) has introduced “emergency” legislation “prohibiting the expenditure of funds on the Advanced Placement United States History course.” Fisher is part of a group called the “Black Robe Regiment” which argues “the church and God himself has been under assault, marginalized, and diminished by the progressives and secularists.” The group attacks the “false wall of separation of church and state.” The Black Robe Regiment claims that a “growing tide of special interest groups indoctrinating our youth at the exclusion of the Christian perspective.”

Fisher said the Advanced Placement history class fails to teach “American exceptionalism.” The bill passed the Oklahoma House Education committee on Monday on a vote of 11-4. You can read the actual course description for the course here.

And apparently, instead of having students learn about critical thinking and varied perspectives on US History, they'll be learning about the Christian bible and memorizing Ronald Reagan speeches instead.

Advanced Placement American History (APUSH) is the same course that students were protesting to try and keep in Jefferson County School District in Colorado last year.

And South Carolina has also called the course "anti-American" and that it has a "liberal bias":

As another example of unnecessary negativity, Few cites the guideline’s inclusion of the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan in World War II in a list of “wartime experiences” that “raised questions about American values.”

“It was taught to most of us as having been a brave and heroic decision that ended the war,” she said, adding that if the critical perspective is taught, so should the positive one.“Nearly every other country in the world teaches their students patriotic lessons about their country,” she said, adding not doing so is “almost a national-security risk.”

Not to mention that this course was already revised at least once after criticisms like the ones above.

Students aren't taking this lying down, but they are losing the battle for their education:

Jenks High School junior Moin Nadeem started a petition Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to sway lawmakers to keep AP courses in Oklahoma. Nadeem is taking five this year, including U.S. history. He said the courses have improved his study skills, and will better prepare him for college.

“My heart sank,” Nadeem said of the vote. “It’s our right to learn. The state can’t say what we can and what we can’t learn.”

#history #politics #education #America #APUSH #the war for education #Advanced Placement

medievalpoc reblogged

medievalpoc

blessed-of-nymeia asked:

Is there a reason a lot of Egyptian art shows Egyptians as red/tan/white skinned? I'm given to understand that ancient Egyptians were Black/Brown Africans, close to Ethiopians or Nubians. But it seems when depicting those peoples, Egyptian artists did make them black/brown skinned. Have I/people in general just been given a carefully curated selection of Egyptian art that makes it look that way?

medievalpoc answered:

I’m not clairvoyant, and I have no way to form opinions on or explain the art you personally have seen in your life. I also don’t understand the category you’ve created of “red/tan/white skinned”. That doesn’t make an iota of sense to me.

It seems like every ask I get, there is an assumption that every human being who lived in Egypt during a several-thousand-year period was the exact same race, and can I please consult my Masterbook of The Races and confirm which race millions of people who died thousands of years ago were. I hope it’s clear that that isn’t a thing. Similarly, I can’t explain to you what you see when you look at art, especially works I haven’t seen and cannot reference. That IS kind of the point-it’s up to YOU what you see here:

And what you see will have been shaped by your own experiences and the way information has been presented to you.

If anyone needs an example of what I’m talking about with how artwork is presented and the information given about it, have a look at this work of Egyptian art, and then the museum description:

(Statue of two men and a boy that served as a domestic icon, New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E.)

All of the individuals in this small group are males, represented according to the conventions of Amarna art. The intriguing group has been variously interpreted as a family comprising a grandfather, a father, and a son, or as one man at three different stages of life. The latter is most unlikely as multiple representations of a single individual in one statue are not shown interacting as they do here. In fact, careful examination of the faces and figures confirms that the statue is a kind of domestic icon. The figure at left is a high-status individual and likely the oldest; he is probably a revered relative or the respected overlord of the man and boy who stand closely entwined with one another. The statuette would probably have received veneration in the household of its owner.

-

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Hielbrunn Timeline of Art History)

Or, you know, it could be a family portrait of parents and their son. I hope I’m not the only person who found the prevarication of that paragraph a little painful to read. If the older man really was an “overlord”, let me just say that Egyptian art for the most part didn’t really make that kind of distinction in a subtle way:

via The Brooklyn Museum. The small figures at the bottom are this man’s wife and child.

"Two men and a boy that served as a domestic icon" much more resembles this similar icon of the wealthy court official Seneb and his wife of similar rank and station, and their children (Seneb had achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism):

And, to come full circle, here is a work of art for your “red/tan/white skinned” category, I guess. Since all three different skin tones are depicted here.

Why is it so hard for people today to understand that what I am saying, what I have always been saying is that in the past, human beings were diverse, as they are today.

They had disabilities. They were gay. They had different skin tones, eye colors, hair colors, height, body shapes, et cet. They were good, evil, altruistic, selfish, humble, braggarts, powerful, helpless, benevolent and malevolent. The past is neither a cesspit of violence and depravity, nor was it a utopia filled with gentle and wise beings. There is no “everyone was [blank].”

For anyone who wonders, “were there people like me in the past?” The answer is an emphatic YES.

sweettsubaki

If I remember correctly my Egypt Art Lesson (which I do) Red/brown was the color used for men while Women were painted yellow (well I don’t know how to say it in english, in french it’s ocre clair), it appeared in the Old Kingdom Time Period. Their size was also a way to represent their social status. Basically egyptian ‘art’ was 3D Hieroglyphs to be taken in the other wold (some sort of records of their life on earth so that they wouldn’t live with nothing there). It’s just a compilation of codes.

medievalpoc

What you learn in class depends on your professor/educator. It depends on what political parties are in power where you live. It depends on whether or not your institution prioritizes including recent scholarship in their curricula.

There is no objective truth. There are few things more open to interpretation than symbolism in art history. I invite you to examine which avenues for interpretation have been closed off by this "compilation of codes" explanation, and why that might be the case.

#history #discussion #medieval reaction #Egyptian art Lesson #objectivity #the myth of objectivity #politics #power #dynamics #social dynamics #art history #education #sweettsubaki

medievalpoc

Conservatives want to rewrite the history of the Crusades for modern political ends

www.theguardian.com

One of history’s lessons is that any ideology, sacred or secular, that divides the world into ‘us versus them’ can and will be used to justify violence

by David M. Perry

At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama made a statement that you wouldn’t expect to be controversial: violence in the name of religion is a global problem and it’s bad.

He referenced the war in Syria, the killings in Nigeria, anti-Semitism’s resurgence in Europe and religious violence in India. He admitted that it can be hard to “counteract such intolerance. But God compels us to try.” Then he offered a longer thought about humility:

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.

The subsequent controversy fuelled by right-wing American commentators and politicians has shown that humility is in short supply.

The response was furious. Right-wing radio and TV talking heads aired long rants about Obama’s “attacks on Christianity”. Jonah Goldberg claimed the Crusades were a justified action against Muslim aggression and the Inquisition was a well-intentioned anti-lynching measure. Ross Douhat spent his morning on Twitter defending conservative Catholicism more generally. Redstate.com’s Erick Erickson declared that Barack Obama was not a Christian in “any meaningful way”. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal argued that since the medieval Christian threat was over a long time ago, we should just focus on combating radical Islam.

Read More at TheGuardian.com

This is a great piece on how the past is used to serve the present, regardless of how, why, and for what purposes. This is also why education, especially history education, is such a powerful political gambit in the United States. What we learn and how we learn it is dictated by political and financial agendas, and being mindful of that, we can have a say in how we choose to egnage with it.

#history #medieval history #politics #america #the crusades #POTUS #backlash #National Prayer Breakfast #Islamophobia

medievalpoc

Altar to the Hand of Ezomo Ehenua (Ikegobo)

Nigeria, Court of Benin (c. late 1700s)

Brass, 33 x 33 cm.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the kingdom of Benin, ikegobo, or "altars to the hand," celebrate the accomplishments of exceptional individuals. The hand is associated with action and productivity, and is considered the source of wealth, status, and success for all those who depend on manual skill and physical strength. Altars of this kind are commissioned in terracotta, wood, or brass, depending on the status of the patron. This ikegobo is an important historical document associated with the reign of Akenzua I. In the early eighteenth century, rebellious chiefs challenged Akenzua's leadership and threatened the unity and stability of the kingdom. Ehenua, Akenzua's ezomo or military commander, played a central role in defeating these forces and restoring order to the kingdom. In recognition of his heroism and service, Akenzua presented Ehenua with an ikegobo illustrating his military triumph. The artist who created this work, composed of a series of units, used costume, scale, and composition to denote the relative status of the figures depicted on the frieze. A monumental image of Ehenua, dressed in full military regalia and clutching trophies of war, appears at the center of a group of diminutive soldiers, attendants, and priests. Two rows of musketeers above the frieze include Portuguese soldiers, an indication of the degree to which European powers were engaged in the support of Benin's leadership at this time. A separately cast sculptural group sitting in front of these soldiers portrays Oba Akenzua in the act of performing sacrifices to his ancestors so that Ehenua will prevail and triumph over his adversaries. Finally, a carved ivory tusk, now missing, was fitted onto the brass peg between the soldiers. While most Benin art left the kingdom as a result of the British Punitive Expedition of 1897, Ehenua's ikegobo remained in Benin in the possession of his descendants, who inherited the ezomo title. Its regular use across generations is a testament to its continued relevance and vitality.

The language above used to describe what happened in Benin in 1897 is a bit disingenuous. The artworks didn't "leave"; the City of Benin was purposely looted and the artworks found there sold by the British to recoup the military costs. Many bronze and brass sculptures deemed not valuable enough were destroyed. The purpose of this mission was in retaliation for a previous military defeat, hence "punitive". The conflict came about because Benin was rich, and denied the British certain trade agreements. After they refused these agreements, the British suddenly became very concerned with practices in the area of human sacrifice and supposed mutilated bodies that hing in the streets, which was their justification afterwards for their actions in Benin.

You can read records from the Parliament here that it has been requested the the "bronzes" (they are actually brass) be returned. The British Museum, as far as I know, has been exceedingly reluctant to return the stolen items, claiming it is "keeping them safe", as well as complaining that they might have to return the rest of the stolen goods they house if they set that precedent.

#art history #medievalpoc #ikegobo #Portugal #Nigeria #court of Benin #brass #scultpure #Portuguese soldiers #politics #political art #colonialism #neocolonialism #The British Museum #Benin #The Benin Bronzes #Brass

medievalpoc

Truth in Texas Textbooks submitted a 469-page document of its complaints to the board of education. One complaint was against a Pearson textbook that showed Sam Houston in a “dress.” TTT was concerned by the “subtle message this imagery is conveying to impressionable 7th grade students.” (Pearson responded that the “dress” was “Cherokee garb from the time during which (Houston) lived with the Cherokee.”) TTT was also opposed to the “anti-American bias/subliminal messages” in a question about the Mexican-American War that made “the U.S. out to be the ‘bad guy’ and Mexico to be the ‘good guy.’” [...] A McGraw-Hill textbook originally dramatically understated the disadvantages black students faced during segregation. Originally, the passage said, “Under segregation, all-white and all-African American schools sometimes had similar buildings, buses, and teachers. Sometimes, however, the buildings, buses, and teachers for the all-black schools were lower in quality.” McGraw-Hill subsequently apologized for its earlier phrasing and amended the section to say, “Under segregation, the facilities of the African American schools were almost always significantly lower in quality.” [...] Texas history standards call for teaching about the influence of Moses and biblical law on America’s founding documents. Textbooks followed these standards. Perfection Learning’s Basic Principles of American Government said Moses contributed the idea that “a nation needs a written code of behavior” to the American government. It also recommends the Book of Exodus to students for further reading, an endorsement of religion. Other publishers, including Pearson and McGraw-Hill, in their attempts to meet Texas’ standards had sections on Moses’ contributions to the American Constitution. I testified about the major violations of separation of church and state in these textbooks, but all of these endorsements of religion remain in books that have been adopted for teaching history in Texas public schools. [...] These problems aren’t just Texas’ problems. Because Texas is such a large purchaser of textbooks, publishers shape their books to meet Texas’ standards and sell them all around the country. School districts in New York or California can teach their kids all about Moses now, too.

But as Jose Maria Herrera, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, pointed out, the war was “an event in which it is difficult to paint the United States in a positive light.” He was disappointed by the “scant treatment” of the Mexican-American War in Pearson’s and other textbooks. Rather than seeing subliminal messages, Herrera said the books engaged in a “deliberate attempt to avoid confronting a problematic era in American history.” Still, discussing the Mexican-American War at all is an improvement. In April, when the state board was considering a course on Mexican-American history, board member David Bradley, according to the Associated Press, “called the course ‘reverse racism’ and threatened ‘to pull a Cesar Chavez and boycott.’ ” Bradley then boycotted public testimony about the course.

-"Moses and the American Constitution", Zack Kopplin for Slate

Another recent article attempting to draw attention to the political wars that are currently writing, erasing, and re-writing what Americans believe is "history". I really hope you all read the entire article-it might shed some light on why I do this, and how many of the things we consider "facts" aren't neutral or unbiased at all.

#history #textbooks #United States #education #politics #bias #no one is objective #reverse racism #Zack Kopplin #David bradley #Jose Maria Herrera #academia

medievalpoc

It's becoming more and more clear that in the U.S., trying to learn history is becoming a political act

The history that you learn in school depends on which political party is in power in your district. Even college presidents are trying to control which version of History young people are allowed to learn.

People can say what they like about Medievalpoc "pushing an agenda". My point? There is no neutral ground. To tell a story is to have a reason for doing so; to write about history is to shape the way toward the future.

History is much, much more than dusty lists of dates and the names of deceased white men. History is dynamic, interpretive, constantly changing and a living, breathing past we can all see ourselves in. History helps us form our identities now. History is where we can learn what harm has been done, and what we can do to correct it.

It's my hope that we can all find opportunities here to feel empowered, inspired, and enlightened by History.

#medievalpoc #history #academia #activism #art and history #including history #identity #politics #education #the united states

medievalpoc reblogged

medievalpoc

Over 700 Jefferson County High School students are staging walkouts and protests over proposed changes to the Advanced Placement History curriculum. According to Colorado Public Radio:

Last week, a school board member proposed that advanced placement history classes be required to promote free enterprise and patriotism and be required to avoid classroom materials that encourage social strife or civil disobedience. Two high schools in Jefferson County closed Friday after dozens of teachers called in sick in protest.

According the online petition to be delivered to the School District:

Jeffco Public School Board has just proposed a change of curriculum stating that, “Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage.”

This means that important parts of our history such as the Civil Rights Movement, Native American genocide, and slavery will not be taught in public schools. If these important lessons are not taught, children will not learn from them, and what will stop them from happening again? This is a severe form of censorship intended to keep the youth ignorant and easy to manipulate. I’m hoping to get enough signatures to prove that this is a public issue, so, please, if this is important to you, please sign. Do not let our youth grow up in ignorance; we all deserve the truth!

You can sign the petition here.

You can read more articles at The Denver Post, CBS Denver (with video), and Colorado Public Radio.

Thanks to theseacaptainsdaughter for dropping a link in my inbox.

medievalpoc

UPDATE: Over 40,000 people signed the petition, which was presented to the School Board, but this backlash to APUSH isn't only happening in Colorado:

But at last week’s session of the Jefferson County Board of Education, hundreds of people lined up two hours in advance to get in. One man waved a copy of George Orwell’s “1984” at the board. Two high school students hauled in cardboard boxes containing 40,000 signatures to a petition they had circulated online. Another one told the five-member panel, “America was founded on what you are trying to prevent!”

Jefferson County has become ground zero for a new culture fight — this time over how to teach U.S. history to high-achieving 10th-graders.

[...]

On Sept. 19, the Texas State Board of Education went on record against allowing the new AP curriculum framework in state classrooms. Legislators and activists in South Carolina and Tennessee are discussing similar moves. And at its summer meeting in August, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution branding the curriculum “a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects.”

Read More

#news #APUSH #History #Education #U.S. Education #American History #activism #fight for education #politics

medievalpoc

Mitch Daniels: I Just Wanted To Keep Kids From Reading Howard Zinn

www.huffingtonpost.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University President Mitch Daniels on Friday stood by his efforts to keep liberal historian Howard Zinn's work from being taught in Indiana schools, saying the actions he took while governor were meant to keep the book out of the hands of K-12 students.

Daniels told reporters after a meeting of the board that a statement he made as governor that Indiana should "disqualify the propaganda" he saw being used in Indiana's teacher preparation courses was meant only to keep Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" from being taught in the state's K-12 classrooms.

"The question is, would this lead to this material being taught to innocent school children? I promise that if the parents of Indiana understood what was in the book in question, 99 if not 100 out of 100 would want some other book used," Daniels said after the trustees' meeting on the West Lafayette campus.

[...]

After being told Zinn's work was being used at Indiana University in a course for teachers on the Civil Rights, feminist and labor movements, Daniels wrote:

"This crap should not be accepted for any credit by the state. No student will be better taught because someone sat through this session. Which board has jurisdiction over what counts and what doesn't?"

Critics say the emails support their contention that he is not qualified to lead a major university.

Read More

#education #news #medievalpoc #history #Howard Zinn #Indiana #Mitch Daniels #politics #America #American education #Perdue University

medievalpoc

Over 700 Jefferson County High School students are staging walkouts and protests over proposed changes to the Advanced Placement History curriculum. According to Colorado Public Radio:

Last week, a school board member proposed that advanced placement history classes be required to promote free enterprise and patriotism and be required to avoid classroom materials that encourage social strife or civil disobedience. Two high schools in Jefferson County closed Friday after dozens of teachers called in sick in protest.

According the online petition to be delivered to the School District:

Jeffco Public School Board has just proposed a change of curriculum stating that, "Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage."

This means that important parts of our history such as the Civil Rights Movement, Native American genocide, and slavery will not be taught in public schools. If these important lessons are not taught, children will not learn from them, and what will stop them from happening again? This is a severe form of censorship intended to keep the youth ignorant and easy to manipulate. I'm hoping to get enough signatures to prove that this is a public issue, so, please, if this is important to you, please sign. Do not let our youth grow up in ignorance; we all deserve the truth!

You can sign the petition here.

You can read more articles at The Denver Post, CBS Denver (with video), and Colorado Public Radio.

Thanks to theseacaptainsdaughter for dropping a link in my inbox.

#History #education #medievalpoc #activism #protest #students #teachers #educators #Colorado #Jefferson County #American History #politics #censorship

medievalpoc reblogged

fandomshatepeopleofcolor

kny111

Why are conservatives afraid of Neil deGrasse Tyson?

I really liked some of the points made in this article save for the Bill Maher’s comment, didn’t really need it. But the general point made about a scientifically literate public bringing a political fallout was spot on.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has been the recipient of a seemingly bizarre political backlash — after the conservative magazine National Review penned a takedown cover story on the “Cosmos” host last week depicting him as a smug, intellectual bully.

The story struck many as odd given Tyson’s gentle, geeky presentation style. Comedian Bill Maher had Tyson on his HBO show over the weekend, trying to make sense of the backlash.

“You’re a scientist, and a black one, who’s smarter than [conservatives] are,” Maher quipped.

The line got laughs, but it’s worth remembering that Tyson served the George W. Bush administration as a member of the Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond in 2004. Conservatives have no problem harnessing Tyson’s intellect.

No, the danger Tyson brings to the political structure, as he gains an increasingly large foothold in the popular culture, is the threat of an informed populace.

“When you’re scientifically literate, the world looks different to you,” Tyson wrote in 2011. “It’s a particular way of questioning what you see and hear. When empowered by this state of mind, objective realities matter. These are the truths of the world that exist outside of whatever your belief system tells you.”

That may not sound radical, but the promise of a large, nerdy, young voting block that subscribes to Tyson’s sentiment is a threat to the political status quo — certainly Republicans, but Democrats as well.

Imagine if millions of young Tyson fans stopped searching for facts to confirm their personal biases, or ceased prioritizing using their education to leverage personal wealth, and instead sought the most sound solutions to identifiable problems for the betterment of the species. If the rising generation of young voters actually starts demanding rational, evidence-guided leadership, few in our current crop of elected officials would survive the political fallout.

Consider this: In 1995, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment — a nonpartisan panel of scientists and researchers assembled to offer objective technical guidance to Congress on scientifically complex issues — was stripped of all funding, effectively shutting it down. (Officially, it still exists on paper.) It has remained unfunded ever since. (Thanks, Newt Gingrich.) An attempt in May to provide a paltry $2.5 million to the office was stymied by House Republicans.

In a world where advanced technology has infiltrated nearly every corner of our lives — raising a litany of technical, ethical and legal challenges — our government is willfully scientifically illiterate.

The reason this status quo has been allowed to persist is that the general population isn’t much better. Conservatives continue to fight any attempts to combat climate change, while many liberals are refusing to vaccinate their children over fears of a nonexistent link to autism. It wouldn’t be hard to predict a liberal backlash against Tyson, similar to the one we’re seeing from conservatives, if he were to speak more prominently about his endorsement of genetically modified foods — one of the more scientifically unfounded banner arguments of the left.

Tyson is a threat to this cone of ignorance and self-interest. He’s a champion of knowledge and the human potential. He brings the fundamental belief that our species is destined for something greater than the interminable squabble between self-interested individuals and rival nations and dwindling resources — that our collective efforts can be applied to the pursuit of knowledge, ultimately paving the way for our exploration of the galaxy.

That’s a vision people can get behind. It’s also one that could potentially upend everything we know.

medievalpoc

Math and Science Week!

Source: Los Angeles Times

#Neil DeGrasse Tyson #politics #public discourse #Math and Science Week

medievalpoc

uncorrectedpersonalitytraits asked:

Thanks for your clarification regarding my trigger warning question. My ability to rationalize is often derailed by my own paranoia. Teaching in an incredibly conservative environment and in a system where administrative oversight has become suffocating has created a sense of defensiveness in me that often obscures my ability to see the bigger picture. Cries of Christian persecution and victimization is not uncommon in these parts, and I have jumped to conclusions.

It’s easy to be misled when there’s so much misinformation being put out there about this. The pressures of certain right-wing politics on our education system is a very real thing right now (especially in Texas), and the fear of censorship is justified, which I’ve written about many times before.

You were alarmed by something that was purposely crafted to alarm you, and it’s my hope that we can re-ground these conversations in reality, instead of wild speculation about “political correctness running wild” or other such nonsense. Part of my job is educating instructors on how to consider disabled students in the classroom, and I’m glad you asked.

#uncorrectedpersonalitytraits #medievalpoc #ask #answer #education #trigger warnings #disability #higher education #Texas #politics #politics in the classroom #disability rights

medievalpoc

There is not just one single true picture of history.

I'm very excited because xanthy-m has shared some more images from her trip to the Swedish Historical Museum!

This museum has created some incredible displays, framed in entirely new ways that shine a spotlight on how sometimes our ideas about the past say a lot more about our present concepts and attitudes than they do about history.

The original submission and commentary regarding it can be read here!

I've collected the ones concerning Vikings in this particular photoset. I am absolutely in love with how the historiographical framing for their display-the idea that these were "periods", much less the terms for periods, were created much, much later than that in which the people and events described actually took place.

Not only that, it points out (in clear, accessible language!) that these ideas were created with a purpose, and the purposes they were used for were not always good. You can read a little bit more about the many ways the idea of "Vikings" has been used in post-medieval eras, including for white nationalism, ideas about racial purity, and propaganda in the 20th century.

You can read medievalpoc posts concerning "Vikings" here.

#medievalpoc #xanthy-m #politics #Vikings #propaganda #white nationalism #history historiography #Nazi #museum #Swedish Historical Museum #museum displays

medievalpoc

The False Moderate Weighs In

inkytomes submitted to medievalpoc:

Arizona Materials

Hi, I’ve been following your blog for a little while, and I know the general focus is on earlier times in Europe but I thought you’d appreciate a link to some examples of the material from Arizona.

http://www.tu4sd.com/p/faqs-ethnic-studies_16.html

I realize this might be a bit out of bounds but I’d just like to say that while I think the intent of the content is admirable, some of the actual material is more divisive than educational. Advocating Thanksgiving become a national day of atonement strikes me as a tad extreme, a lot of it doesn’t appear academic… it reminds me more of angry bloggers on tumblr than a school curriculum.

On the other hand, I might not be the most objective person. Although I’m Puerto Rican on my dad’s side, he’s also in the military and a conservative, I grew up believing we were moving forward on all social, economic, and political issues and that we were the greatest country on earth. Since I became a history major in college I’ve been forced to confront a lot of things America has done though and it’s been sad, and horrifying. But at the same time I still like to believe the nation has a lot of good in it. Hence my mixed feelings regarding the materials from Arizona.

People in the US should absolutely be educated on how places like Texas and Hawaii became states, and how the native people were horrifically mistreated by settlers. But talking abut how American hangmen got drunk on eggnog after executing Mexican and Indian Leaders… I don’t know, what good does that do?

I’m not asking you to tell me what to think or how to feel about this, I don’t want to put that onus on you, and I’m certainly not implying you’re obligated to even reply back or deal with this, I’m sure you’ve already got plenty on your plate and as I noted above, this isn’t medieval or european really. But you seem like an individual that would have a broader base of knowledge to draw from and might be able to offer some perspective on this that I don’t have, and I would greatly appreciate that.

Finally, my apologies, I have a lingering notion this entire message was ill-advised and mostly rooted in my need to vent about this to someone, and again you have no obligation to dignify this message with a response.

Well, let's start at the end, why don't we? You think this whole message "was ill-advised and mostly rooted in [your] need to vent". And yet, you still sent it.

The content is basically: maybe teaching Ethnic Studies is divisive (and therefore should be legally banned).

You think that a class in Social Justice/Government/Latin@ Literature "reminds [you] more of angry bloggers on tumblr than a school curriculum."

Let's take a look at a quote from an analytical piece, that delves into popular perceptions of this particular blogging platform, shall we?

Tumblr genuinely is younger than most other social platforms, and more diverse. A greater proportion of its users are people of colour than on any other major platform. Women users make up a higher percentage than anywhere else bar Pinterest. Teenagers over-index dramatically.

And while Pew and other research agencies don’t tend to ask about sexuality or gender identification, LGBT visibility in Tumblr fandom is very high.

What looks to dim outsiders as some kind of obsession with “social justice” often just springs from people talking about themselves, their lives and the shit that happens to them.

This is what happens when the twain do, in fact, meet.

The REASON this sounds more like an "angry tumblr blog" to you than a curriculum is because curricula LIKE it have been BANNED BY THE GOVERNMENT. The logical place to go in this day and age as an educator, if you have been prevented from educating, is somewhere you can continue to do so.

This is why the societal segment of the relatively privileged come to tumblr and see a strange and topsy turvy world in which the people who have been systematically, economically, educationally, and and institutionally SILENCED are speaking, although it almost guarantees ongoing harassment as a price.

You have literally asked:

People in the US should absolutely be educated on how places like Texas and Hawaii became states, and how the native people were horrifically mistreated by settlers. But talking abut how American hangmen got drunk on eggnog after executing Mexican and Indian Leaders… I don’t know, what good does that do?

This says something to me, and that is

1. That you were educated about atrocities in American history in an impersonal way that spoke of numbers but didn't make it seem "real", or place blame on the perpetrators

2. You believe that learning facts about how white colonizers celebrated the murder of the leaders of indigenous and/or people of color doesn't do any "good"

So...you literally think that education should erase things that make white colonizers look culpable for actual atrocities committed, and focus on things that make them look, what? Noble? Honorable? Full of idealism?

That is not a moderate view. That is not objective. That is literally the position of the Tea Party:

Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.”

The same Tea Party that, in Tennessee, removed references to "the slave trade" and replaced them with "Atlantic Triangular Trade" in 2010.

^I think people are REALLY MISSING the fact that I am TALKING ABOUT THINGS THAT HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED.

Ultraconservatives wielded their power over hundreds of subjects this week, introducing and rejecting amendments on everything from the civil rights movement to global politics. Hostilities flared and prompted a walkout Thursday by one of the board's most prominent Democrats, Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi, who accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" curriculum standards.

By late Thursday night, three other Democrats seemed to sense their futility and left, leaving Republicans to easily push through amendments heralding "American exceptionalism" and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention.

"Some board members themselves acknowledged this morning that the process for revising curriculum standards in Texas is seriously broken, with politics and personal agendas dominating just about every decision," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom.

^ Even conservatives have criticized the system by which these changes are decided and implemented. The problem is they are, right now, teaching literal LIES in classrooms. This is LITERALLY WHAT IS IN THE CLASSROOMS RIGHT NOW:

Numerous attempts to add the names or references to important Hispanics throughout history also were denied, inducing one amendment that would specify that Tejanos died at the Alamo alongside Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Another amendment deleted a requirement that sociology students "explain how institutional racism is evident in American society."

Democrats did score a victory by deleting a portion of an amendment by Republican Don McLeroy suggesting that the civil rights movement led to "unrealistic expectations for equal outcomes."

Damage control on a proposed change that would suggest that the civil rights movement was bad is now, apparently, a "victory".

OH, and what else did they delete from Sociology? SOCIETY:

In the field of sociology, another conservative member, Barbara Cargill, won passage of an amendment requiring the teaching of “the importance of personal responsibility for life choices” in a section on teenage suicide, dating violence, sexuality, drug use and eating disorders.

“The topic of sociology tends to blame society for everything,” Ms. Cargill said.

They have literally rewritten history textbooks ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES:

"This is a battle for the soul of education," said Mavis Knight, a liberal member of the Texas education board. "They're trying to indoctrinate with American exceptionalism, the Christian founding of this country, the free enterprise system. There are strands where the free enterprise system fits appropriately but they have stretched the concept of the free enterprise system back to medieval times. The president of the Texas historical association could not find any documentation to support the stretching of the free enterprise system to ancient times but it made no difference."

How bad is that? Well, Texas more or less sets the standards for what is and is not printed. The lies, conjecture and overt bias in these books is severe enough that other states tried to keep them from coming in for use in their schools, but it didn't work.

^^^That is what is being taught to children all over the United states, right NOW, and has been since 2010.

But this is what LEGALLY BANNED. This is the syllabus from YOUR LINK, for Interdisciplinary Senior Literature:

Instead of this^^^^, which is ILLEGAL, they are teaching out of books that HAVE REMOVED THOMAS JEFFERSON COMPLETELY FOR BEING "TOO LIBERAL".

We have gotten to the point where anything remotely resembling a "middle ground" is shrinking like an ice floe in Arizona, much like our middle class.

The truth doesn't matter, because our education system has become nothing more than political gambit.

You can't stand back and say "well, maybe BOTH sides have a point" when one "side" has already completely obliterated the other.

But, we didn't die.

I wonder why those BANNED MATERIALS

"remind [you] more of angry bloggers on tumblr than a school curriculum."

Wonder.

#education #America #The United States #U.S. education #political gambits #Ethnic Studies #banned education #politics