The mother of Houston, Texas middle school child was not happy when she saw what was in the child's text book about immigration. The book stated that Africans came from Africa as "workers" during the Atlantic slave trade. "Workers implies wages … yes?" she later wrote. The post went viral and the complaint was heard the McGraw-Hill. After reviewing, they decided that the section does in fact need editing. The online text book is to be edited immediately and the paper textbook is to be edited with upcoming editions.
Analysis: This mother was completely correct. Africans were not among the European immigrants who came to work out of free will. They were forced on to ships and for centuries forced to work as slaves and were not even considered to be human beings but were considered to be property and possessions.
Read here: www.cnn.com/2015/10/04/living/mcgraw-hill-slavery-textbook-mom-complaint-feat/index.html
Maybe the textbook writer wanted to shield children from the harsh reality of slavery. But that's the worst thing they could do. They made it seem like it was perfectly okay and not a big deal. It's history.
ReplyDeleteThe author could have also been taking a different approach by trying to give slaves a level of respect now. They already went through plenty of suffering and it seems alright for the to have not such a degrading title.
ReplyDeleteWow. I can't believe that was even a problem. It sounds like they were trying to lessen the blow of history and I believe that mother had every right to voice her opinion. I give props to McGraw Hill for doing something proactive about it.
ReplyDeleteI am really glad that they reacted immediately to the comment. Although I don't think they should "shield" the children so much that they skew the truth.
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