California Indian Voice in Schools…. Long Overdue
Imagine your reaction if your elementary aged child came home from school and announced that in order to get a passing grade in a class that they will have to construct a model that recreates the Twin Towers while under attack. Certainly, your sensibilities as with most of us who experienced the horror, the sadness, and the anger of the 9/11 attack would be offended by such an expectation. For those with any leanings of national unity the assignment strikes as an insult to our identity. As a nation, we honor the lives of those we lost and those who gave their lives to save others. We do not hint nor imbed in the minds and hearts of our children that the act, itself, is cause for celebration. The symbol of destruction is not commemorated.
Nonetheless, every year across schools in California, children are required to recreate a California Mission and, often across the country, are expected to flex their artistic abilities as they put crayon to construction paper in portrayal of the three ships that sailed across the Atlantic in 1492. The Spanish Missions and the three ships are symbols of Spanish Imperialism. In the psyche of most U.S. Americans, these symbols may be innocuous, yet, to millions of people who are of indigenous ancestry, they represent acts just as injurious to our psyche as the images of the twin towers while under attack.
Trust and respect of the classroom teacher are major requisites to the teacher-student relationship. If a child feels safe in their learning environment, then they are more likely to learn from their teacher. Once this relationship is compromised, however, it can be difficult for the teacher to regain a child’s trust and respect once the child has psychologically withdrawn in order to safeguard their spirit. In the end, people will not learn from someone who they do not trust.
Many in the teaching ranks have recognize that when curriculum reflects, embraces, and celebrates a position that brought genocide to millions, California Indian Voice in Schools…. Long Overdue | Cloaking Inequity:
