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 A Class Divided 
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Wow...what a powerful lesson this teacher presents! This video has been on my mind everyday since we watched it! My son reminded me of it again on Friday evening. We had just come in from a fruitful evening of trick-or-treating and I was checking the messages on our answering machine...more like hitting the DELETE button over and over and over and over while mumbling and complaining about the massive number of political calls, when my son asked me who I was going to vote for. At this point in my frustrations of having to hit the delete button so much that the letters are beginning to wear off, I simply told him that I didn't trust any of the candidates and they were all driving me CRAZY! He asked me if I didn't trust Obama because he was just trying to get revenge. Revenge on what and whom I naturally had to ask. He replied with "revenge on white Americans for having slaves." Obviously, he had picked this up at school and when I asked him about it, he told me that one of his 4th grade classmates had said that. This is the point I was trying to make in class after watching the video. Our school is very small and not very diverse (as far as race goes). These students have little to no idea about other cultures...only knowledge of what their parents say or think, and most of them probably have no clue, either. Most likely, these prejudiced and discriminatory beliefs have been passed from generation to generation. Sad, but true! I really believe that a lesson such as the one portrayed in the video would be beneficial to our young students, but I know that the reaction of the families and community would not be a positive nor supportive one. :(

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Michael A. Robbins
robbinsma@appstate.edu


Sun Nov 02, 2008 9:37 am
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It is not just the students. You should have heard the preacher at church this morning. Geezz.... We need a field trip off the mountain or something. Are folks really this uneducated/underexposed/naive/oblivious? We should go ask a gorilla what to do!!!! :wink:


Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:47 pm
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Hi to both of you (and all the rest of you who will read this),

I frankly had no idea about how timely all this would be. :shock:

I'll share something that happened this morning with you all when we get to class. It connects with what you all are saying. I think, I hope, it has had a a positive resolution.

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Gayle Turner


Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:03 pm
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I found it very interesting to see how students turned so quickly on their friends when they found themselves in the discriminated group. It was easy to see how minorities could get frustrated with the way society works and how they feel as if they are less than capable of achieving in society. As I watched the movie, I began to think how much influence adults and the media have on our young people. We have very few minorities in our school, but when they get in trouble many times the first remark they make is, "It's cause I'm black (or hispanic)." I don't think the students truly believe this, but they have heard it so much it becomes part of their reasoning. We still have issues in this country, no doubt, but growing up I would have never dreamed there would be a day when a black man would be president.

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Dustin H. Farmer


Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:43 pm
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