As I ponder the recent issues discussed in class, I find myself thankful to some degree for the actions my parents took to shelter me from some much hatred. I find it disturbing to know that a country based on the values and morals could allow such unjust behavior towards our fellow man. I am having difficulty swallowing the lynching, the movie about the schools in Boston, and the views expressed in the Delprit article. I could not imagine being a teacher in the South Boston school district during the 1970's. This was not that long ago. What are your thoughts? How have the above affected your thoughts and views as to our role in the classroom and our role as a model for the children? Could the teachers have helped or changed the incidents in Boston or were they part of the problem as well?

Being the youngest person in class, I come from a different generation, and I think that gives us a different perspective. The majority of us have been taught that this is a part of our past, it is not acceptable, and that we need to be different. We have been sheltered from the actual events (or not born yet), although, I really think that we are reminded often of what happened. The majority of young people I know are ready to step away from hatred and live peacefully. If only everyone thought that way!

I was raised to look past the color of one's skin, but I must caution that even today people still judge on race and religion. Just a few years back there was a KKK march though the downtown of Mooresville... the Grand Wizard lives in town... people filled with hate and live as our neighbors.

We were reading a selection in our reading book and it mentioned hatred in the south. We continued reading until we were about finished, and one of my students asked what that "k" word was. We looked back and discovered that it was the Ku Klux Klan. I asked if anyone knew what this was. They gave me blank stares and their was silence. No one knew. We then had a short discussion. I thought maybe they felt uncomfortable and just did not answer, but I really don't think they knew. The video opened my eyes to hatred that existed as far as schooling in the 1970's. I did not realize the anguish and hatred that was exhibited.

As my son was going through elementary school he probably said it the best with a child's point of view. He made the comment that he felt sorry for the blacks and that we had treated them wrongly. If you want the truth, just ask a child.


Maria Caldwell

I was alive and well in 1974. I lived in rural Iredell Co., as I do now. My my elementary school and high school were well on our way to accepting that we were all going to school together. In 1974, my older brother would have been a senior in high school. There may have been some tension, but overall he went to school day in and day out with little mention of anything related to race. He came home talking about girls, learning to play the drums, and his difficult, demanding English teacher. What ever went wrong in Boston was handled much better in rural. northern Iredell Co.----Who would have "thunk" it?

I was a junior in high school when the incident in Boston happened. When I graduated, there was one black boy in our graduating class. Thomas was a very popular, atheletic young man. Everyone in our class treated him just like the next guy. He went on to be a very successful radio disk jockey in Charlotte, then Atlanta, and finally the last I heard Chicago. I believe he had tremendous self confidence because our school treated him with respect and dignity. How terrible it was to see those black children walk into the South Boston school with their head lowered and probably (and rightly so) scared half to death. How many of them were cheated out of a successful career because of self esteem issues.

I feel that the teachers could have supported the Boston Court's decision. I feel as if they could have supported the integration and maybe have helped parents cope with the decision better. However, I can see on the other hand where they could have been afraid of losing their jobs if they suported the decision. I can't remember her name, but the woman on the school board, should have been fired because absolutely no support came from her. Many teachers could have felt if they did try to help things flow slowly, then they could lose thier jobs.

I was also completely taken aback by the lady on the school board. It was hard to believe that someone with such an influence could be so racist. Then again the President of the US was no better. Boston is not far from where I grew up and this occurred only a couple of years before I was born. I wondered what schools were like in NJ during the same time and if things had just improved a great deal in 10 years.