Posted on 06/22/2005 9:12:05 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Pennsylvania Legislator Asks District to Reconsider "unnecessary" Black History Requirement The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The speaker of the state House urged the city school district to reconsider what he called an "unnecessary" requirement that high school students take an African-American history course in order to graduate.
"I would like to see them master basic reading, writing and arithmetic," Speaker John Perzel said in a letter Tuesday to James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.
"Once we have them down pat, I don't care what they teach. ... They should understand basic American history before we go into African-American history," he wrote.
Perzel, a Republican, questioned why one ethnic group is singled out in the curriculum. He urged a course of study focusing on "the many cultures" in the district, which is about 67 percent black, 14 percent Hispanic, 14 percent white and 5 percent Asian.
Nevels and Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive, were out of town and weren't available for comment, district spokesman Fernando Gallard said.
National education groups say no other school district they know of requires black studies. The requirement is to apply to the class of students entering high school this fall.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
They should teach black history as a part of American History, not as a seperate class. How many know who Crispus Attucks is?
Finally, a republican who is speaking for his voters...
Shhhhhhi reedin' and rightin' ain't cool. Rappin' be cool.
The question is: Can the school now excise marginal African-American historical figures from the rest of the curriculum so as to avoid unnecessary duplication?
How many thousands of times do we need to be told that a black man invented the traffic light. I think about that every time I get stuck at a malfunctioning traffic light.
I agree, if History was accuratly taught, then the Black community would be included. There was a dreadful mistake in making February Black History Month.
"There was a dreadful mistake in making February Black History Month."
Which it is not, really. It's "Black Accomplishment Month". There is a lot more to history than just good stuff that people did.
I don't know why they bothered.
Students get it all again in college when they have to satisfy the diversity requirement.
Hispanics recently surpassed blacks as the largest minority in America. No history course for them?
Ahhh, in that view, correct. True, History isn't just about the good that people do, it is about what has happened in our past. Good and bad.
Diversity? I thought we were to unite, not divide. Diversity is the opposite of unity. No wonder things are so screwed up. Creating a diversity, you create small groups that want special treatment to be protected from the larger groups. In unity it is all for one and one for all...
The Philadelphia school systems suck so much money from the rest of the state that all taxpayers of PA should be upset!
What happens if they flunk the course?
They have their race revoked.
If it's an elective, nothing. It would be like flunking a high school wood shop or cooking class.
What happens if they flunk the course?
They have their race revoked.
How about their race card revoked as well.
Z,
That's not the half of it. Not only is there a gen-ed diversity requirement at many institutions, there are all-black dorms and orientation role-playing exercises for freshman that are designed to villainize whites.
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