Black History Month Revisited

Every February, public Schools across the US celebrate black history month. Considering the first people to arrive in Jamestown were forcibly brought here from Africa in the early 1600's, I can not see any reason to just have one month be acceptable for Black History Month. As longs as there is racism in America, why should there only be one month for Black history.
Why do we not take the month February and utilize it for reevaluating how we teach Black History. For example, how many people realize that Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was stripped of the controversial pieces? The text students read today are edited by most text book companies. Why do we not teach of Dr. King's protest of the Vietnam War? Why do we not ask kids to learn the facts behind a dream deferred as suggested by Teaching Tolerance magazine?
While I am ranting a bit. Please check out my clip of Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X should be standard reading in High School. Malcolm X explains why today, it does matter to a person that your ancestral history was stolen from you. Do other citizens in our country understand the meaning of this point?
How many African-American women are left out of the equitable teaching of American History. I truly do not know. Where is the dialog among students about tolerance? Can Tolerance be measure on a test? Probably not. How can we free our teachers to be free to have classroom experiences that touch upon the social learning of tolerance? Maybe this is what we should dedicate our efforts towards.....

NEW!!! Social Justice in the Curriculum

In the book, The Quest for Human Decency, I touch upon the lack of social justice issues in state mandated curriculum. To help support decency in the classroom, and at home. I have a new resource for Parents and Educators. Check it out.

Global Poverty Stimulant Package

Wow. I am extremely disappointed in our legislators. They have totally fed into the fears of the Global Markets. What I fear will happen is we will have a 170 Billion dollar stimulant package for Global Outsourcing. Think about this. The American people will be given a rebate for indecent expenditures. While some will use the money to help sustain their livelihood,, most will use the rebate to support outsourced labor and our service sector economy.
I am so disappointed in the Democratic Leadership. Mike Huckabee made more sense of the stimulus package by saying in the debates, " I would much rather see the money go towards our infrastructure, creating more jobs, repairing our roads from Maine to Florida. He is right. Economic stimulus packages of the past would extend benefits for the unemployed, rebuild our infrastructure, and create high paying jobs.
Lastly, how do we pay for the stimulus package. I am sure some will argue that the economic returns of such a package pay for itself. It seems to me however that our 10 Trillion dollar budget deficit financed by foreign governments would argue just the opposite effect. Our dollar is dropping dramatically against foreign currencies because of such stimulus packages of our past. Yet, so many Americans will ignore the current state of our economy.
The winners will be multinational corporations, China, NAFTA, and all other global trade pacts past, present, and future. The losers of this stimulus package will be jobs of decency, fair trade, and our next generation of Americans who pay the price for our brief gain on the Dow.

Check out Media Watch this week for intriguing articles on foreign policy.

Media Watch has been updated with excellent articles challenging common misconceptions of our nation's foreign policy.

Two down - 48 to go.

The New Jersey Legislature just passed the National Popular Vote act. They will be giving their delegates to the National Vote winner, not the candidate that wins NJ. I think we are on to something here

The Bias towards African-American Athletes

I am a bit upset over the media bias towards African-American athletes. I believe there is a social injustice to how they are handled in the media and the courts. The most recent examples that come to mind are Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, and Michael Vick. I am not condoning their personal choices or decision. I guess what bothers me is what happens to their white counterparts who commit similar injustices.
For example, Mark Maguire has a home run record, and pleaded the fifth for using steroids while giving testimony to Congress. Where was the outrage when he cheated baseball? Yet the media has hunted down Barry Bonds for years because he seems cocky to some and arrogant to others.
Michael Vick is serving jail time for Pit Bull fighting. While illegal, I have to ask how many deer roam the countryside dying from painful wounds inflicted by white hunters. What is a sport to some, is not to others.
Marion Jones will serve time for a white collar crime. Yet many CEO's or powerful people who bilk the American people millions of tax dollars never see a moment of time in jail.
It is important to analyze how African-Americans see the indictments of athletes through their lens to fully understand racial inequalities in our American Justice system, along with our media.

Peter Gabrel and You Tube Join Together for Human Rights

Check out the YouTube video of Peter Gabriel talking about Human Rights in the Cerebral Cinema Blog.

Election Bias by the Media

Please check out the Media Watch forum. I have an interesting article and links regarding the Iowa Caucus and future moves by the media to manipulate the election.

National Popular Vote Building Steam

The National Popular Vote (NPV) was passed into law in Maryland. Read the full article in the Research for Social Justice section.