_ Perhaps one of the oddest fairy tales about Black people in the U.S. is that they largely “sold themselves into slavery.” Somehow, some teachers of all cultural groups are trained to believe that the “African kinds” sold their own people into slavery so that the kings could become rich. While it is true that in some regions African kings and queens were complicit during the enslavement period, the overwhelming majority of Africans were tricked and many were kidnapped and/or threatened into becoming chattel slaves throughout the Americas. What is most important, however, is that even those Africans who were complicit may not have had a way of knowing that their people would be exported and become chattel slaves.

 

No slavery is good slavery, but chattel slavery (such as U.S. slavery), where a person becomes the sole property of another person and has absolutely no rights, no voice, and their very body belongs to the master and his wife, was unheard of in Africa…There is an enormous difference between historical internal servitude and chattel slavery, which completely knocked the Africans off cultural balance. These two forms of slavery should not be discussed as if they were the same or even related.

 

Think about the Holocaust. Consider the magnitude of Hitler’s killings and his reach. There were certainly Jews who helped Hitler capture and kill other Jews (some authors even controversially point to the possibility of Jewish financing of Hitler’s campaign…). While a few Jewish people may have been complicit in the killing of six million people, no one says or believes that “the Jews” killed themselves; instead we all realize that Hitler was the culprit. In that same way a few Africans were complicit, but they were neither the culprits nor the beneficiaries of chattel slavery. No longer should anyone who teaches or reaches a Black child believe that s/he is in the U.S. because his/her own people were practicing slavery themselves and/or that Africans “sold themselves” into slavery.

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Of the numerous presentations and workshops that I have conducted on diversity, I received one negative comment from a White teacher. (I was not always privileged to receive written feedback, so in all fairness there could have been others from similar workshops who shared her frustration and I was not told about it, but I can honestly say that I never got that feeling from other participants. I always try to monitor my audience so that I might address any perception of the anger or frustration that can accompany discussions of race. I did notice her irritation and tried to address it, but she stopped “hearing” me). Her feedback accused me of favoring people of color and of putting down Whites. She wrote that she never stereotyped people, adding that one of her best friends was Black. She emphatically stated that African Americans actually sold their people to the White settlers, so how could I be so judgmental of White people?! (See page 49 regarding this “fact.”) She missed the points I tried to make and chose to hear whatever I said that seemed to support her outrage. Had she listened to what I said without filters, I am confident that she would not have walked away with such derision.

 

If you allow these feelings to fester, you will defeat the purpose of this book and your purpose in purchasing it. Worse, you will become distracted and miss the message: that all of our ancestors paid a price to be American citizens; that they have all committed horrendous acts against each other; and that exploring history can discourage us from repeating it. Learn and understand what happened from other perspectives, so you may move forward informed. Guilt and victimhood are counterproductive, especially for educators. You’re better than that. You have to be, because your job is to influence minds!

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_ I provide historical references to give you as many perspectives as I can so that you may cultivate empathy. If you can understand where your students (and you) are coming from, you are better equipped to interact with them. Some of the history I provide here is difficult to absorb, and some of it may make you angry, or feel defensive.
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_ In the end, it is about “me.” Most choices we make are about “me” and what I get out of them. The purpose of this book and this chapter is twofold: (1) to help you to look out for you in a positive, productive way, where you will do no harm to yourself or anyone else; and (2) to help you develop a healthy self-esteem that cultivates responsibility, accountability, empathy, tolerance, and a strong sense of community; to make connections.
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_ Remedies: How do we find a common ground and take charge of our self-esteem?

 Realize that parents and children are human and humans make mistakes; then forgive and let it go.

Try to understand where the other is coming from, and failing that, accept differences and love and respect one another anyway!

 Talk and LISTEN!

Try treating family members with the courtesy and regard we tend to extend to strangers!

And most important, accept that we cannot control others; not the way they view things, not the way they feel, not what they believe. But we can control the way we react and the levels we allow disagreements to fester and escalate.
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_ All ethnic groups appear to face three challenges. They struggle with (1) complex concepts of ethnicity and diversity, (2) preservation of their respective traditions, cultures, and languages, and (3) identity and acceptance.
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_ Self-esteem and identity are inextricably connected. Paradoxically, we want to be like everyone else yet we long to feel special and unique. Our needs and tendencies vary yet at the core they are the same. Some of us rebel against the “norm” and adorn ourselves to make that statement (ex. goths). Interestingly, in the process of setting themselves apart, these people oftentimes end up forming groups; a construct that they rebelled against in the first place! They are either searching for or in the process of cultivating an identity. Group identity is vital to satisfy the human need to belong and appears to foster pride and solidarity.
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_Articulate high expectation levels. A confident student is a productive student. I began my school year announcing that every student had an “A.” There was always at least one student in the class who would utter in shock, “Wow! I never had an A in English in my life!” I proceeded to tell them that the trick was, they had to KEEP the A and to do that, they must complete all assignments and pass their tests. Most of my students never let their grade drop below a B.
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  • Ensure that students interact positively, respectfully, and productively. When doing group work, encourage students to use each other’s strengths and to assist one another with weaknesses as appropriate.
  • Work to get to know your students (their skills, capabilities, and motivational cues).
Display genuine caring; students zero in on apathy and fear and once they do, you’ve lost them.
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