Dear Groveton I.S.D,
It has been brought to my attention that the district has decided to stop teaching slave narratives in the curriculum. This issue raises serious concerns to many in the community. Over 100 people have signed a petition to stop this crime against our children and their overall education. By taking away the slave narrative you are stripping them from a genre and historical fact that changed our country. Slavery is one of the biggest issues that our country ever faced. If the school takes it out of the curriculum, we take the chance of letting history repeat itself. When knowledge of the past is forgotten, so are the lessons that it taught the world.Furthermore,in slave narratives like "William Wells Brown" the genre teaches us about the atrocities of slavery and how seperation of families lead to hatred and emotional issues for the enslaved. Not only do narratives like this show the horrible institution of slavery, but they show us how the slaves used the institution as encouragement to seek their own personal liberties.
Also, the slave narrative was a genre that opened the door to future genres in American literature. If you delete this genre from your curriculum it'd be like teaching American History but leaving out World War II. You can't possibly leave a genre which offers this much educational opportunity out of your teachings. The slave narrative shows the base of current American literature and opens the door up to big events like the Civil War, Lincoln, and the eventual climb into the Civil Rights Movement. As you can see, it would be a crime for you to neglect our children and their education on this subject. It is to valuable a piece of history and to great of a genre to leave out.
Lastly, I feel that "The Narrative of the Life of frederick Douglass" and "William Wells Brown" should be added to the curriculum of the high school English classes. They would show both a mental and physical journey from slavery to freedom and make it evident to our students just how bad slavery was. These narratives show the internal struggles of the enslaved and how much slavery effected families and even tore them apart. I hope this letter and the petition change your minds. Our children need this genre and we hope you see the importance.
Sincerely, Travis Douglass, Kate "Roo" Tubman, and Chanel Leopold Lincoln III.
No comments:
Post a Comment