I actually did. I tend to read-up when things like this break into the public discussion, because outrage sometimes clouds judgements. So, I know that the curriculum itself, does not portray slavery as a "good thing".Did you read the curriculum outline? It traces the change in slaves form being de facto beasts of burden to learning valuable skills. The benefit was to the owners of the slaves, imo. Once slavery was abolished, the skills belonged to the former slaves. This fact doesn't justify slavery or claim it is a good institution. It is just an relevant consideration in the rebuilding of lives post slavery.
The point to me is that what you call a "relevant consideration" is first off not all that relevant IMO. After emancipation slaves were just as capable of picking up skills so I'm hazy as to why you would tie attaining skills to slavery. Second, I don't think that an average 12 year-old ( I say average because of course there are exceptions) is mature enough to fully grasp the nuances of something being both horrendous and somehow still to the benefit of the victims. Third, and this is something I know because I'm a history buff. "Educating the uncivilized" being it Aztecs, Colonial Indians, or in this case black slaves in the US have been used as a justification for doing the oppressing since the dawn of time. No matter what context provided, it makes me very uneasy as a part of any lesson plan.
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