flacaltenn
Diamond Member
Of course there's only so much "theory" you can teach to 8 - 12 yr olds. But that won't stop some dedicated prejudicial black authors from condensing the elements of CRT and whiteness down to their basic elements and weaving a "storyline" into it..
From a listing at Barnes & Noble with the industry reviews ---
Not My Idea
Children's Book
60th in book sales for children
An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. āTHE NEW YORK TIMES
**A WHITE RAVEN 2019 SELECTION**
NAMED ONE OF SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S BEST BOOKS OF 2018
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice.
This book does a phenomenal job of explaining how power and privilege affect us from birth, and how we can educate ourselves...Not My Idea is an incredibly important book, one that we should all be using as a catalyst for our anti-racist education. āTHE TINY ACTIVIST
Quite frankly, the first book Iāve seen that provides an honest explanation for kids about the state of race in America today. āELIZABETH BIRD, librarian
āItās that exact mix of true-to-life humor and unflinching honesty that makes Higginbothamās book work so wellā¦āāPUBLISHERS WEEKLY (*Starred Review)
A much-needed title that provides a strong foundation for critical discussions of white people and racism, particularly for young audiences. Recommended for all collections. āSCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (*Starred Review)
A necessary children's book about whiteness, white supremacy, and resistanceā¦ Important, accessible, needed. āKIRKUS REVIEWS
A timely story that addresses racism, civic responsibility, and the concept of whiteness. āFOREWORD REVIEWS
For white folks who arenāt sure how to talk to their kids about race, this book is the perfect beginning. āO MAGAZINE
About the Author
ANASTASIA HIGGINBOTHAM is the author and illustrator of Divorce Is the Worst, Death Is Stupid, and Tell Me About Sex, Grandmaāall part of the Ordinary Terrible Things series. She lives in Brooklyn.
Librarians love her, but not as much as she loves them.
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Best pages of this work.. The DEVIL makes a white kid sign the contract.
------------------------------
A private Manhattan elementary school which charges $55,000-a-year tuition is among dozens of schools across the US teaching from children's book that features a shadowy devil figure that offers the reader a 'whiteness contract.'
Rufo says the book, 'traffics in the noxious principles of race essentialism, collective guilt and anti-whiteness.'
Also according to the book: 'Skin color makes a difference in how the world sees you and in how you see the world,' and 'your skin color affects the most ordinary daily experiences.'
The suit alleges Illinois' Evanston-Skokie district was treating students and employees differently based on race.
In one instance, for example, suit says the district asked teachers to take part in racially segregated 'affinity groups' for an exercise.
It also alleges that teachers were forced to undergo 'antiracist training,' and uses the teaching of Not My Idea in the district as one of the examples of ways the district is discriminating against white people.
This is how I WISH this thread will go.. It's a debate covered in the Atlantic between the AUTHOR and a lefty staff writer for the Atlantic who disagrees with the author's way of introducing young children to the race issue.. It's CIVIL and CORDIAL and useful.. Just like the members of USMB are use to hearing.. I've heavily snipped it. Go READ IT before you comment..
Clearly we had deep disagreements over an issue families and educators all over America are grappling with: What exactly should we teach children about race, police killings, and the relationship between the two? I suggested to Higginbotham that we air our differences through an email exchange, and she agreed.
Read: How to talk to kids about racism and police
She argues that, at the earliest possible age, white kids should be taught to identify whiteness as the root of racial injustice so that they can reject the pervasive racism that they would otherwise embody. I think her account of what causes police killings is too monocausal and that her zeal for uprooting racism sometimes strays into overgeneralization based in racial stereotyping. Regardless, her message that kids can choose to reject racism is laudable, and many school districts find it valuable. What follows is an edited and condensed version of our discussion.
Higginbotham: The book I made teaches young children about whitenessāit is not about police brutality. The problem in the book is not that police kill innocent people; itās that the childās white family refuses to discuss the significance of these killings with the child, who is left alone in confusion and self-doubt. No matter the crisis, my focus is on growing up by knowing yourself and your world. My books guide a child toward the resources of their own instincts and imagination, as well as family members who can offer support. In Not My Idea, white family members turn away from the childās pain in the face of racist violence, and so my book points them to the library.
You call my assertion that violent white supremacy is embedded into all of our systems too ācomplexā for children to evaluate. But racism is not complex; the human beings who perpetuate it are. I have perpetuated racism without believing in itāthat is complicated. Racism itself is ridiculous. Elevating a peopleās worthiness, morality, intelligence, cleanliness, aptitude, and dignity based on skin toneāthat is a terrible idea, it was not my idea, and I will spend my life revealing and unlearning that nonsense and making sure kids can, too, as young as possible.
You write, āMany systems in America are clearly neither violent nor white supremacist.ā But thatās not how whiteness works. Any place where there are white people has violent white supremacy embedded into it because it is embedded in us. Do I kill people? No. Does my call to 911? It might. So long as we give the lies and distortions of whiteness space inside our bodies and minds, we are its hosts. We bring it into every room, interaction, classroom, and child we raise unprepared to question it.
You write, āMany systems in America are clearly neither violent nor white supremacist.ā But thatās not how whiteness works. Any place where there are white people has violent white supremacy embedded into it because it is embedded in us. Do I kill people? No. Does my call to 911? It might. So long as we give the lies and distortions of whiteness space inside our bodies and minds, we are its hosts. We bring it into every room, interaction, classroom, and child we raise unprepared to question it.
From a listing at Barnes & Noble with the industry reviews ---
Not My Idea
Children's Book
60th in book sales for children
An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. āTHE NEW YORK TIMES
**A WHITE RAVEN 2019 SELECTION**
NAMED ONE OF SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S BEST BOOKS OF 2018
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice.
This book does a phenomenal job of explaining how power and privilege affect us from birth, and how we can educate ourselves...Not My Idea is an incredibly important book, one that we should all be using as a catalyst for our anti-racist education. āTHE TINY ACTIVIST
Quite frankly, the first book Iāve seen that provides an honest explanation for kids about the state of race in America today. āELIZABETH BIRD, librarian
āItās that exact mix of true-to-life humor and unflinching honesty that makes Higginbothamās book work so wellā¦āāPUBLISHERS WEEKLY (*Starred Review)
A much-needed title that provides a strong foundation for critical discussions of white people and racism, particularly for young audiences. Recommended for all collections. āSCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (*Starred Review)
A necessary children's book about whiteness, white supremacy, and resistanceā¦ Important, accessible, needed. āKIRKUS REVIEWS
A timely story that addresses racism, civic responsibility, and the concept of whiteness. āFOREWORD REVIEWS
For white folks who arenāt sure how to talk to their kids about race, this book is the perfect beginning. āO MAGAZINE
About the Author
ANASTASIA HIGGINBOTHAM is the author and illustrator of Divorce Is the Worst, Death Is Stupid, and Tell Me About Sex, Grandmaāall part of the Ordinary Terrible Things series. She lives in Brooklyn.
Librarians love her, but not as much as she loves them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Best pages of this work.. The DEVIL makes a white kid sign the contract.
------------------------------
A private Manhattan elementary school which charges $55,000-a-year tuition is among dozens of schools across the US teaching from children's book that features a shadowy devil figure that offers the reader a 'whiteness contract.'
Rufo says the book, 'traffics in the noxious principles of race essentialism, collective guilt and anti-whiteness.'
Also according to the book: 'Skin color makes a difference in how the world sees you and in how you see the world,' and 'your skin color affects the most ordinary daily experiences.'
The suit alleges Illinois' Evanston-Skokie district was treating students and employees differently based on race.
In one instance, for example, suit says the district asked teachers to take part in racially segregated 'affinity groups' for an exercise.
It also alleges that teachers were forced to undergo 'antiracist training,' and uses the teaching of Not My Idea in the district as one of the examples of ways the district is discriminating against white people.
This is how I WISH this thread will go.. It's a debate covered in the Atlantic between the AUTHOR and a lefty staff writer for the Atlantic who disagrees with the author's way of introducing young children to the race issue.. It's CIVIL and CORDIAL and useful.. Just like the members of USMB are use to hearing.. I've heavily snipped it. Go READ IT before you comment..
āNobody Wants White Kids to Feel Bad About Their Raceā
The childrenās-book author Anastasia Higginbotham and I disagree about how to teach young Americans about police killings and racism.
www.theatlantic.com
Clearly we had deep disagreements over an issue families and educators all over America are grappling with: What exactly should we teach children about race, police killings, and the relationship between the two? I suggested to Higginbotham that we air our differences through an email exchange, and she agreed.
Read: How to talk to kids about racism and police
She argues that, at the earliest possible age, white kids should be taught to identify whiteness as the root of racial injustice so that they can reject the pervasive racism that they would otherwise embody. I think her account of what causes police killings is too monocausal and that her zeal for uprooting racism sometimes strays into overgeneralization based in racial stereotyping. Regardless, her message that kids can choose to reject racism is laudable, and many school districts find it valuable. What follows is an edited and condensed version of our discussion.
Higginbotham: The book I made teaches young children about whitenessāit is not about police brutality. The problem in the book is not that police kill innocent people; itās that the childās white family refuses to discuss the significance of these killings with the child, who is left alone in confusion and self-doubt. No matter the crisis, my focus is on growing up by knowing yourself and your world. My books guide a child toward the resources of their own instincts and imagination, as well as family members who can offer support. In Not My Idea, white family members turn away from the childās pain in the face of racist violence, and so my book points them to the library.
You call my assertion that violent white supremacy is embedded into all of our systems too ācomplexā for children to evaluate. But racism is not complex; the human beings who perpetuate it are. I have perpetuated racism without believing in itāthat is complicated. Racism itself is ridiculous. Elevating a peopleās worthiness, morality, intelligence, cleanliness, aptitude, and dignity based on skin toneāthat is a terrible idea, it was not my idea, and I will spend my life revealing and unlearning that nonsense and making sure kids can, too, as young as possible.
You write, āMany systems in America are clearly neither violent nor white supremacist.ā But thatās not how whiteness works. Any place where there are white people has violent white supremacy embedded into it because it is embedded in us. Do I kill people? No. Does my call to 911? It might. So long as we give the lies and distortions of whiteness space inside our bodies and minds, we are its hosts. We bring it into every room, interaction, classroom, and child we raise unprepared to question it.
You write, āMany systems in America are clearly neither violent nor white supremacist.ā But thatās not how whiteness works. Any place where there are white people has violent white supremacy embedded into it because it is embedded in us. Do I kill people? No. Does my call to 911? It might. So long as we give the lies and distortions of whiteness space inside our bodies and minds, we are its hosts. We bring it into every room, interaction, classroom, and child we raise unprepared to question it.