Board 8 > Local parents freak out over story in textbook

(+) Yeah! (+)

So, yesterday, I was treated to the local outrage over a story in a textbook in a local school district.

A white mother of a biracial child called the school to express her outrage that her child was forced to read the book "All Aboard!" In a 3rd grade Language Arts class.

She posted a page of the book on social media that read.

"'What a let down! Elijah knew engines inside out. He knew how to design them. He knew how to build them. He also knew his boss didn't think much of him because he was Black. But Elijah needed work, so he took the job.

The steam locomotive was exciting. People called it the Iron Horse. It was a fire-breathing monster. When it had a head of steam it was faster than a horse and buggy!"

The mother said she called the school, and she expressed outrage to learn her child was forced to read this story. The school didn't see the problem with the story about Elijah McCoy, a son of a former slave who learned about engines and became a noted historical figure for his locomotive patents he produced. Also, likely the person that the "Real McCoy" has originated from though unconfirmed.

She said the text was racist because it said the boss didn't like him because he was Black. Upon further complaining, the school removed the child from the class during that book lesson. The parent was then upset her child was isolated and removed from class to be singled out.

This is when she took to social media to express her outrage. There she quickly found a horde of support with her story, and they began to bombard the school with calls and complaints. The school responded later on and said they removed the story/book from the curriculum.

Others upon seeing this on social media questioned if this was the right idea. That this was a story about a POC/Minority overcoming adversity to make a name for himself and impact history. That for years there has been a fight to add stories of minorities and POC to curriculums to look up to as hero and inspire instead of just "old white men".

The mother was quick to point out that it is different when your children are biracial and have to deal with the undertones of messages they are sending their children. That a child that age could not have gathered the message of overcoming adversity in third grade (the book was written for kindergarten to 3rd grade). And, that the book would have been all right to read in a history class but definitely not in a language arts class.

She also insisted the teacher never explained that racism was bad and just passed over the sentence without a comment. The teacher claims she went into a small discussion about racism regarding it and explained how that was how some thought back then and things that African-Americans had to deal with in the past and possibly could today. The parent denied this and said her son and other friends of his said this didn't happen.

The parent also claimed that her son being removed from the class and singled out was "not fair" and that the principal retorted with "life is not fair".

Do you agree the book is racist and should have been removed from the curriculum?

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At least full throttle puts sexy pooh in his topics
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foolm0r0n posted...

At least full throttle puts sexy pooh in his topics

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foolm0r0n posted...

At least full throttle puts sexy pooh in his topics

Thanks for taking the time to read the topic. However, if you don't wish to comment on the topic at hand and discuss it then you are simply disruptive posting. Please refrain from that.

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Some people are stupid, more news at 11
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Peace___Frog posted...

foolm0r0n posted...

At least full throttle puts sexy pooh in his topics

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banananor posted...

Some people are stupid, more news at 11

So you disagree with the outrage then?

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Corrik, arent you against kids reading about homosexuality existing?
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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Corrik, arent you against kids reading about homosexuality existing?

Children should not learn about sexuality until old enough to know what sex is / given sex education.

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Corrik7 posted...

then you are simply disruptive posting

Oh no am I gonna get modded

That would give me the privilege of posting another 3-4 times about how unfair gfaqs is right

And I absolutely did not read the topic lmao I would still just be halfway through
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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Corrik, arent you against kids reading about homosexuality existing?

tbh that's way more embarrassing than this mother. (An 8-year-old is far more likely to understand two adults loving each other, over racism)
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Not if their parents have never shown love to each other
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So you agree with the outrage of the parent?

Feel free to discuss the topic at hand instead of trying to derail the topic.

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Lmao cry more jfc
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Local poster freaks out over topic on gamefaqs

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Corrik7 posted...

Do you agree the book is racist and should have been removed from the curriculum?

I do not, personally, but whether or not it is part of the curriculum means nothing to me.
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Lolo_Guru posted...

I do not, personally, but whether or not it is part of the curriculum means nothing to me.

Well, I mean, you are not a 3rd grader nor have one in a PA school. It is an opinion question.

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Corrik7 posted...

A white mother

surprise surprise
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oof
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