The lesson I never wanted to teach

Can't fathom not being in mixed company

 I finally had to teach the lesson today that I never, ever, wanted to teach.  I'd done a pretty good job avoiding over the years.

NO, it is not about sex ed, or even higher math.  Those things don't scare me.  What scares me (or scared me) as teaching my African American Children about
Desegregation and civil rights.

At ages 14 and 16, this has never been a conversation that I have had with my kids.  Sure, I have taken them to the MLK center and watched and answered questions as they came up, but a full detailed lesson (with more to come) about the atrocities that followed the civil war... that has always scared me and with good reason.

As we covered the curriculum in detail, and reviewed the slides and mini video clips,   they would turn to me with a look in their eyes that say "why".  What am I supposed to say? Other times they would raise an eyebrow to me as if to say "really"?... and all I could do is shrug and say "yeah".  The hole affair just makes me feel sad and worn out...  I can see why public schools graze over this information. 

I don't want my kids to have to process that 100 years ago, their best friends would not be their best friends.  I don't want my kids to understand that 50 years ago, they could be publicly mistreated just because of the color of their skin... heck.  I don't even want to process it myself.

Still, it is time to Study US History 2 and it's part of history, so we have to study it.



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