Post ASaxCIONeXbGEEy3kG by DavidPetraitis@toad.social
(DIR) More posts by DavidPetraitis@toad.social
(DIR) Post #ASEcuNxOp5CMZbfEm0 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T11:41:44Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
Happy #BlackHistoryMonth ! You know the drill by now. I don't like talking about Black history. Americans know Black history. I want to talk about white American history. In other words, racism, and the erasure of both positive achievements of, and injustices suffered by, non-white people. That's what people don't know.Try this: Ask your white US friends what the statue of liberty celebrates.Now ask your Black friends. Or French folk of any color.#BlackMastodon
(DIR) Post #ASEcuQcwtZcer37RoW by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T11:44:46Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
Hint 1: It's called the statue of *liberty*. Not the statue of immigration or statue of independence.Hint 2: Broken chains on the feet.Hint 3: Idea for the statue started in 1865. What else happened in 1865?Hint 4: What the sculptor said it's for? OK that's not really a hint!
(DIR) Post #ASEcuTcLmFvU83rVnU by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T11:51:10Z
2 likes, 5 repeats
An abolitionist designed the statue. A group of abolitionists paid for the statue. There's a plaque at the feet telling everyone what it's for. They named it the Statue of Liberty. It's arguably the largest anti-racism monument in the US, and the most recognizable anti-racism monument in the world...Except people don't even know it's an anti-racism monument. They think it celebrates the huge influx of white immigrants from Europe that came to the US.
(DIR) Post #ASEcuWM9avkkchJ7T6 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T11:57:11Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
People that got "As" in AP history, that didn't know this, are running to their favorite search engine right now to try and fact check this. Let's wait for them... ⏳Why do US people not know their own history?Before folks ask, "Why was I not taught this in school?!" Look at what DeSantis is doing to AP history in Florida. You know exactly why you weren't taught this in school. Because it's easier to get you to accept mistreatment of Black people, if you don't know white American history.
(DIR) Post #ASEf5yTzYry2wvYxcW by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T12:03:34Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
🧔🏿Is the confederate flag racist? Why did the civil war happen? Where were you born?🧔🏻Not racist! States' rights. Alabama!🧔🏻Super racist! Slavery, murder of Black folk. NYCCan you be mad at Alabama dude when their history textbook (from the same publisher!) lies about this?The same publisher prints two different versions of the same highschool textbook about the causes of the civil war: one closer to the truth, used in Northern states, and one that lies about the cause, taught in the South🤡
(DIR) Post #ASEf5yy7kq4QSNf1aS by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T12:13:23Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I don't want to talk about Black history yet. I want to talk about why if you grew up in the North or West, your high school history book likely talked about the "Articles of Secession," but if you grew up in the South, those parts are removed and lied about.🙂🙃Disinformation.You can literally go and read the "Declaration of Causes of Seceding States," primary documents written by confederates themselves, on why they are Seceding.https://web.archive.org/web/19980128034930/http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.htmlSome schools refuse to teach this.
(DIR) Post #ASEf623YH7C825Dtxo by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T12:16:41Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
I used to live in Texas. I would get so mad at dudes I knew that downplayed the confederate flag, until I realized that their textbooks literally lied about the reasons for the civil war!Showing them the articles of secession blew their mind. Some stopped rocking the flag. 👍🏿Imagine how much less racist the US would feel if 10% of all confederate flags just disappeared. Disappeared!
(DIR) Post #ASErsGhELVzQmtY968 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T12:26:01Z
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Folks don't even know the reasons of the civil war or that the flag designer said "Let this be the flag of white supremacy!"I bet 50% of them would drop it on learning.NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr removed confederate flags from his car after learning about its true origins from a Black friend. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. vocally supported NASCAR banning the confederate flag. 👍🏿Yes, some racists still like the flag after learning about it. But there are way fewer of them.
(DIR) Post #ASErsHBMXU5oILeD44 by Habigelo@spore.social
2023-02-01T14:02:53Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@mekkaokereke sadly it extends beyond the American border. The confederate flag regularly makes an appearance in Canada. Publicly, those flying it will claim it represents "rural rights" or other coded dog whistles.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/hamilton-home-confederate-flag-1.6431668
(DIR) Post #ASF3IGkVs2qnycgaVU by poorASF@helladoge.com
2023-02-01T16:59:10Z
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@Habigelo @mekkaokereke
(DIR) Post #ASGFR1OqhPFmbAJCnA by jmw150@poa.st
2023-02-02T06:49:56.591753Z
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@mekkaokereke Landing on the moon was part of white American history. Do not try to insert yourself into our legacy. You are not worth consideration most of the time.
(DIR) Post #ASGnIr2eis7YbBCn6O by Adoxograph@mastodon.social
2023-02-01T13:28:42Z
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@mekkaokereke This whole thread! When I moved to Chicago from New England, I learned that folks who grew up in Illinois (look! We have Abe!) learned an entirely different version of American History than I had (look! We're dumping the tea!) and then I moved to Atlanta.... And then the PacNW.... It's honestly fascinating to me how much we *can't* teach our kids because the country is huge. My favorite thing is asking locals what American history they learned.
(DIR) Post #ASGnIrZckIUaFQd7UO by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-01T13:30:49Z
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@Adoxograph "... because the country is so huge... "That's... Not why we can't teach people these things.
(DIR) Post #ASGnIs1d4AtTeHjU8m by Adoxograph@mastodon.social
2023-02-01T13:34:29Z
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@mekkaokereke absolutely true, I am sorry for the bad wording on my part. I mean to say the history teachers tend to focus on the local version of history rather than, you know, history.
(DIR) Post #ASGnIsWpCBqbD2KOlU by ariadne@kolektiva.social
2023-02-01T17:26:26Z
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@Adoxograph @mekkaokereke it is surprising how many Europeans see the US as a more monolithic, uniform country than it is. When I teill people here it is much more like the EU than a country like Austria, and how much power each US state has over everything from healthcare to education to taxes, most people are really, really shocked. I lived in Massachusetts some years back where there is MassHealth, comprehensive, free healthcare available to all but the wealthiest. (A system that was put in place by Mitt Romney(!) when he was governor). I would argue it works as well or better than the NHS. When I tell a German about MassHealth, they don't really believe me. And of course education varies extremely between states, and even between school districts within states.
(DIR) Post #ASGxRtgVGX72wVnIlk by memetzgz@fosstodon.org
2023-02-01T12:56:14Z
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@mekkaokereke Can you reveal who this publisher is? This is shameful.
(DIR) Post #ASGxRuLGoxiqywrrJQ by shell4747@mastodon.online
2023-02-01T13:12:58Z
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@memetzgz @mekkaokereke all of them?sadly, because Texas buys all its textbooks at once for all districts based on decisions by the statewide BOE, it has a lot of weight in textbook publishing. teaching about the civil war (and reconstruction, Jim Crow, civil rights movement, and more) has been "softened" throughout the nation as publishers try to get Texas on board. it's...not great.2018: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/texas-will-finally-teach-slavery-was-main-cause-civil-war-180970851/
(DIR) Post #ASGxRvAfjqq5YMuuQq by feld@bikeshed.party
2023-02-02T15:02:44.670823Z
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> sadly, because Texas buys all its textbooks at once for all districts based on decisions by the statewide BOEYou can read all about Richard Feynman's experience with the California variant of this board in my thread starting at the link below. I grabbed it out of one of his books because the internet seems to have lost this story. (it's painfully hard to find a readable version)https://bikeshed.party/objects/d0a66d5b-b7ec-46bc-b067-5882eb671a89tl;dr they pick books based on the pretty covers and how much ass kissing and free gifts the book publishers give them
(DIR) Post #ASGy1MbDkkUikvEdKi by bobwyman@mastodon.social
2023-02-01T16:34:31Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
@mekkaokereke People "Remember the Alamo!" but don't remember that the reason Texans wanted independence from Mexico was because Mexico had prohibited slavery.https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/06/10/myth-alamo-gets-history-all-wrong/
(DIR) Post #ASJtoBjB2tF6vmIYk4 by ATLeagle@mastodon.online
2023-02-04T00:46:00Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@mekkaokereke grew up in Georgia, right next to stone mountain (giant pro slavery monument) and learned this type of secession in college. It absolutely, 100%, did not get mentioned in Georgia schools, even though they spent a LOT of time on civil war
(DIR) Post #ASMv0OueX4Ekj8vuZE by Polychrome@poly.cybre.city
2023-02-05T12:03:57.918944Z
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@mekkaokereke took me a moment to realize "AP" didn't mean ActivityPub. (Still not sure what it means - I'm not American :blobcatpeekaboo: )
(DIR) Post #ASalFJSUwgYUxGZ9SC by lednabm@mstdn.social
2023-02-01T14:51:10Z
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@Habigelo @mekkaokereke Why in the hell would someone celebrate being a loser..... the south was treated too nicely. Lincoln should have had all their leaders demonstrate their freedom by choosing between hanging or firing squad!
(DIR) Post #ASalFK1ErWLQh0otbU by Freedom2B@mastodon.social
2023-02-12T04:20:34Z
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@lednabm @Habigelo @mekkaokereke Lincoln was a racist.
(DIR) Post #ASaxCIONeXbGEEy3kG by DavidPetraitis@toad.social
2023-02-12T04:25:39Z
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@mekkaokereke Or learning that the Battle of the Alamo in Texas, and the fight for Texas' independence from Mexico was so Texans could continue to keep slaves after Mexico banned slavery in 1824 and freed the last slaves (except in Texas) in 1829...
(DIR) Post #ASaxCJ4D913oJyXSwi by DavidPetraitis@toad.social
2023-02-12T04:28:39Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@mekkaokereke Or learning that the Oklahoma Panhandle was because Texas ceded that land because slavery was prohibited north of 36°30′ latitude by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.https://daily.jstor.org/why-oklahoma-has-a-panhandle/
(DIR) Post #AdJi37TEAczOJVD2x6 by danielrh66@ohai.social
2023-12-29T22:36:43Z
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@MissConstrue @mekkaokereke yeah, there is a lot of history out there for which most of us only hear one side. There are always two or more sides. Something I learned recently is the largest penitentiary in the US is the Louisiana State Pen. It is named “Angola” after the former slave plantation that occupied that territory. Most of the population in the prison is black. Yes, the system is rigged. Imagine using Auschwitz to incarcerate Jews.
(DIR) Post #AdJi38Hv89XSqivWy0 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-12-29T23:12:06Z
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@danielrh66 @MissConstrue Yup.https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/109665671365528882Angola is a "prison farm," where Black men are arrested, convicted, and sentenced, for no other reason than being poor and Black in the wrong place at the wrong time. Black inmates are forced to pick cotton for free.We used to call prison farms "plantations."One of the photos below was taken during US slavery, before the emancipation of slaves. The other 2 are from the Angola prison farm in modern times. Can you tell which is which?
(DIR) Post #AdJi3BJnrbpMFQpZom by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-12-29T23:18:45Z
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@danielrh66 @MissConstrue Something that most Black kids in the US know, but that most white kids don't, is that slavery is still legal in the US. Seriously.There's a lot of talk about the 14th amendment right now because of Trump and Jan 6. But most people don't know about the full text of the 13th amendment. The 13th says that slavery is still legal... if it is punishment for a crime.Combine this with "falsely accused and convict millions of Black folk," and you get Angola prison labor.🤷🏿♂️
(DIR) Post #AdJi3E7VRmm0wA6IZE by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-12-29T23:19:56Z
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@danielrh66 @MissConstrue Every US citizen should watch the documentary 13 by Ava Duvernay. It is a brilliant piece of work, and you can watch the whole thing for free, here:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8
(DIR) Post #AdKAFvz4z7IdAe0Ttw by kbg@atx.pub
2023-12-28T20:17:22Z
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@mekkaokereke just as a data point i grew up in south mississippi in the 80s and 90s. for most of elementary school i was in catholic school and we learned about them there, though i can clearly remember one teacher in the fifth grade who insisted the civil war wasn’t about slavery (why it was important to make this point so forcefully to a fifth grader is another matter). they were taught in my public high school, but glossed over. certainly the states’ rights myth was taught more vocally.
(DIR) Post #AdKAFx1x5vBwPqMI1A by CGTKyle@mathstodon.xyz
2023-12-29T05:13:48Z
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@kbg @mekkaokereke I was taught that it "Wasn't about slavery" in elementary school in Michigan in the 80s or 90s. It was because the South seceded from the Union.I don't know whether this was a rogue teacher or whether it was part of the local curriculum. Thankfully I had a historically-minded friend that filled me in.
(DIR) Post #AdKAFxs3yAsL1SjuF6 by dpflug@hachyderm.io
2023-12-30T02:11:54Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@CGTKyleTaught it "wasn't about slavery" in high school in Tennessee in 2000. "It was a range of reasons: states' rights, economic reasons, taxation, etc. Slavery had very little to do with it."Thankfully, we had a student who studied up and brought notes to class, then tore into the teacher publicly.@kbg @mekkaokereke
(DIR) Post #AdNH1TtrszzHAWVKoC by Dynamicallydisabled@spore.social
2023-12-29T20:54:08Z
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@mekkaokereke my best friend in middle school had moved to the north from a southern state. She didn't believe me when I mentioned slavery being the reason for the civil war, ended up having an illuminating conversation w her teacher about it. They were not taught it was at all connected to slavery. I remember learning this fact about her education and it changed my whole perspective on education here. She straight up had no idea.
(DIR) Post #AdO0I5gfer7yvycqsi by EeeeWooo@mastodon.social
2023-02-01T12:33:15Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@mekkaokereke IIRC In 2018 when my kids were in high school, our school district (Frederick MD) finally banned the display of the confederate flag. No more belt buckles. Or whatever. #SoLate
(DIR) Post #AdO0Qmo5DyJyz3Eslc by ThatAuntie@blacktwitter.io
2023-02-01T14:03:41Z
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@mekkaokereke Teach, teacher! Imagine spending a whole year of 7th grade in Texas History and NEVER learning that, in La Batalla de Puebla (The Battle of Puebla), Gen. Zaragoza and his Mexican troops defeated the French who were on their way to help defend the Confederacy. THIS is why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Not for tacos and margaritas. I learned this 30 years after turning in my Texas History book.
(DIR) Post #AdO0XCCbiWpRU4lZbs by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-02T11:56:16Z
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@pmk Being angry is cathartic, but it doesn't help me. I think about it as:* Do you want to be angry?* Do you want to be right?* Or do you want to win?I'm hyper competitive. I like to win.If I as a Black man, enter an arena vs 100 systemically and individually racist white Texans who love the confederate flag and think it means "Southern pride," it looks like I stand no chance.But simply asking, "Have you read the articles of secession?" Changes the odds to 61 : 40, in my favor.
(DIR) Post #AdO0XEytNydm6PNA9I by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-02T12:03:21Z
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@pmk A few more questions might get me a few more folks, but after that it's diminishing returns. I have no desire to talk to, convert, rehabilitate, those that remain.Racism is based on lies, which seems bad, until you realize that this means that racism is extremely vulnerable to the truth.You can't use the truth to change the behavior of "true believer" racists. That's a fool's errand. But I've learned that most racism is done by the 60 folks who have been misled by the true believers.
(DIR) Post #AdOPmVqZSWc5bmrLBA by raederle@mastodon.social
2024-01-01T02:18:27Z
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@bobwyman @mekkaokereke Today I learned and am horrified. Until 15 years ago, I thought I received a proper education that prepared me for life. I grew up in an original colony northern state. How could they get this so wrong? When I read the confederate states’ declarations of succession for myself was when they wall began crumbling. Today, another piece crumbled.
(DIR) Post #AdOPmXOdhLSWPjo3v6 by stopthatgirl7@famichiki.jp
2024-01-01T03:52:56Z
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@raederle @bobwyman @mekkaokereke If you want another moment of shock, look up why Oklahoma has that panhandle on it.
(DIR) Post #AdOPmYOK00nbV2fK40 by ratgrrl@mstdn.social
2024-01-01T04:38:45Z
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@stopthatgirl7 @raederle @bobwyman @mekkaokereke I was just going to mention that - it really shows the Texas attitude. I had no idea until I think 2 years ago, and that means 60 years I didn't know: "When Texas sought to enter the Union in 1845 as a slave state, federal law in the United States, based on the Missouri Compromise, prohibited slavery north of 36°30' parallel north. Under the Compromise of 1850, Texas surrendered its lands north of 36°30' latitude."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Panhandle
(DIR) Post #AdOPmZlksN8bm0dYEC by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2024-01-01T05:56:34Z
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@ratgrrlOh yeah, it's weird! It was stateless for 40 years? Some long interval. Made a point of driving through it, 2018, on a road trip through the southeast, all secondary roads. It's a strange place. Roads without names. The most hostile reception at a tiny restaurant. The civil has war never ended, quote literally I think. @stopthatgirl7 @raederle @bobwyman @mekkaokereke
(DIR) Post #B2w67ideyUsv1vZiBE by obscurestar@mastodon.social
2026-02-01T18:45:07Z
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@mekkaokereke As someone who grew up in rural Oklahoma where it was taught as 'the war of Northern Aggression' (though the South did all the tantruming and initial invading) YES, I can be contemptuous of the who pretend it wasn't about slavery. It's literally directly written as a cornerstone of their constitution and the signed upon reason for their insurrection. This information is available in the culture at large. Racists are ignorant by choice.
(DIR) Post #B2w67jfp7wD4EvaxBw by alper@sfba.social
2026-02-02T04:26:17Z
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@mekkaokereke @obscurestar That tells you how the civil war went huh!. The history is written by the winner. So who won the civil war really?United Daughters of the South, apparently. Btw. I'm originally from a country thousands of miles away from here (that has its own genocide denial and racism of sorts). I moved here 8 years ago and even I know this shit. There's no excuse. It's a choice.