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haele

(15,606 posts)

4. My white mother in law and her sisters picked cotton when she was a child.

Reply to exboyfil (Original post)

Mon Apr 25, 2022, 01:22 PM

Apr 2022

She did it to help support the family, picking for a local grower in an area of Alabama that didn't typically attract migrant workers until Pecan season. They only had to do that for a few years until the family got back to financial stability post Depression, but she says she still has nightmares about it.
It would teach a lot of kids how hard work was without technology, and why it was so brutal on the enslaved.

Haele

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You can't teach about slavery by bringing a cotton plant to class? [View all] exboyfil Apr 2022 OP

Article is all over the place! LeftInTX Apr 2022 #1

What does bringing a cotton boll to class teach about slavery? WhiskeyGrinder Apr 2022 #2

The tactile feel of it exboyfil Apr 2022 #5

So kids need to be hurt to understand being hurt? WhiskeyGrinder Apr 2022 #7

Yes EndlessWire Apr 2022 #17

I imagine its a way to show kids the difference between AleksS Apr 2022 #6

The difficulty in harvesting cotton, I would think, elleng Apr 2022 #8

And how does it promote empathy? Solly Mack Apr 2022 #10

Thank you for this post. WhiskeyGrinder Apr 2022 #11

The yahoo article states she brought actual shrubs. The plants themselves have sharp edges LeftInTX Apr 2022 #15

And still not a lesson in empathy. Solly Mack Apr 2022 #16

They might learn there are thorns in it. alphafemale Apr 2022 #18

Imagine what they would have done had she brought sugar cane to the classroom, or rice . . . Journeyman Apr 2022 #3

My white mother in law and her sisters picked cotton when she was a child. haele Apr 2022 #4

my grandmother and mother WhiteTara Apr 2022 #9

glad I'm not a teacher. maxsolomon Apr 2022 #12

This article is starting to make me think that we teach slavery all wrong. WhiskeyGrinder Apr 2022 #13

We do. For too many, it is taught with a host of mitigating rationalizations Solly Mack Apr 2022 #14