‘Horrors Of Slavery Must Not Be White-Washed’
“The horrors of slavery and segregation must not be white-washed,” Social Justice Bermuda said, adding that “no assignment should suggest that any positive aspects resulted from the dehumanizing, brutalizing, and traumatizing of enslaved peoples.”
Complaints About Saltus Lesson On Slavery
This follows after Saltus was criticized for language used in a lesson, with messages circulating that alleged that the school may have asked some students about the “better parts of slavery”, and while Saltus has not responded directly to a question from Bernews sent on Wednesday, a response they did issue via their social media stated “we didn’t ask students to do this, but we can see how the intention of the particular assignment could have been misunderstood.”
The school said the assignment asked students to “Imagine you are a member of the ‘Underground Railroad’. Use the text and sources to write a speech designed to attract other slaves to join you. Mention:
- The worst aspects of plantation life
- Why the better parts of plantation life are still no substitute for freedom,
- How the ‘Railroad’ works.
“While there was reference in source material to the provision of food and clothing and other aspects of daily plantation life, this was in the context of the extreme privation and horrific, ongoing physical abuse visited upon enslaved people,” the statement said.
The school added, “In hindsight, we recognize the resource and the prompts for this assignment didn’t align with its purpose, but that is no excuse. We had to address the assignment’s impact and its reality. We met with members of our community who were concerned about this assignment and explained its objective, the assignment, and the pre-readings.
“We revisited the assignment with our Year 8 students to make sure there was no mistaking the objective of the exercise. We also established a plan to do a full analysis of the unit on slavery, racism, and civil rights with Dr. Vernée Butterfield, who has been working with us over the past 12 months in her capacity as an expert in Racial Equity and Culturally Responsive Practices.”
Noting they are ”painfully aware of Saltus’ legacy of white privilege and institutionalized racism,” they said “our Board and our faculty and staff are steadfast in their commitment to establish an environment at Saltus that is genuinely welcoming, inclusive and fair. This is our responsibility as educators and we take it seriously – for the wellbeing of our students and the Bermuda community.”
Social Justice Bermuda Statement
A spokesperson said, “Educators help shape how students see and understand the world and history. We are all responsible for our intention as well as our impact, and as all educators should be aware of, language matters. Word choices and assignments have a way of perpetuating harmful beliefs, and subtly erasing lived experiences, when not chosen with consideration.
“The enslavement of Africans in the Americas and Caribbean left two legacies behind: the social and economic barriers that the Black community continues to face; and the racism, lack of accountability, and feeling of superiority that infects the White community. Any lessons taught in schools on the topic of enslavement of African peoples should seek to reflect the true horrors and lasting effects as well as correct the ill-taught language which removes responsibility from the enslavers. Often it can be difficult to perceive the structures of oppression in the present, and it is through understanding the structures of oppression in the past that it is possible to shed a light on present structures of oppression.
“SJB supports the global movement to decolonize the problematic language typically used in discussions of enslavement to more accurately reflect the truth, while placing the onus where it belongs without dampening the humanity of the victims. For example, language such as ‘slave holder/owner/master’ must be replaced with “enslaver”, and ‘slave’ must be replaced with ‘enslaved person’.
“Education about history should not be to pacify and placate the uncomfortable feelings that arise in response to uncomfortable truths. Doing so deprives learners of the necessary insights that lead to growth and change, and as a result, upholds systems of supremacy and structural racism. Rather, the purpose of education should be to build on the knowledge and progress of the activists and ancestors that came before us.
“It should empower the next generation to learn from past mistakes, become anti-racist, and bring about necessary change to create a just society. Anti-racist education helps students identify the structures of oppression in the past so as to identify not just the lingering consequences of such tyrany, but also to identify new forms of oppression – and to use that knowledge to realize their full humanity through confronting these structures.
“SJB Education Team acknowledges that it is not the job of school children to do the dirty work of minimizing the horrors of enslavement and perpetuating these legacy lies that attempt to clear the white community of feelings of guilt and shame around race issues. Lessons on racism and its history should educate about the rise of the concept of race, as a justification for enslavement.
“As Ta- Nehisi Coates said, “Race is the child of racism, not the father.” If we deny ourselves the discomfort of the truth, then we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow. Truth and Reconciliation practices, at no point, suggest that truth must be downplayed for repair to take place. No assignment should suggest that any positive aspects resulted from the dehumanizing, brutalizing, and traumatizing of enslaved peoples.
“In order to be authentic and ensure honest learning is taking place, educators must be clear on their own knowledge. They must speak to how African people’s lives were in pre-colonial Africa in contrast to the horrific middle passage, and ensuing enslavement. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” James Baldwin.
“When teaching about the history of enslaved people in Bermuda and other parts of the world, we must tell the truth.
“The horrors of slavery and segregation must not be white-washed. It is uncomfortable to discuss them, but it is even more uncomfortable to continue ignoring them and their legacies that continue to poison our society and relationships today. SJB is committed to confronting structures of oppression everywhere.”
“The school said the assignment asked students to “Imagine you are a member of the ‘Underground Railroad’. Use the text and sources to write a speech designed to attract other slaves to join you. Mention:
The worst aspects of plantation life
Why the better parts of plantation life are still no substitute for freedom,
How the ‘Railroad’ works.”
Quite a distance between this and the way the matter was initially reported once the full context is seen. The school would have been sensible to release this immediately.
“The horrors of slavery and segregation must not be white-washed,” Social Justice Bermuda said, adding that “no assignment should suggest that any positive aspects resulted from the dehumanizing, brutalizing, and traumatizing of enslaved peoples.”
For the first time, I agree with this anonymous group of people.
While I agree with Social Justice Bermuda’s statement, they clearly jumped the gun as Saltus’s second statement clearly set out the terms of the assignment and the context in which the students were asked to complete it.
Well, actually SJB’s statement doesn’t seem to reference Saltus at all.
Rather, they seem to be making a comment on the conversation that the initial reporting sparked on social media and the comments sections, and emphasising how the subject should be taught.
Having now realised that some of yesterday’s comments were based slightly on a misconception of the subject material, it appals me to think just how much hate exists in Bermuda. There is no reason or excuse for this to form part of our everyday society.
So very Bermudian isn’t it …. So very holier than though
The use of “plantation life” instead of slavery seems a bit odd to me. Its too sanitized, imagine saying “involuntary camp life” instead of Holocaust.