The target is on Target again ...

Perhaps the pipa evolved over time. Would experience playing it provide a richer perspective? That's just one nuance. The pipa player will listen to historical recordings more discriminately than one w/o such experience. You appear to be completely neglecting the importance of experience. What is your particular area of legal expertise? For the sake of discussion, let's say it's tort reform. In that case, who would be more qualified to teach the History of Tort Reform in the U.S. . . . you or me?

 

The "idiotic trans attention whore['s]" only crime was making a short video showing the Bud Light can with her face on it and drinking the Bud Light. That's it. All she did was do what she normally does (create content on TikTok), exist as a trans person, and promote the product Bud Light sent her.

You can criticize Bud Light's decision making, but end of the day, this is being driven entirely by the prejudices of a relatively small group of hateful bigots who loathe transgender people for daring to exist. They're no different than the group who hated gay people for existing and the group who hated Black people for existing. I won't pretend there's any justification for them to behave the way they are.

 

I have a friend who is a historian who lived through segregation in the South. He is a Black man who was personally affected by it, including being denied admission into flagship state universities due to segregation, being forced to sit at the back of the bus, not being able to drink from the white's only water fountain, etc.

Only a supremely dishonest person would say that those experiences don't give him a unique perspective that a white historian from the North wouldn't have in talking about Jim Crow and Southern history. Basically, you're right, Davis. But you're also wasting your breath.

 

You are confusing performance (skill) with knowledge (of history) to a degree which allows you to teach. They have nothing to do with each other. Two different skill sets.

 

I will fight for your right to post erroneous opinions. I support you. {hugs}

 

I would agree that in your example your friend would be able to write a great autobiography….but that isn’t what the discussion was about. Does your friend’s personal experience in 1950 give him more expertise in writing about 1830 slave trade? The answer is no.

 

It gives him a perspective that other people who have never been discriminated against, treated as less than human, and deemed by society to be less than a full American citizen would not have. That perspective is certainly relevant to the 1830s slave trade.

Sounds like I should start looking into buying some Target stock.

 

It’s weird how this discussion has unfolded.

UFLawers original contention, was that “black history” shouldn’t exist, which of course is rediculous if not so absurd as to be flatly racist.

However, now the debate seems to be as to who is qualified to teach black history. It seems you and some others are taking the position that *only* black people can acquire the knowledge and be qualified to teach black history. I can’t agree with that, that is also a bit racist. While I would assume if you have a history department that has black history as a track, most of the faculty may be black (just based on who would be more likely to be interested in black history). But if you are just “surveying” the history like an AP course at the high school level might do, surely a white teacher could impart that knowledge just the same. However, much of the source knowledge might lean towards black written autobiographies or accounts of history from black people in 1830 or the 1960’s (or even perhaps post civil-rights). I think that is where you’d get that perspective history. The color of the skin of the teacher in 2023 shouldn’t really matter.

 

only on days that end in “B”. On other days it’s as irrelevant as FSU football. Knowledge of history is not passed on by DNA, and is not enhanced or magnified by personal experience. In fact, a good historian will ignore the biases that are inherent in personal experiences because it skews factual history. Great autobiography, no go on history book.

 

I am going to mostly agree with you here, but regardless, you have to know your customers. Having said that I don’t think it is 100% bigotry.

 

That is an absurdly wrong understanding of my point. My point is that one's perspective is shaped by their experiences. At no point did I argue that only Black people can teach Black history. My argument was that a Black historian is generally better equipped to talk about the issues most relevant to Black history due to their lived experiences. Does that mean a white historian can't do the job? No.

Yet, it does.

 

I never said or suggested black history doesn’t exist. I said it should not exist as a separate discipline because it is racist. At its core, “black history” excludes the history of all races (hence BLACK history). If we are going to use the same logic, to be fair, then schools should also teach native American history, Japanese history, Mexican history, and, wait for it, the ever racist, white history. The end result is just stupid. I think you and I agree on everything else.

 

You're wrong. And it's simply naïve to believe that any person can fully put aside their biases. But it's not worth more of my time to continue going around in circles with you.

 

Thanks Barak.

 

Are you under the impression schools don’t teach Latin American Histories or Asian Studies as “separate disciplines”? Because they do. It’s quite common to teach these separate histories as well as how they interact overall with U.S. history… which is well covered in all the different courses on Colonial America . When you ask for “where is my white history” you give yourself away.

A tiny sample from UF’s catalog, literally exactly what you are asking for (Mexican History and Japanese History).


LAH 4433 Modern Mexico 3 Credits

Aftermath of independence and war with U.S., the Reform and Maximillian, Porfiriato, Mexican Revolution and contemporary trends. (H and N) (WR)​

ASH 3442 Modern Japan 3 Credits

Surveys the social, political and economic transformation of modern Japanese society from 1800. (H and N)​

AMH 3531 The American Jewish Experience 1880-2000 3 Credits

Introduces the major events and issues in American Jewish history and offers a sense of why Jews felt at home in America. Focuses on immigration, assimilation and collective survival.​

AMH 3561 American Women in the 19th Century 3 Credits

Examines women's history during the 19th century with a focus on how women gradually entered the public arena as laborers, reformers, writers, and performers.​

AMH 3660 Native American History to 1815 3 Credits

Examines the representations and realities of North American Indian history from the pre-Columbian period through the early 19th century. (H)​

 

But that is *exactly* what you are saying when you imply a black persons experience makes them a better black historian. That may be true for someone who literally lived through civil rights, and there are still people living from that era to share their lived experiences. However having that experience does not on its own make one a “professor of history” or even a good teacher. It just makes them a 1st hand witness. Of course a historian that ALSO has this lived experience might have even deeper level insight. I don’t disagree there. But as those who age out of teaching (people who were old enough to remember the 1960’s), “being there” can hardly be a prerequisite to the job of teaching black history.

Mind you, I expect most professors of black history are still going to be black even if they do not have a particular lived experience of the pre-civil rights history. It’s not like it bothers me in the slightest if that were to be the case.

 

Bro, how about we stick to what I actually said instead of inventing stuff I didn't say and then arguing against that? That tactic is beneath you. I very explicitly referenced a HISTORIAN, not just a random Black person:

 

Joseph T. Glatthaar wrote what most people (historians) consider the most comprehensive and influential book on the history of black soldiers in the civil war. Probably the most cited book when discussing black soldiers in the Civil War. He is white, and he did not fight in the Civil War. I believe he’s currently a professors in North Carolina.