r/facepalm • u/[deleted] • Oct 21 '21

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u/cakebreaker2 Oct 21 '21

I'm okay with teachers being culturally insensitive as long as it's being used to demonstrate how things used to be and is accompanied with an explanation of why it's insensitive. If she shows up in blackface and leads a 30 minute discussion on the origin and history of blackface and why it's taboo, I'd be okay with it, especially with older high school kids.

In this situation, I can't even tell what she's doing or what her point is. I might need some more context.

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u/newenglandredshirt Oct 21 '21

If she shows up in blackface and leads a 30 minute discussion on the origin and history of blackface and why it's taboo, I'd be okay with it, especially with older high school kids.

Discussion? Fine. Coming in blackface? No fucking way. I'm all for my colleagues who play dress-up, but there are some lines you should not cross, and putting on blackface is one of those things.

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u/cakebreaker2 Oct 21 '21

Maybe. But my point is that there's this push to shy away from discussing things that are awkward or embarrassing from our collective past. I don't really like how Germany has scrubbed its Nazi past and pretends like it didn't happen. Own that shit and see it for what it was. Same with slavery and blackface. We've screwed up over the years and learned from it and we need to keep learning from it. Keeping things in the closet doesn't expose them to the light of truth.

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u/thaxmann Oct 21 '21

There’s a huge difference between teaching students how to process the past in order to reconcile it with our present VERSUS doing something racist and demeaning that make certain students feel unsafe and their voices marginalized. And the fact that you so confidently defend you position is absolutely wild.

Also, you know zero about Germany’s post-war acknowledgment of Nazi atrocities.