Columbus Day is more than just a day off from work or school; it’s a reflection of America’s complex history and its relationship with exploration and indigenous cultures. As we dive deeper into the origins and evolution of this holiday, it’s clear that Columbus Day carries with it a range of interpretations and emotions. Here … Continue reading Beyond the Voyage: Five Uncharted Facts About Columbus Day
A 4th-Grade Teacher Refused to Lie to His Students, so He Taught the True History of Christopher Columbus
This is an important story, so pay attention.
Nathanael Madden is a teacher at Cold Spring Elementary in Potomac, Maryland, and he has decided to take a different path when teaching his students about a very controversial historical figure.
Madden decided that he would teach the real history of Columbus and Columbus Day to his 4th-grade students, and his tweets about his student’s responses went viral.
Madden said about his decision,
“School is often a very confining and controlling place for kids, and I want to create a space for students to feel liberated by learning. I want all students to feel that they are free to be who they are and that they have a place of belonging in my classroom. This also means that we can’t ignore our world’s current realities, as well as how everything has been impacted by historical realities. Through my teaching, I constantly encourage and challenge my students to be critical questioners and critical thinkers so they can be active and informed participants in our world.”
My 4th grade students recently read of the true history of Columbus' career as a slaver and the genocide he began in the Caribbean.
I asked them: what new information did you learn? how did this affect you? why is this important to learn?
Here are some of their responses:— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
Madden shared a series of tweets in which he talked about how his students responded to his lessons laying out the “alternative history” that is not usually taught in public schools.
“I found out that the native people helped him, instead of thanking them, he wrote in his journal, he wrote about how he might enslave them and try to control them”
“Christopher Columbus wasn’t an explorer but a slave trader.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“Columbus never even set foot on the main continent! He didn’t discover anything anyway!”
“Colombus had been a slave trader for more than twelve years beforehand”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“Because the indigenous people were wearing gold, he forced them to mine gold for him. When they did they not mine enough gold, they got their hands cut off and bled to death.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“Columbus killed them ,thinking that the Native Americans were beasts,but he himself actually was the one.”
“he would write down what he did as if he was proud of it.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“This hard history made me feel furious!!! A reason for this is that Columbus enslaved people and killed them! He has made me feel this fury!”
“I do not understand why there is a holiday for Columbus.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“I felt very mad, especially at My teacher for teaching me the wrong thing. I asked myself “why would my teachers tell me something that is pure lie?".”
“I feel betrayed because the teachers I had last year and the year before that had taught me that Columbus was a good guy.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“I feel sorrow”
“It must be sad for Indigenous people to see other people thinking Columbus is a hero”
“ It also made me feel mad at my country because of how badly they have treated those who were originally from here. They still deserve more attention.”
— Nate ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thel0rdbyr0n) October 16, 2019
“For so long, particularly in the US, the story of Columbus as a heroic explorer has been the dominant narrative, erasing and ignoring the voices of Indigenous peoples who have known the truth for centuries. As we grapple with the myths of American exceptionalism and start listening to the voices of different marginalized groups, we can uncover the truths of history.”
American public education has come a long way since I was in grade school; I don’t remember anything other than praise for Christopher Columbus around the time we celebrated Columbus Day at school.
The times, they are a-changing…and that’s a good thing.
The post A 4th-Grade Teacher Refused to Lie to His Students, so He Taught the True History of Christopher Columbus appeared first on UberFacts.
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