history – Intelligent Hoodlums

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – Einstein (?)

Every time someone uses this quote, I hear the late great Reggie White in my mind. In 1998, the Hall of Famer was asked to speak to the Wisconsin State Legislature. The following is from the New York Times.

In his effort to promote racial harmony, the Packer player, who is black, said that each racial and ethnic group has its own ”gifts,” that, when taken together, form ”a complete image of God.”

But in describing those gifts, White said that blacks ”like to sing and dance,” while whites ”know how to tap into money.” He said that Hispanic people ”are gifted at family structure. You can see a Hispanic person and he can put 20 or 30 people in one home.”

Asians, he said, know how to ”turn a television into a watch.” American Indians, he said, ”have been very gifted” in ”spirituality.”

Like Mr. White’s comments, the quote seems to imply that one is ‘naturally’ abled. The talents that one has have been bestowed rather than developed. You can see the rather troubling place that can lead us from Mr. White’s words.

Stay in Your Box

The quote, while well-meaning, seems to be saying that one is given a rather limiting set of skills that one should stick to. One should not challenge the status quo. Climb a tree? Nah, you’re a fish. Stick to what you’re good at. Do fishy things, but don’t try to see beyond your pond. That’s dangerous thinking. Plus, you’ll fail. Absolutely you’ll fail. Even though you’ve never tried, you’ll fail because fish don’t climb trees.

Change “fish” to black, poor, female, ELL, or IEP and that quote gets very grimy. Very grimy. It’s the stuff that eugenicists dream of. It’s the ultimate “stay in your box because you don’t have the talents to do that” statement.

The Excuse Matrix

It also gives the “fish” an excuse for not achieving. I can’t do certain things because I’m just a fish. I didn’t do my homework because I’m a fish. I can’t do math because I’m a fish. Learn computer science? Fish don’t do that. Make movies? I’m a fish remember. Write a symphony? Fish don’t do music.

Teachers could also use this philosophy to deny opportunities to students. I’m not going to teach script writing and movie making to these fish. It’s not their talent. I’m not going use certain tools with these fish. Fish don’t do (insert skill). Fish in this neighborhood don’t do well doing (insert skill) so I’m not going to present it to them.

All Talents are Equal?

This quote is pretty Orwellian. Essentially, all talents are equal, but some talents are more equal. It infers that some talents are more desirable than others and those that have those talents are therefore more valuable. It creates a hierarchy that is “natural” and eliminates the possibility of dreaming. It’s pretty literal. Fish aren’t birds. Birds aren’t lions. Lions aren’t hippos. “Tapping into money” and being able to “turn a television into a watch” seem like a lot better talents than fitting 30 people in a house to me. However, you get what you get and don’t have a fit, right? There ain’t no changing. If you’re a cockroach, get used to scurrying when the lights come on because it’s not going to change.

Solutions

We have to teach fish that they might not be able to climb trees, but they can build jetpacks. According to science, all life started in the seas. We’re all fish. Some of us we’re told by others that another reality was possible so we evolved legs and lungs and left the pond. This is what we need to teach students. You don’t have to stay a fish.

We need a coherent curriculum that is knowledge based so that students are able to very rapidly eliminate the achievement gap. We need students to be given the opportunities to not only learn the rudiments of reading and math, but also computer science, multimedia creation, science, arts, and engineering. We need to allow far more exploration and collaboration in schools so that no one sees themselves as a fish that can’t climb trees but as a school of fish that push each other to evolve into whatever they’d like.

by @chocolateteacher

Heroes? We don’t need no stinkin’ heroes.

Always on the look out for new apps and fun games to play, I happened upon an app called “Frontier Heroes,” from A&E which depicts a pretty interesting version of American history. The app is divided into 6 eras- Early America, The Colonies, American Revolution, The Frontier, California Gold Rush, and the Land of the Free. I was quite excited to play the game. Each era is full of games depicting “life” during that era and DYKs (Did you Knows) that inform the player about life during the era. I thought this was a tool that would be great instructionally. I was both very wrong and very right.

Early America (1600)

Them Natives? They’re all the same…

Nothing really exciting here. You shoot a bow and arrow and bang a drum. Again, nothing really mind blowing. The remarkable thing about this is that in the DYKs Native Americans are lumped together, despite there being 566 Federally recognized tribes currently. It’s great to lump people together, but then again, it’s not.

The Colonies (1607-1755)

Colonists? Oh, they survived all by their lonesome.

Early America only lasts seven years. (Who knew?) The colonists come into the picture with no mention of what has happened to the Native Americans. The activities one engages in never even allude to the very real reliance of the original colonists on the Native tribes. The only mention of “Native American” is that the main food in the Pilgrim’s diet was ‘Indian corn.’

American Revolution (1765-1783)

The American Revolution…a enterprise devoid of diversity.

So, it’s 1765. Estevanico has been dead for 200 years now. But in the world of the “Frontier”… there ain’t no sign of Negroes. None. Oh, except the Affirmative Action blackish face that one encounters in an anachronistic rendition of Yankee Doodle Dandy. By 1640, there were Africans on what is now the continental United States, yet they are conspicuously absent from any point of game play in this era.

There were black spies during the American Revolution. There were female spies during the American Revolution and women were integral to the success of the war. There were black slaves during the American Revolution. There were blacks that fought for the British during the American Revolution. Heck the first dude to die for “American Freedom” was a black dude, but…you wouldn’t know that if you used the app.

The Frontier (1800-1848)

Manifest Destiny is ALIVE!

Home on the range and…still no sign of the Native Americans, who by this point are being forced off their ancestral lands or killed. There is a red face dude that looks severely sunburned who might (maybe) be a white guy in red face when one simulates the Pony Express. No mention of Spanish missions. The only people involved in Manifest Destiny were white dudes. True story.

California Gold Rush (1848-1865)

What? Who what have thought the Gold Rush was more important than the Civil War?

Different era…same song. It is interesting that this era encompasses the years of the Civil War. No Abe Lincoln. No Jeff Davis. No Frederick Douglass. No Harriet Beecher Stowe. Just toothless miners. Totally glossing over the war that freed the slaves? Kinda inexcusable.

Land of the Free

I left this one undone because obviously, the brothers were still in chains.

The Land of the Free being locked is a metaphor for this entire game. One cannot arrive at the reasons why our country now has a level of freedom for all those that reach it’s shore through the game play of the app. It would seem to reinforce the fact that white men are the only people that have and will make history here…and that’s a real shame.