when you learned about MLK as a kid

GreenTeaDisease

this may not apply to the folks here in their 40s or 50s, but when you were a kid and learned about martin luther king, didn't it seem like it was a really really really long time ago? Like I was elementary school in the 80s and it was sort of presented to us like "once open a time, this country was very backward and had racism, and a great man named martin luther king spoke out against it." and then at somepoint you're like hey, wait a minute, this all JUST happened.

PearlJamaholic

i think they want people to think it was a long time ago. i read about this growing trend where racism is kinda coming back in style. that my generation and the kids growing up now are more like than grandparents then their parents. they/we are actually stepping back to pre-60/70's thinking. (not going to go into the reason or causes, cause thats moving train stuff)

but king kinda gets about as much place in american history as columbus. and columbus was basically a mass murderer. king and x should be respected the way washington, jefferson, or any of those guys are. i think king and x have had the biggest impact on moving this country in the right direction post wwII.

Brain of J.Lo

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

this may not apply to the folks here in their 40s or 50s, but when you were a kid and learned about martin luther king, didn't it seem like it was a really really really long time ago? Like I was elementary school in the 80s and it was sort of presented to us like "once open a time, this country was very backward and had racism, and a great man named martin luther king spoke out against it." and then at somepoint you're like hey, wait a minute, this all JUST happened.

I was JUST thinking about this!

It's funny how your perspective on time changes as you get older. Lately I've been blown away by the fact that when someone says "20 years ago", I can fully and clearly remember it...lol.

GreenTeaDisease

PearlJamaholic wrote:

i think they want people to think it was a long time ago. i read about this growing trend where racism is kinda coming back in style. that my generation and the kids growing up now are more like than grandparents then their parents. they/we are actually stepping back to pre-60/70's thinking. (not going to go into the reason or causes, cause thats moving train stuff)

but king kinda gets about as much place in american history as columbus. and columbus was basically a mass murderer. king and x should be respected the way washington, jefferson, or any of those guys are. i think king and x have had the biggest impact on moving this country in the right direction post wwII.

we never learned about malcolm x until high school, where we were to compare and contrast him with king. did you learn about malcolm x in elementary school?

well, my friend is an elementary school teacher and she says they don't teach anything about columbus or the pilgrims anymore at all because it is too controversial.

lalalalaaaaaaaa

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

we never learned about malcolm x until high school, where we were to compare and contrast him with king. did you learn about malcolm x in elementary school?

well, my friend is an elementary school teacher and she says they don't teach anything about columbus or the pilgrims anymore at all because it is too controversial.

Same with me. I think there was probably a paragraph about Malcolm X in my history book saying he was some guy who got shot..the end.

It's very sad when something can't be taught because it's considered too controversial. Kids should know about that stuff...they should know about things like the Trail of Tears, the Ludlow story, the true nature of the civil war, etc. etc.

PearlJamaholic

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

we never learned about malcolm x until high school, where we were to compare and contrast him with king. did you learn about malcolm x in elementary school?

well, my friend is an elementary school teacher and she says they don't teach anything about columbus or the pilgrims anymore at all because it is too controversial.

didnt learn about x until college, hahaha. but i knew the names of all the presidents by 6th grade, even the boring ones.

Heineken Helen

I don't think I ever even heard about him until U2 had the song out