Wait just a cotton picking minute!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a riot! And still, it's so sad...

Wait a cotton picking minute...what does the job market look like in Mississippi? This could be a career fair that could land someone a job for life. Have you stood in the unemployment line in the last 2 years or applied for a job post 9-11? What does the government know about you "Field Negro?" Are you on the "Terror No Fly List?" Have you secretly been "Blacklisted?" Some of us would be darn happy to make an honest living and get a second chance. Where in America can you go after the government has spied domestically on you? Cotton needs picking so bad!

Black Labor! White Wealth! As insulting as it sounds, it may not be a bad idea to remind our youth that the initial wealth of this nation was from the labor of our ancestors. They not only picked the cotton, they manually cleared the land, plowed the ground, planted the cotton, hoed the cotton, worked from sun-up to sun-down 6 days a week without any wages, for nearly 223 years. After they were Freed by the grace of God, they were left with only the clothes on their backs and they were RAGS. We must never forget the blood, sweat and tears, we have in this soil of America. Wemust never forget the savage of slavery, but we also must remember we racist if we mention it them. They are enjoying the benefits, we still don't get anything, but a reminder that "that was in the past." Ase'

That day of recognition of our slave ancesters is appropriate and makes alot of since. However I do believe High School kids would get more from such an activity then would elementary school kids. Also remember that after slavery both blacks & whites were tenant farmers and picked cotton for a living.

I agree with Aset. As contrary as it may seem, there are important lessons that could be drawn from enabling black students (and all students) to spend a day portraying and narrating the lives of enslaved Africans (or, for that matter, the lives of hunted and Christianized Native Americans). Our nation's prosperity (though unevenly shared and horribly misspent) was built on these historical realities. We, the descendants of enslaved Africans, should never be ashamed of our Ancestors or our history. Again, there are many lessons here. But we should certainly be careful in how we frame and plan such an event. For example, why not call it "Harriet Tubman Day" or "Frederick Douglass Day" and spend the day teaching about both the tragedy and triumphs of slavery. If this event is planned and executed thoughtfully, students "dressing up" as slaves could pay a powerful homage to our Ancestors. Let them dress up and pretend to go into the woods to gather herbs for healing. Let them be skilled midwives who give birth to babies. Let them pick cotton and tobacco and sugar cane under the sweltering sun while soothing their spirits with song and unity. Let them be midnight planners of secret mission along the Underground Railroad and use the sky as a roadmap. Let them dance in a sacred circle and do the ring shout by campfire. Let then transform the slavemaster's bible into a social gospel of self-help and liberation. Let them strategize with abolitionists. Let them poison the master's tea. Let them be one of the 4 million laves planning their first steps of freedom and walking across the wartorn South looking to reunite with loved ones and to marry and to share the remnants of their African cultures and traditions. Let them be tired and weary. Let hem be brilliant brave. Let them tell the untold story. We don't need to hide from history, we just need to tell our untold story. And if we tell it right, our children will NEVER be ashamed (nor should they) to "dress up" like their Ancestors--a people who taught the human race amazing but unacknowledged lessons about human fortitude, ingenuity, resilience, love, and spirit.

I have to respectfully disagree with Aset and Shaman. We do not have to subject our children to dressing up as slaves to remind them of their past. We can educate our children about their pass with dignity. Any level reverting to negative images isn't going to help them in their social development. If anything, if this scene would be able to play out, with the wrong people guiding the process, this could have been damaging to the young ones. We don't ask victims of violence to relive the moment so they can get the real lesson behind the moment, or ask rape victims to relive the torture. We can learn from the past without having to relive it. This is not the way. This is sheer ignorance and bigotry in true form. I don't put it past the south to be completely insensitive to the plight of African Americans. I am just a little worried if Aset and S. are African Americans. This world is getting really crazy right about now. Straight up!