How cute is Tori?At school she had a "Living Museum" project. Tori had to memorize a script about Sacajawea and then present it to anyone walking by. She is great at memorization and her performance was flawless. What a proud Mom I am!
On a strange note........
I was astounded and saddened at how many parents allowed their children to dress in black-face for their presentations. The kids don't know any better. They are just trying to dress like their person in history. But the adults? Cmon! This could have been an excellent "teaching moment" for the parents and the teacher to teach children what NOT to do.
14 comments:
Tori looks adorable. Your are right to be proud.
I'm appalled at letting kids dress in black face. What's next minstrel shows?
What is the difference between dressing like an native american and dressing like a african american? You obviously had your daughter dress as a native american in order to be more accurate. Shouldn't the other students be accurate also. If it is done with respect and to portray something which is not possible otherwise then I see no problem with black-face.
Wow, that is a good picture of Tori.
Wow, that is a good picture of Tori.
Hmmmm. I have to admit, I think anon has a point with. I'm sure what I think of this all.
She looks SO cute! I bet you floated around there in the clouds, she did a very good job with her costume.
I think the face paint has to do with the manner in how it was done and appropriateness of the children themselves. I am not sure how I would handle the situation myself, as I can see both sides of it myself, something to think about for the future. Either way, I think this type of thing is a GREAT thing for all the children to do in general, I bet she had a lot of fun getting ready and portraying Sacajewea.
Anonynous-No need to hide...We can all agree to disagree here!
If you noticed in the picture, I didn't paint Tori's face darker or "red face" to portray a Native American.
It would be just as silly to see an African American paint his or her face white to portray Abrahmam Lincoln or Elvis. You can costume yourself without changing the color of your skin and still get the same effect. This can increase the child's creativity and decrease the amount of people the child may offend.
Tori looks so cute! I'd love to hear her speech and learn a lil' somethin.
I can't believe the school allowed black face paint.
I see anon's point but your response to it was an even better point.
I guess anyone of any color portraying/speaking of a person of another race or ethnicity is bound to offend in our sensitive society. Wow this subject is hot lately.
I still disagree with your point. You had to dress Tori up in a way that you felt portrayed the native americans. The other parents had to also find a way to have their children portray their assignment. If I had a child who had to portray an african american i would find it difficult to find a way that is not insulting. What would you dress them in? What would their houses look like? If you have a white kid sitting in front of an house wearing modern clothing I am not sure how the "judges" would know the identity of the impersonation. I am of course making an assumptions that the students were portraying african americans and not simply africans.
You know you make a good point Tallulah, should it be the opposite situation many a person would be offended, why not the other way around? Either way, honestly in the whole big scheme of the world in general, I think it would be a silly thing for either party to get truly upset over (should it actually be a big deal to someone or whatnot). I think in the whole big picture the most important thing, no matter HOW they did it, is that they portray the person they were representing with complete and total respect they are due as a historical figure- no matter their race or creed! It just seems that as a society we are all so concerned with PC and "what is right" that we forget to just accept and value the differences in all people. That doesn't mean you like everyone or their actions but I sure the hell wish as a society we would all just learn to let things roll off our backs a bit more and be more tolerant of others. As my father always told me "judge people by WHO they are not WHAT they are or you will miss out on a lot of really great friends!" and when you are done with that follow it up with my grandfathers "sweep your own front steps before you start on the neighbors!"
I just reread what I wrote, I am not making a statement AT you or even about you and this sitution. I appologise for the way it may come across it is just something that popped into my head when I read your response in regards to society as a whole.
ALL that being said (sorry- for the life of me I can't just say what I want in like 3 words and I TRY! LOL) I find all the responses very intersting and enlightening. Different views and opinions on something that I honestly never would have considered unless I was confronted with the situation myself. Thanks for the deep thought, I honestly have been considering it all day... what can I say I don't get out a lot and cleaning house is b-o-r-ing! LOL
I'm sure the children and their families had only good intentions when they painted their children's faces. The difference is that by dressing your child in ethnic and period clothes they can feel and learn a little more about what their characters lives were like. Imagine what it would be like to wear the wooden shoes from Holland. It would be much easier to understand what they where like if you spent time wearing them. On the other hand having a your face covered in paint does not give you a feeling of what it was like to be African-American. Unfortunately in our culture there is a historical reference to black face, and that is what most people will think about first when they see it.
Wow, Tori looks SO CUTE!!!
I'm torn on the face painting thing. I would hope it was tasteful and appropriate. Did any parents say anything?
I love a good discussion. Thanks for all of your comments regarding this issue. Race always seems to be a touchy one.
T-girl-I haven't spoken with the teacher, I don't want to make too big of a deal out of it because I know the children and parents were just doing what they thought would portray their historical figure in an accurate way. Several people did make comments to me about it though. Like, "Can you BELIEVE that they allowed the children to dress in black face?"
But if parents and teachers don't find it a problem, then it will be difficult to change our children's perceptions of what is okay and not okay to do. All I can do is explain to Tori (which I did)why I felt it was innapropriate and offensive.
Tori DID look great and did such a good job that I DID learn something about Sacejewia (however obviously not how to spell her name). AND I would just like to say a little something in favor of Easter. Growing up in New Jersey, there was always one or two days when I would wake up and feel like I was living inside a beautiful Easter egg with all of the pastel colors painted around me. I still feel that way about the springtime and Easter. It gives me great hope and the promise of good things to come.
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