Parents and school officials from Rea View Elementary in suburban Charlotte, NC are outraged as black students were forced to act like slaves during a field trip to a plantation.

From UPI.com

Teachers at Rea View Elementary in Waxhaw said they are planning to write leaders at the Latta Plantation about a lesson during a Wednesday field trip that involved an African-American tour guide instructing black students to pretend to be slaves while their white classmates looked on, WSOC-TV, Charlotte, reported Friday.

Parents said the three students chosen by tour guide Ian Campbell wore bags used to gather cotton while mimicking cotton picking.

“I am very enthusiastic about getting kids to think about how people did things in 1860, 1861 — even before that period,” said Campbell, who added he has been a historian for 15 years.

“I was trying to be historically correct not politically correct,” he said.

Kojo Nantambu, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg National Asssociation for the Advancement of Colored People, criticized the lesson.

“There is a lingering pain, a lingering bitterness, a lingering insecurity and a lingering sense of inhumanity since slavery. Because that’s still there, you want to be more sensitive than politically correct or historically correct,” he said.

Did the plantation go too far in their educational efforts? What do you think?

Obama: Important Lessons in America’s Slave Past
Lessons America’s slavery history should not be ignored because it contains some serious lessons for today, President Obama told CNN during his recent excursion to the west African nation of Ghana. “I think it’s important that the way we think about it and the way it’s taught is not one in which there’s simply a victim and a victimizer. And that’s the end of the story,” Obama said at Cape Coast Castle, from which enslaved Africans were once shipped to the so-called New World. “I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it’s relevant, is because whether it’s what’s happening in Darfur or what’s happening in the Congo or what’s happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists.” The president was joined by his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters on the trip, which was the first to sub-Saharan Africa for America’s first African-American president.

The Civil War may be over, but the Sons of Confederate Vets have been waging a new battle over the past several months. Backed by the Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce, the group has riled up the local chapter of the NAACP by pressing to fly the Confederate colors at this year’s Veteran’s Day parade. The NAACP and members of the Black community want the mayor and City Council to ban what they see as a profound symbol of racism and hate. They do have a point. At the very least, the flag symbolizes treason against the United States, and it does remind African Americans of a period in history when Blacks were nothing more than chattel property – property that many southern Whites were willing to fight over. And even if – as the Sons of Confederate Vets contends – the flag is a “symbol of southern pride,” isn’t there something undeniably un-American about embracing something so offensive to so many people? Last week, Bishop Victor Curry, president of the Miami-Dade NAACP chapter was surrounded by several dozen pastors, local activists and NAACP members when he urged the city to make a stand against the throwback flag. “We do not want to see racism walking down the streets of the city of Homestead, funded by taxpayers,” he told The Miami Herald. The City Council has 30 days to apologize to the community for “failure to understand the hurt caused by the display of the flag” and to have the mayor and City Manager Mike Shehadeh meet with members of the NAACP, PULSE and the Mexican American Council to discuss the offensiveness of the flag. If the council fails to comply, Curry says the NAACP will boycott the chamber’s businesses.

Connecticut Ponders Slavery Apology

Lawmakers in Connecticut are considering following the footsteps of five other states by apologizing for its role in the slave trade and other government-sanctioned racist policies of the past. On Monday, a legislative committee pondered a resolution that would issue a formal, general apology and express the General Assembly’s “profound contrition” for the official acts that sanctioned and perpetuated slavery hundreds of years ago. Read the rest.

A Renowned “Modern-day Griot” Dies William H. Smith, lauded by admirers as a “modern-day griot” for the way he handed down to future generations essential cultural elements, has died of heart failure. He was 88. Smith, a painter, sculptor, and advertising professional, passed away at Silver Lake Center, a nursing home in Bristol, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. It was as a teen that Smith first gained notoriety, having painted a series of murals on African-American history at Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, from which he graduated in 1939, Philly.com reports. Smith’s acrylic, oil, pastel and pencil works had been exhibited at the U.S. embassy in Oman, the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Pennsylvania, according to his daughter, Claire, a former sports columnist for The Inquirer and the New York Times. “He was a modern-day griot,” she said, “an African storyteller, historian and entertainer.” His sculpture of Harriet Tubman, commissioned by the African American Historical and Cultural Society of Bucks County, stands in Bristol Lions Park, Philly.com reports.

Prudential Names First Black CEO West Africa native Tidjane Thiam is the first Black CEO ever to run a FTSE 100 company after he was named to head Prudential. Read more.

 After nearly 150 years, the great-great-grandson of the man who worked on President Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch set out to learn whether there was any truth to the legend that there was a secret message praising Lincoln and prophesying the end of slavery. Douglas Stiles, a real-estate attorney in Waukegan, Ill., had heard that his ancestor, Irish immigrant and D.C. watchmaker Jonathan Dillon, had been working on the president’s watch in 1861 when news came that Fort Sumter had been attacked in South Carolina, marking the beginning of the Civil War. Read more.

Slavery Theme Park Stirs Controversy Ignoring critics who say that slavery should not be remembered in a fun way, former Jackson Five member Marlon Jackson (pictured) is helping build a slavery theme park in the east African nation of Nigeria. When the Badagry Historical Resort Development Project is complete, says Jackson and other park backers, Nigeria will be one of the world’s top tourist destinations. “This will be an adventurous ride, giving you an historical overview of African music. From hologram images, concert footage, a state-of-the-art recording facility, to robotic figures displaying the rhythmic beats from 300 years ago where music began leading up to the biggest African group in the world, The Jackson Five,” says literature from the investment group behind the plan, called The Motherland Group (TMG). Read more about what has people heated here. Do you support the idea of a slavery theme park?

Syndicated radio host compares welfare and slavery.A syndicated satellite radio show host is creating quite a stir after his Nov. 6 comparison of slavery and welfare. On The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Jim Quinn said: “You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board; you got free money; and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow’s slave. … Can I ask a question? How’s that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it.” Read the rest of the story here.

Soulja Boy shouts out his personal “slave master”: bling. Message boards and chat rooms are filling with venom toward performer Soulja Boy, since his comments on a BET show. The celeb was among stars recently interviewed by “Black Carpet” host Touré, who asked random, thought-provoking questions of those stopping to chat with the network. Soulja was asked: “What historical figure do you most hate?” Perhaps pausing to break down all the syllables in “historical figure,” the 18-year-old appeared stumped, so Touré prompted, “Others have said Hitler, (Osama) bin Laden, the slave masters…” SB then chimed in, “Oh, wait! Hold up! Shout out to the slave masters!” The reportedly college-bound entertainer added, “Without them, we’d still be in Africa. We wouldn’t be here to get this ice and tattoos.” Touré later blogged about his own shock at the moment, pointing out that diamonds – “ice” – come from Africa and that many slave masters were known to beat and rape folks who looked like Soulja’s ancestors, long before Black wealth or “Black Carpet” were conceivable. To which one might also add that African tribal markings pre-date modern “tattoos,” that is, if Soulja was interested. No word on whether SB’s pre-requisites to computer animation studies will include a history course. It’s enough to make Marvin Gaye wanna holler and throw up both his hands.

Def Jam boss reportedly shot himself. Police have confirmed the death announced by Def Jam Recordings of its executive vice president on Saturday as a suicide. Cobb County, Georgia authorities said on Sunday that Shakir Stewart’s body was found in the bathroom of his home near Atlanta. Stewart, 34, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The gunshot wound that killed him reportedly was self-inflicted. Stewart stepped into the executive slot vacated by rapper Jay-Z at the end of 2007. Get more details on the tragedy at BET.com/Music.

Niger government ordered to pay $20,000 to ex-slave. The government of Niger must pay a woman $20,000 (10 million West African francs) who, at 12, was sold into slavery and held captive for 10 years, ruled a West African court reports The Associated Press. Niger is at fault because it failed to enforce its laws against slavery, the court ruled.  The former slave at the center of the case, Hadijatou Mani, who is now 24, told the court she was forced into work as a servant and a sex slave until she was freed in 2005. Her former master only freed her because he apparently wanted her to become his wife legally. Slavery was banned in Niger in 2003. In her complaint (which she originally filed in Niger courts but decided to move to the West African court) Mani asked for 50 million francs. “If Niger’s judicial process had functioned normally, there would have been no need to call on an international court to re-judge this case,” Chaibou Kaber, her lawyer, said. The court ruled that Niger was “responsible for the inaction of its administrative and judicial arms,” said a statement read by the court’s president. The court is run by the Economic Community of West African States, of which 15 nations are a part. The body itself doesn’t have great power to force Niger to follow the ruling; however, a spokesman for the country said the government will abide by the ruling and pay Mani the judgment. This landmark ruling could serve as a wakeup call to Niger and other countries in the region and encourage officials to enforce anti-slavery laws more strongly. While West Africa has a history with slavery and some still openly hold slaves, many countries have begun to crackdown on the illegal practice.
Teachers in St. Vincent will end strike. Teachers in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines have ended their strike and are set to go back to work Tuesday, reports the BBC. Teachers in the Caribbean island nation had been on strike for two weeks because of a salary dispute. But the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union made the decision to end the strike during an emergency meeting last Friday, according to the union’s president, Joy Matthews.  The union is still strongly against the government’s plan to implement new salary scales for reclassification purposes that, according to teachers, would leave some earning less than they did before. Instead of the new salary scales put in place by a national public-sector re-grading program, they would like to see their pay increased.

Kirk Douglas petitions symbolic gesture. Long-time actor Kirk Douglas is using his MySpace page to help generate support for a national apology by the United States government for its involvement in slavery. Douglas, whose talent has earned him roles in everything from old Western flicks to TV shows like “Touched by an Angel” and a voice part on “The Simpsons,” is collecting signatures. The Oscar-nominated legend plans to eventually send his petition to the president. Douglas, 91, is the father of actor Michael Douglas.

Taraji Henson provides woman with food, shelter. A Hurricane Katrina survivor has three months of rent-free housing courtesy of actress Taraji Henson. Henson, who co-starred in Baby Boy and Hustle & Flow, was in New Orleans filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button when she met the single mom and her children. “This woman lost everything during Katrina and came back and got her little apartment,” Henson says. “She had two daughters she was raising by herself and then her apartment caught on fire, so she lost everything twice. I wanted to give her something besides toys because where would they put it? They didn’t have anywhere to stay.”

Snoop owes actor Russell Crowe a favor. Rapper Snoop Dogg will have to speak to a group of Australian children as partial repayment of a favor to Gladiator star Russell Crowe. Snoop expects to tour the continent late next month after recently having his ban from the country lifted. Crowe, who lives in Australia, helped plead Snoop’s case to the government, calling the rapper a “friend.” “I submit to you that Snoop Dogg poses no threat to Australia or to any individual in this country,” Crowe wrote in a letter. “He has toured here three times before without incident and there are no reasons to assume this tour will be anything but the positive experience the last three have been. Snoop has built a stellar reputation with promoters and audiences worldwide.” Crowe added that he had a “selfish motivation” as well, saying that Snoop promised to appear at a youth charity event for Crowe’s South Sydney Rugby League Club. He wrote:  ”Some of our First Grade players will attend with him and he will deliver a powerful and positive message about rising through adversity, drawing on his own underprivileged background as an example. As you can imagine, such a visit will have a phenomenal effect.” Snoop had been banned due to his criminal record.