Free copies of Lincoln for Schools?

And right after I finished my last blog post, I came across something else. With all the hubbub around Lincoln, I thought it might still be relevant to post about this.

Apparently, ever single middle school and high school in the United States is set to receive a copy of the movie on DVD, along with a teaching guide to provoke student discussion and learning. We could argue until the cows came home about whether this is a good idea or not. I think that would lead back into the historical accuracy debates, so I will just direct you to my first blog post on that subject. Anyways, back on point. 

There was a quote that reminded me a bit about something I recently read in Andrew Ferguson's 

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America. At one point, the author visits a seminar where the main ideas were teaching business management based on Lincoln's leadership skills. Never mind the fact that Lincoln was a terrible business man and failed multiple times at being one in his lifetime. Nevertheless, these people were able to take his leadership of a country and translate it into business success. The quote from the article reads as follows: "Each school will receive a DVD package compiled by Disney Educational Productions that includes a teacher's guide for spurring discussion among students and lesson plans relating to Abraham Lincoln's leadership and the significance of that period of U.S. history."

 It sounds eerily familiar to what was going on at the business seminars. Granted these seminars turned out to be fairly successful and thought provoking, but as someone who is only 3 years out of high school, I can wager a bet that the majority of High School students will not receive the same benefits as the seminar attendees. Most students, I can almost guarantee will see it as a free movie day and nothing more.I think its a noble attempt to try, but I just question how successful it'll be.

The article in question can be found here.

The Civil War and Baseball Cards

I think for this week I am a bit lucky. This week I found something that represents a bit of a cross roads for my interests. As I was purusing the interenet on my daily troll for information, I came across this

If you are too lazy to click on the link and read through all the information, the small amount that there is, I’ll summarize a bit for you. Man searches through attic, man finds baseball card, man discovers card is from the Civil War Era, man sells card for 92,000 dollars. Is this important? No, not really, but I found it neat. I absolutely love both baseball and history so to unearth something that is a cool little treasure trove of both is always fun!

On a side note, baseball season is right around the corner! Spring training has started, teams are reporting, and I can not wait for a chance to get to Salt River Field and take in a few Spring Training games!

Black History Month

After much dwelling, and not a whole lot of writing, I decided on my blog topic for the week. February, as many Americans know is Black history month. There is a legacy behind this designation that always causes Americans to question the necessity of such a thing. People always question why African Americans need a whole month dedicated strictly to their heritage. Isn’t that racism, or favoritism, or something? These are the people who question why we also don’t have a white history month, to which I respond that we have eleven of them.

So what does this have to do with the Civil War? In all honesty, it is not directly connected to the Civil War. In fact, Black history month is also celebrated in the UK and Canada in October, so its not even a strictly American celebration. But, in the grand scheme of things, the American Black history month would probably not exist with the conflict of the Civil War. We are able to trace the threads of uplifting and freedom back to the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment. And while I realize these threads go back even further, the catalyst for their growth is the actual Civil War.

Every February, the same questions make their rounds. What purpose does Black History month serve? Is it really fair to dedicate an entire month to one race? Etc, etc. The most prominent figure in these discussions is usually Morgan Freeman, as he has been quoted as saying that “black history is American history.” I tend to agree with this point. We don’t need to a whole month dedicated to this study. I know when I was in grade school, we would often spend the entire month in units about MLK and Malcolm X, but after that, there was usually not another black soul mentioned. This is a slight to not only African-American history and culture, but also to the school children. So I guess what I am saying is, we need to make a conscious effort to stop segregating our history. It isn’t black history, or white history, it is American History.