"Joke" in my daughter's 8th grade history class

[1955doubledie]

She said the teacher told this joke out loud to class, a charter school in Oklahoma City. I wonder if your reaction to it is similar to mine.

"Mom, is God a boy or a girl?"
"Neither, hun."
"Mom, is God black or white?"
"Neither, hun."
"So then, God is Michael Jackson?"

Oh, and also this: the Spaniards (Conquistadores) stank because they never bathed (which was probably true, but that was true for nearly all Europeans of the era). And that while the Mayans were brutally violent, the Aztecs were extremely bad.

Oy.

[Lucian]

1. delete

[1955doubledie]

2. No, everything's perfectly fine

Carry on.

[Mz Pip]

3. Learn something new every day.

I think I just learned that history teacher is an idiot.

[704wipes]

36. no, that history teacher is probably the football coach

nt

[Quantess]

4. And did the students look at eachother and say, "who's Michael Jackson?"

[IntravenousDemilo]

5. "No, God is Mao Zedong" n/m

[Dark]

6. Well, the aztecs were brutally violent. The Spanish weren't as violent as they were malevolent.

The Mayans I don't know that much about. Culturally and scientifically, they were quite advanced. But I don't know about their violence level.

The Spanish coquistadores weren't technically as violent as they were subversive and insidious. They were using religion to take Montezuma hostage, passing out blankets with small pox, and secretly gaining allies before finally actually attacking the Aztec capital.

Also, they burned Montezuma alive, which basically meant he was going to hell according to his religion.

The Aztecs, however, were utterly violent, sacrificing thousands of people, including children, each year and aggressively subjugated their neighbors.

[1955doubledie]

7. God bless the peace-loving Europeans

who saved the continent from all those savages.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. You actually pulled out of that post that Dark thinks the Europeans to be peace-loving?

Jesus, talk about reading into something whatever the fuck you want instead of what's actually there...

:eyes:

Sad.

[1955doubledie]

17. To be honest, I was giving "Dark" a wink & nod

His point was 100% valid, and spot on. It's the teacher whom I question.

You, on the other hand, seem to want to pick a fight...somewhere...

[Dark]

29. Yeah, the joke was pretty stupid, and the bathing thing just weird.

I just like talking about history. ;)

[REP]

14. The Mayans and Aztecs were brutal. So were the Europeans. Your point?

Oh. You don't have one?

[1955doubledie]

15. Hey, you agree with me!

Thanks! :)

[REP]

18. We agree your post was pointless, yes

[AnnetteJacobs]

23. she says aztecs and europeans are both violent,

and there's no point? :shrug:

[Dark]

28. My point is that history, like politics, is full of gray areas and nuance. It's not always

a simple "Good vs. evil" story. Too often, history gets oversimplified into "The Europeans civilized these savages" or "The peaceful, green civilizations got along until the evil Europeans invaded and destroyed their culture in one fell swoop."

The truth is, in many cases, somewhere in between. The Europeans often simply tricked the indigenous populations, and those peoples often nobly fought against the colonists. There was also war and genocide before and after the Europeans arrived.

My point is simple: Don't let history get teabagged with oversimplified phrases and soundbites. It's happened with the civil war, the Great Depression and it's happening now with Vietnam. We were the supposed good guys with the democratic south against the malfeasance of the communists; we just weren't willing to stay in it to win it.

In reality, we were an uncaring superpower who committed atrocities protecting an oligarchic lesser of two evils.

Discuss history objectively and with a disinterested stance.

[1955doubledie]

34. Exactly.

My discomfort wasn't about the picture that was presented, it's just that it wasn't the whole picture.

I appreciate your input, and look forward to more of your history lessons! :hi:

[REP]

40. My response was not to your excellent one, but to the pointless one made by another

[1955doubledie]

41. Thanks for keeping my thread kicked.

:hi:

[SwampG8r]

13. mayan religion at the conquest

had evolved past blood sacrifice in most areas
a very placid people

[Dark]

25. Like I said, I wasn't familiar with them or many of their religious/militaristic aspects.

Mainly, I know about their many scientific and mathematical accomplishments. I kind of figured that they were peaceful, but didn't want to assume that.

[SwampG8r]

26. by the conquest their

civilization had peaked and was no longer a power
they had given most of their cities back to the jungle

[Dark]

31. Yea, the Aztecs were the regional power. And the Spanish were

vastly outnumbered. So, if they were to sate their greed, they had to use subversive measures to gain control. Cortez was a monster, a very cunning monster, but a monster nonetheless.

[Obamanaut]

8. The OP doesn't say what your reaction was. Mine was "And?" One

can put any group into the not-bathing category, and they will stink.

ETA I guess 'oy' was the reaction. Never mind.

[d_r]

9. I don't think it is ever a good idea to tell a "joke" to

a class of kids. If you say something funny that pops up during the spiel you are giving, fine. But telling a "joke" is, at best, lame.

[Puregonzo1188]

10. I think I heard that same joke in 8th grade.

However, not from a teacher and not during class. I'm going to be honest, I probably thought it was funny at the time, though it seems very mean-spirited now.

[Omar4Dems]

38. 1st I heard of it

I guess I'm not very good about jokes.

[proteus_lives]

12. Ha! That was funny.

MJ was a freak.

[brendan120678]

20. ...

:spray: :rofl:

Sorry...your post made me giggle.
A lot.
It's funny because it's true.

[AnnetteJacobs]

22. subtle racism, subtle misogyny, subtle proselytizing, all in one neat package...

what's not to like?
:eyes:

[jobycom]

16. It's an oldie. I never liked the joke. Prejudice is based on mocking stereotypes

and even cute and somewhat innocent jokes further those stereotypes and allow people to feel comfortable with their preconceptions and categorizations.

As for the Spaniards, the Aztecs and Incas complained about their smell, too. The Aztecs performed human sacrifices of prisoners of war in public squares, and believed (or at least their leader claimed) that the sacrifices empowered their Sun God to fight off the darkness, thus renewing the Earth. Sounds bad, but Europeans also had public executions for crimes ranging from murder and treason to failure to repay debt, and they were just as brutal in their executions and in the blood lust of the crowds at the executions, and much of their violence was also supported by their religion--from the nature of the crimes requiring execution, to the justification of the death penalty through religious passages.

Sounds like she's got a few biases based on divisions and assumptions of people in Oklahoma, more than any knowledge of history.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Ah the Black legend is alive and well

that is the part for the COnquistadors. Readying a tad 'bout our colonies in Virginia, for example, and Gilbert's attitudes...

[zappaman]

21. funny!

I've heard better MJ jokes, but that one isn't bad...
the whole spainards thing is wack though

[Quantess]

24. The teacher may or may not be doing a lousy job, overall.

Obviously I don't know your daughter, but some 8th graders love to report back home with the worst examples. S/he might be a good teacher otherwise.

[1955doubledie]

27. True, that.

I'm not trying to raise a lynch mob, but what I pointed out in the OP are a couple of things I wouldn't have expected from a top-notch teacher...and truly, practically all of them are top-notch! :)

For the record, the teacher is a male.

[Quantess]

37. I tried teaching high school one year.

I admit I wasn't that great at it, but some of the students criticized me for the most trivial things. Especially when I gave them low grades for being lazy. I was bad at crowd control.

[Wednesdays]

30. I don't see anything offensive in any of it

However, I question the value of kids learning which people in history were smelly?
:spray:

[EFerrari]

33. It could catch on. Universities could develop Irritation majors.

And the courses could be amazing. "Funk and Nasality in Early Modern Europe".

lol

[Quantess]

39. It's safe to say that most people in the old days of yore stunk to high heaven.

It's a wonder anyone wanted to have sex. :D

[appleannie1]

32. The teacher is a lousy comedian. Not funny at all

[Catherine Vincent]

35. The teacher IS a joke...and stupid. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

42. When the first

Portuguese came to Japan, they were shocked by how much they bathed. They thought bathing too much would lead to disease. The Japanese had been bathing for centuries in the natural hot springs, and bath houses called Onsen. Even today there are many famous onsen and rotenburo (outside bathing resorts)scattered across Japan.

[Regret My New Name]

43. Lame joke, but hardly seems outrage worthy (in my opinion)

Sounds like the teach may have just been trying to be funny with a silly joke. Does the teach tell other lame jokes? You know, like "Did you hear about the farmer who was 'out-standing' in his field?"

As for the other things... I dunno, I guess context might be important. I'm thinking everyone here would need more information before declaring him/her a dunce.