NOB HILL--Young boys from the Albuquerque Indian School pose for their picture. To ensure that the Native American children would not be "left behind" the kids were shipped off to boarding schools such as the one in Albuquerque, then stripped of their traditional dress, language, and culture. According to most sources, the children had a very hard time reintegrating themselves back into the own society when their schooling was done. I would guess this outcome was more than okay with the school.
Historically, most Indian boarding schools were run by religious organizations. Maybe this is another meaning of "no child left behind." Even today, this seems to be a purposeful aspect of national policy.
3 comments:
Aren't you aware that the real purpose of the boarding schools for Indian chidren were to "Anglosize" them and make them non-Indian. At that same time it was common practice to sterilize a Native woman who went to a government hospital after the birth of her child. I do believe that practice is termed "eugenics" aka "race cleansing"
Bobbie - Native Unity Blogspot
Yes, I am aware of that. Don't let the irony in the headline fool you. My post, while intentionally understated, is meant to provoke one to think about the insanity of "sameness" being the purpose of education. In the case of Indian boarding schools, you are absolutely right: there is actual hatred of Native American values and life. My point regarding "no child left behind" is that leading the country and our city in this direction is not going forward but a step backward. It is not based on building on the strengths of any culture except the one used to norm the test: white America.
The paragraph about religion is meant to highlight my feeling that behind the "Texanization" thrust of government is the feeling that we are doing God's work here in seeing that no child is left behind on the day of reckoning.
Thanks for the comments.
J.M. - Thought I saw a touch of irony there last night but it was late and I was tired. Don't let the Texan in the ten gallon fool you. His heart is in Greenwich, Conn. and his soul belongs to the Skull and Bones Society.
Bobbieo - Native Unity blogspot
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