Early Show anchor explores ancestry
CVK
Man, DNA tests are all the rage! The latest person to explore her ancestry using DNA tests is CBS Early Show anchor Renee Syler. (Thanks again to Emilie for this!) You can watch a video of the segment here.
Syler says she has always wanted to know more about her background because the color of her skin has brought both pride and pain. She recalled a day in fourth grade when every child in the class had a chance to talk about their heritage, except her.
“I can remember coming home and telling my mom that the teacher, by the time they got around to me, they were out of time and the teacher said, ‘Well, we all know Rene is from Africa so, we don’t need to go into that,’” Syler said.
Africa is huge and Syler, like many others, wanted more details about her roots. In particular, she wanted to be able to teach her children that their history does not begin with slavery.
Lyonside wrote:
Tests aside, I would have flipped out at that teacher.
As if all African-americans are from the same region of even the US, or have the same experiences! The nerve…
Posted 23 Feb 2006 at 1:03 pm ¶
H wrote:
Yeah, that’s one of the most outrageous things I’ve ever heard. What an awful teacher. Comments like that can affect a person for a long time, as the fact that Syler still remembers it attests to.
Posted 23 Feb 2006 at 4:46 pm ¶
dcmc wrote:
Could someone tell me what song was used in the news clip?it is a gospel song sung by a male singer i think, what is name of the song anyone?
Posted 23 Feb 2006 at 9:38 pm ¶
tmj wrote:
Just a question for debate: using the example above of the hateful or simply clueless teacher, are we still so sure that the Brown vs Board of Education case was effective? It’s nice to have the same economic resources as other students, but if being sent to white schools with racist teachers is the compromise, maybe we should’ve stuck with the second hand schoolbooks. Situations with white teachers and Black/minority students like that above have shaped generations with miseducation and no self esteem.
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 11:15 am ¶
In my opinion... wrote:
Brown vs. Board of Education was not simply about desegrating the schools but more importantly about dismanteling the racist notion that African-Americans were not good enough to fraternize with whites, were not worthy of full citizenship rights in spite of their monetary contributions to American society via taxes and labor. Brown helped to dismantle the apartheid system America endorsed with its “colored” and “whites only” drinking fountains and “blacks must sit at the back of the bus” mentality. Such a system was psychologically damaging to African-Americans (and whites) and needed to be abolished. The decision in Brown vs. Board of Education was therefore proper and necessary for the overall health not only of African-Americans but of American society in general. The decision went beyond the issue of desegration in American schools, so yes it was effective in that it helped not only to desegregate the schools but also to eliminate the legal endorsement of racial segregation in American society, which I think is a necessary step towards changing people’s hearts. Unfortunately racists people will always exist, but at least now they don’t have the law backing them up.
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 11:50 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>Situations with white teachers and Black/minority students like that above have shaped generations with miseducation and no self esteem.
The point is that a lot of students, even if they don’t directly challenge in the classroom, know it’s wrong and will speak out, if not against the teacher, at least among themselves.
I went to a private Catholic school, very white. Grade school was coed, high school was not. Occassionally when a teacher said something borderline, she (usually a she) could feel the vibes and would either explain further (diffusing the apparent slight) or apologize/backpedal.
I believe the average kid today is not afraid to confront, although they may not have the tools to go about it in a right way. Schools at least know to discuss diversity issues, even if it’s not handled as well as we’d like or the resources aren’t always there. Even the racist/biased teachers tend to watch their language, because they know it will make its way back to some other teacher or parent. When they don’t, it hits the papers >http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/01/24/jersey.lesson.ap/index.html<
Brown wasn't intended to be a final cure, but rather was the starting point. The Education System is FAR from perfect, but the seeds are there. Most problems I see in the US education system are class related (poor vs. rich), and not exclusively race-linked.
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 12:58 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Crap. Link I posted looks 404ed.
Same story, different site:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06032/647562.stm
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 1:01 pm ¶
Unlisted wrote:
I took the same test and it said that my DNA went back to Spain, Germany or Hungary.
Posted 31 Mar 2006 at 1:49 pm ¶