School House Rock

In class recently we watch a video from School House Rock, an American history video.  I know that this may not seem to relate to an actual concept, but trust me it does.  After watching Elbow Room, a song and video about the moment out west after the Louisiana Purchase, I was incredibly disturbed, and went back to watch more similar videos.  The bias that is shown to young children in these videos is extraordinary.  Though you can not tell children every gory detail of history, there is a difference between making a historical event PG and making it only reflective of good choices.  These videos show children at a very young age that they should oppress and ignore people who look different then them and not think of the effects of their decisions.  Therefore I highly disagree with School House Rock.

Language!

In class recently we discussed the idea of a lack of vocabulary that can be used to describe slavery from an inside perspective.  This is interesting to me because it symbolizes how not only history is written by the winners, but so is language.  Communication in the time of slave trade and kidnapping was extremely difficult for those being captured because there are a momentousness amount of languages in Africa and they can not all understand each other, therefore basically the only option was to assimilate into the English language.  This is obviously not ideal because not only does it require learning how to communicate in total immersion, but it also does not accommodate African culture as the original languages do.

The Assimilation of Equiano

So, even though I was assigned to write this post for American Studies, since this is cross disciplinary, I will start by addressing the reading on Equiano's life.  In class we were asked the question "To what extent was Equiano European, and to what extent was he African?", to which I would answer that Equiano was capable of assimilating to life in European culture because he was captured in a crucial stage of cognitive development.  Between the ages of  approximately 7 and 12 children form concrete operational cognition (see link for details).  In this stage Equiano would have been below the level of development that would make it difficult for him to learn a new language or assimilate to a new culture, but mature enough to understand his situation to a certain extent and make connections about how to best handle it.
However, regardless of cognitive developmental facts there is no way he could ever completely assimilate.  Overall his skin color, or race if you will, was his limiting factor.  Equiano could be the most diligent, smart, well-mannered slave in the world and he would never be considered completely human.  Rather, in many of the households he served, he was treated somewhat like a well loved pet.  He was taken care of, but denied a portion of basic human rights.
Essentially, the point I am attempting to get at is that Equiano was to no extent European in a sense that a Caucasian European would have been.  If he was considered European in any sense by his captains or masters it would have been in a way similar to a domestic animal.  Unfortunately, in their world, and partially in ours too, race is everything.

Greetings To My Blog!

Hello Friends, Enemies, Classmates, and Teachers alike,
Since this is most probably a year long assignment I figure I will introduce myself in order to make you aware of any bias that may unintentionally permeate these posts.  (It is understood that this post will not count for credit). My name is, obviously, Zoe.  I love history, it is one of my passions, both of my parents are Asian historians and my father is a Asian and Women Studies professor.  I have never been very patriotic towards the United States, even though I know there are lots of reasons to be, I suppose it is because I am pessimistic and often see the bad things before the good.  But there are things that I have missed about the USA when I have lived other places, and I am an avid fighter for them.  My knowledge of American history is slightly limited compared to that of Asia ,Europe, and the Middle East, but I do hope to learn more and to form more fact based opinions.
Thanks for reading this even if it was only because you were required and my apologies for not only talking your ears off in class, but online.