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rbk mama

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Everything posted by rbk mama

  1. I thought the same thing the first time I tried Turkish delight in America. But then I visited Istanbul and got to try freshly made Turkish delight, and it was ridiculously delicious. Amazing. And in so many flavors. I have never been able to find anything like it in the US.
  2. What exactly is your point in this fixation on racism before the slave trade? Because it does seem, even though you keep saying it isn't, like it is meant to negate some of the evil of slavery. Why do you want to do that so badly? And if you don't - why is it so important to you?
  3. Wait, hold up. Are you really saying that indigenous peoples of America, Africa, and Asia were not respected? Why? Because the only intelligent people on the planet were white Europeans - like Columbus - and they are the only ones whose respect mattered? Your quote kind of proves the obvious fallacy of that belief - he was both despicable and an idiot.
  4. Thank you for pointing out the specifics of this historical evidence. I'm still confused by this fixation on racism related to skin color. I think the above posters have made it clear why this is a "sticking point" - and why it has dangerous implications. This thread is about the exceptional and uniquely evil institution of slavery in the Americas, and shifting that focus to skin color seems either randomly tangential or a deliberate attempt to lessen the evil inherent in American slavery. I want to assume the former.
  5. Incredible mental gymnastics and intellectual dishonesty are required to produce this kind of work. In another century we will have people talking about how there were only a handful of Jews who were mistreated by a few bad Germans - but most of the camps were actually quite nice and kept them safe and well-fed. And Christian homeschoolers will be asked to pretend they are a Jew enjoying themselves at camp. Or maybe not since Germany has actually acknowledged their shameful history while an outrageous percentage of Southerners remain in denial.
  6. Unbelievable. Vile does not even begin to describe this. This is a thousand times worse than that book description. Do you know if this assignment is still in there - what year was this from?
  7. I do think there is direct evidence of racism here. Sorry Daughters of the Confederacy - you do not get to claim that the Confederate flag no longer stands for slavery! Too late. And being dishonest about the Civil War, and choosing to remember it as not about slavery is racist. You have to ignore centuries of horrific violence to be proud of the Confederates who died to preserve their right to continue that violence. You have to believe that the Southern way of life that was dependent on that horrific evil was worth it. That is white supremacy. There is literally no way of reframing the Civil War to exclude slavery without embracing white supremacy.
  8. Germany and the US are hugely different in this regard. There are no memorials to Nazi's in Germany, but we still keep memorials to enslavers in the US. I'm sure racism lives on in Germany, but at least it is acknowledged as evil. It is still in the fabric of the US - as this thread reveals. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/germany-has-no-nazi-memorials/597937/
  9. Its kind of like if Sam murdered my daughter, but I also didn't like the way his breath smelled, or his rude way of talking and interrupting others, or his narcissistic personality, and one person said I didn't like Sam because he murdered my daughter. And another person said - NO, she didn't like Sam for many reasons, not just that! You would say to that second person - that is bizarre and twisted - of course the main thing wrong with Sam was that he murdered someone! When you want to say that the Civil war was primarily about "States rights" and NOT about slavery, you are absolutely minimizing the horror of slavery.
  10. From this link: "the breaking point of the States' Rights argument was the issue of slavery" And, "Most white Southerners also feared that an end to their entire way of life was at hand. Many were desperate for one last chance to preserve the slave labor system and saw secession as the only way."
  11. Dishonesty about history is always linked to injustice today. In this case, white supremacy is behind both.
  12. One reason to make little of the role of slavery then is to protect the feelings of the South, to let them romanticize their past - as in that book description - to think of their past as a noble fight for their God-give rights, all with God on their side. Another reason is to make little of continued oppression and injustice today. Let's just pretend it was never a real thing.
  13. I'm not following how this supports the conclusion that the Civil War was not primarily about the South fighting to preserve their right to own slaves. There were other reasons - sure, but the war was primarily about the right to enslave others. It does point out that Lincoln is not the wonderful savior many think he is. For more evidence of that look at how he treated the Indigenous peoples.
  14. These companies are definitely defaming the name of Christ in their racist materials. Abeka and ACE are others. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/aug/12/right-wing-textbooks-teach-slavery-black-immigration
  15. Curious if you are referring to primary source documents written AFTER the war.
  16. This is not about POV. What you are saying is fiction created to protect the feelings of the South. Please think about how framing the Civil War as being merely about "States' rights" totally denies the evil of slavery that was actually the center of the conflict. This "POV" is about perpetuating white supremacy and the denial of the full humanity of others.
  17. I haven't read this book, but the book description in the Veritas Press catalog is awful: "Iron Scouts of the Confederacy The adventures of two teenage brothers who grew up during the War between the States as orphans and as soldiers. The decisions they make cause them to learn a great deal about the faithfulness of God, and the horrible price the South had to pay to support their belief in State's rights." The Civil War was not about State's rights - it was about defending the ownership, torture, and murder of dark-skinned humans. So disappointed in Veritas Press. And throwing God in there - as if God were supporting this endeavor - makes it so much more disgusting.
  18. Thank you for posting these. Trauma is a big part of his history - in utero and immediately after birth when he was in the NICU for two months. Then removed from birth mom due to neglect, and then removed from the foster home he was in for 3 years. The articles you posted are interesting, as is the book on the body and trauma (which correlates with another book I am reading right now (https://www.amazon.com/My-Grandmothers-Hands-Racialized-Pathway-ebook/dp/B0727L1NGJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8Z3TPCJZ3TEA&keywords=grandmothers+hands&qid=1648848814&sprefix=grandmothers+han%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1). How do you find therapists who can interact with him at this level?
  19. So this child came to us about 5 months ago, having been in foster care in another home since he was an infant (removed from bio parent due to neglect). When he came he was receiving OT for eating issues as well as speech therapy. After both scripts were ending, both practitioners felt it made sense to take a break from therapy. The OT felt his aversion to different foods was mostly a control issue, and the speech therapist said he was mostly at age level in every area of speech so didn't need more therapy. The OT had made significant progress with him since he started with her - she got him to tolerate strange foods being on his plate, to touching them, smelling them, licking them, and taking a tiny bite. Now is able to do that with most new foods. But she did mention that he has some trouble moving his tongue around, and she was doing exercises with him for that. What kinds of foods was your son preferring to eat? This child likes hard texture foods mostly - beef jerky, crackers, apples, cereal, but also loves cheese -just not soft cheese. I was thinking that's because its hard for him to get soft sticky foods off his teeth. It sounds like he needs a new OT eval to focus more on his tongue issues and any other muscular problems. Both prior therapists were "private" - not through Head Start. I requested a speech eval with Head Start last December (after the private one was ending and before he actually started attending Head Start), and they did what seemed to be a fairly comprehensive eval overall of him (all of this is new to me, so I'm not sure what all was missing - he had like 5 people in the room with him for hours), and they came back saying he didn't require any services. His speech was apparently close enough to age appropriate. Their only concerns were with his lack of self-care skills (like dressing himself), which we just hadn't been focusing on yet since he was so new and in fresh trauma from leaving his prior home. Once we showed him how to dress himself, he was fine doing it on his own. When he came to us he was in diapers (not pullups) and did literally nothing for himself. 90% of his nutrition was from Pediasure in a sippy cup. He is now nearly off it altogether and has gained weight. This all seemed bizarre to us, but we attributed it to his prior foster parent since he was relatively easy to potty train and teach to dress himself and eat solid foods. Since his Head Start teachers have conveyed their concerns to me (that previous eval was done before he even joined Head Start), I have contacted the special ed person at his school and am waiting to hear back. His pediatrician is great, though, and I will also speak with her. If the Head Start people are not ready to do any other evals, I know that I can get the scripts necessary from his pediatrician. I SO appreciate all of you who are sharing your experiences and thoughts on this with me! THANK YOU!!
  20. Thank you for the book recommendations! I have requested both from our library. Also, I will definitely ask about Early Intervention with his Head Start school. I can speak with his pediatrician as well. Thanks again!!
  21. Wow. OK, I have a lot of research to do. I am obviously clueless about autism. Are there books or other resources you would recommend? Yes, he has a complicated story overall - has had it rough from the very beginning of his existence. Almost wonder if I need to start a new thread asking for book recommendations for myself. I will if I need to. Thank you for your feedback!!
  22. Thank you so much for these details. I have a good friend who diagnosed herself as having Aspergers only years after her son was diagnosed. Your daughter is so lucky to have you. How has early awareness of your daughter's diagnosis helped her? In what ways has the school helped, or do you seek help outside of the school system?
  23. Thank you!! I was wondering if they were hinting at autism, but he seems so normal socially, and actually better at social interactions than a few of my NT bio kids in terms of his motivation and interest. I do see him "barreling in," though and didn't realize it could indicate a lack of awareness! I don't get that many opportunities to watch him with other kids as mine are much older than him. The other day he played well with a kid at the library, and it seemed like they did well together, but now I am realizing that I wasn't paying super close attention. The special interest thing doesn't seem strange at all to me, as all my kids have been that way. And this kid has lots of interests - not just letters and numbers. If you don't mind my asking, did you notice the lack of social aptitude inside your house, or just with other less familiar people? Like, this kid seems to do a good job communicating with us about what he's thinking about, what he wants, and asks questions about others, notices if someone is upset and comments on it. But I'm not sure if he is that way with others. Also, did you notice a difference in eye contact with your daughter? I'm realizing that I don't have a great understanding of the range of autism. Thanks again.
  24. These all seem very normal to me. I have a 4 yo foster child who attends Head Start four days a week. Since he's been with us for the past 5 months, he gets read to a lot, and has lots of preschool activities at home that involve letters and numbers. He loves letters and was quick to learn to identify upper and lower case and associate them with sounds. He's on the cusp of being able to read CVC words, though he has already started spelling CVC words. He has a weak grasp when using writing utensils, but still likes to write letters and words. At a recent meeting with his head start teachers, they said they were concerned that he often likes to line up toys or sort them (by color or size or type). They played an activity where the kids had to draw out a letter from a bag and if they knew what it was they had to say it out loud and put it in a jar. This kid took each one out, said it, and lined it up in alphabetical order. They thought that was very strange and concerning. I explained that he only just learned the whole order a few weeks ago and was kind of excited about that. He was a preemie and does have some issues with eating and fine motor, and sometimes I think developmentally he is a bit delayed - but not sure how much is due to emotional trauma bcz of his situation and the fact that in his previous home he was treated like an infant (dependent 90% on liquids for nutrition, not used to dressing himself or really doing anything for himself). He is now potty trained, dressing himself, and eating normally (though from a very short list of foods he will eat). My bio kids all liked to line up toys and sort them, though they did so at a younger age. And at home I see this child do that sometimes, but not often. He likes playing with cars, blocks, paw patrol characters, all in normal 4yo ways. He does sometimes seem more like a 3 yo in his inability to see things from another person's perspective, but he was a preemie, and he just turned 4. When I asked the teachers (who are both very experienced) why they were concerned, they said "well, it could be something." I asked them what it could be, and they just said, "well it could be lots of things." Am I missing something? He is very social, makes great eye contact, loves meeting and interacting with people - very much an extrovert. Does anyone know what these teachers might be concerned about? Thanks for your thoughts.
  25. Can I add grad school acceptances here? DS graduated early from Cornell last December, majored in applied engineering physics. He has been accepted at University of Chicago, Harvard, MIT, and Princeton. He is 98% sure he will attend MIT. His area of interest is quantum computing - which sometimes falls under electrical engineering and sometimes under physics. (ETA as all decisions are back: also accepted at University of California Berkeley, Cornell, University of Wisconsin Madison and University of Maryland College Park. Rejected at Yale and Cal Tech. Three year fellowship at Princeton and McWhorter Fellowship at MIT.) Some background: we homeschooled through high school and did not have access to DE. He took a ton of APs, most of them self-studied. At Cornell, all of these APs counted, which meant he could have graduated a full year early. Instead he graduated one semester early and used the extra space in his schedule for more hours of research. He was accepted into the Rawlings Cornell Presidential Research Scholars program which meant he was given his own funding for research as well as mentorship. I cannot say enough good things about this program! He was able to work in 4 different labs - 3 at Cornell and 1 at another university (he literally just picked a top university and emailed a few different professors there and got immediate responses). The mentorship he received from professors, grad students, and post docs was invaluable. Oh, and Cornell gave us a very generous financial aid package. Highly recommend this school!
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