TeachEmpathyThroughHistory

The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA | Brenda Woods

This post contains spoilers

Did you know about the treatment of African American WWII vets before reading this book?
How did keeping his service a secret impact Meriweather?

#MGBuddyRead

Daisey, Johanna414, Bookgoil, TheBookHippie, BarbaraJean, mrp27, Deblovestoread, Lmstraubie, Chrissyreadit, JaclynW, amber_ldsmom, ravenlee, shellleigh33, Butterfinger, sblbooks

megnews I did know about the treatment of African American WWII Vets before reading this. But it has only been in my adult life that I learned this. I think this should be taught in schools. It is part of what explains where we are today. We can‘t understand the present without knowing the past. So much is glossed over. 4y

megnews As far as Meriweather or any vet put in this position, this is a very belittling thing. It denigrates their service. It had to be heartbreaking and frustrating and make them feel that no matter what they did for their country, they would always be treated as second or third class citizens. 4y

mrp27 I didn‘t know per se but my father was a Vietnam vet and when he came home from the war to Northern California it was suggested to him to not appear in public in any part of his service wear, uniform etc. This was more due to the protesting going on in San Francisco and not his ethnicity, we are Hispanic. Some, not all, protesters harassed returning vets so I‘m not surprised to hear this. For the rest of his life he never wore or affiliated ⬇️ 4y

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mrp27 himself with anything Vietnam. That pained me because I was proud of his service but that was just one of the ways he dealt with his demons from the war and I supported that. So I understand Meriweather. Sad our American vets have to make these decisions about their service. (edited) 4y

megnews @mrp27 that is so sad. Several years ago I saw a story about some community that had a welcome home party for Vietnam vets because they never got one. I was really moved to tears reading it. It meant so much to them. 4y

Deblovestoread I had a small amount of knowledge from other reading but this brought it closer. It is just another layer of the horrific unjust treatment of our citizens of color. I am curious to know if vets from current wars, Desert Storm, etc., come back to the same mistreatment. 4y

Butterfinger I knew the mistreatment of minorities after they came back from the war. Sammy Davis Jr. wrote about it in his autobiography. I never realized that they were made to feel that they had to hide their uniforms. When I read, it was like CLICK. I should have known. 4y

sblbooks No, I didn't. I think it was very sad 4y

megnews @Butterfinger I forgot about Sammy Davis Jr. I follow several Black history Facebook pages and it‘s amazing the things you don‘t learn in school. I feel like it would change things in our country so much if people were better educated about these things. 4y

megnews @sblbooks it really is. One thing I learned in the last couple years is the French issued memos to their soldiers not to be friendly with Black American soldiers because white soldiers would be offended. A lot of our Black American soldiers decided to stay in Europe or go back after the war because of how they were treated by white soldiers or at home in America. (edited) 4y

BarbaraJean I've only learned about this recently (over the past year or so). Previously, I would have thought that their service would bring greater respect and be a force toward greater equality--reading books like Wilkerson's Caste (and others) educated me that wasn't the case at all. I didn't realize that veterans would have to go to the extent of actually hiding that they served. That broke my heart. I agree--this is something that needs to be taught! 4y

Butterfinger @megnews being an educator, I know some is taught, but it is not stressed as much as math and science. #TeachEmpathyThroughHistory is my motto. 4y

megnews @BarbaraJean I am planning to read Caste in April with a group here on Litsy. I really want to finish Warmth of Other Suns first. I started it and it‘s amazing but I get intimidated by big books. 4y

sblbooks @megnews your comment reminded me of The Waltons episode when Jody came back from World War II. He talked about how much better he was treated in other parts of the country/ world. 4y

ravenlee I knew the veterans were excluded from much of the celebrations - parades and such, but I didn‘t know they were actively harassed and lynched because of their service. It makes me feel sick. And Meriwether felt like his service, and the lives lost in his company, had to be a dirty little secret and it ate away at his soul. 4y

megnews @sblbooks interesting. I watched the waltons when I was young but don‘t remember that. 4y

megnews @ravenlee Yeah. I think black soldiers came back thinking people would finally accept them because they‘d served their country. But they were sadly quickly sent a message not to get too “uppity” or to be happy staying in “their place.” It is truly awful. 4y

sblbooks @megnews They had several thought-provoking, excellent episodes regarding race relations, Prejudice and so forth. 4y

ravenlee I bet most of the Black veterans knew they still wouldn‘t be “enough,” but what they came home to had to be even worse. They were generally treated poorly by their fellow soldiers (US, I‘ve heard that some of the other forces were much less prejudiced), so I‘m sure they knew that wouldn‘t stop at home. 4y

amber_ldsmom I never knew they were treated this way. I was actually surprised by this. 4y

JaclynW Sadly, I do not know much about black history in relation to wars. Just generally, that they were used and abused. I am trying to correct this. I wish our schools did a better job!! My history education was definitely white-washed and glossed over. That is part of why I liked this book so much is that it educates our younger readers - gets them to be curious and research more. It is so sad to me that they were treated this way. ---> 4y

JaclynW Black people are Americans too (as discussed in the book) and they fought proudly for our country. Why didn't our country treat them with the same level of respect as the white soldiers? This is just awful!! 4y

SaturnDoo Yes, I was aware of the treatment of our of vets of color. Fortunately, we were taught this in middle,junior and high school history classes. My all time favorite history teacher, Mrs Hall, was a POC, and she included all she could, in a year's time, about black history. It was and still is a very sad situation that this was the way were treated. 4y

Lmstraubie I hadn't ever learned about it in school (like so much else). The weird things I had just read about the French being told not to treat our Black soldiers as equals and about the poor gentleman who had his eyes gouged out because of a request to go to the bathroom (I had just read Caste before reading this.) 4y

megnews @Lmstraubie I‘m looking forward to reading Caste. I love Wilkerson‘s writing. 4y

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Butterfinger

I Am Not a Number | Jenny Kay Dupuis, Kathy Kacer

pick

I will definitely share this with my fifth graders. #TeachEmpathyThroughHistory An Indigenous family is forced to send their children to a residential school to clean the brown, the devil, the sin from them. I'm burning up with anger at the moment.

#BBRC -Indigenous Author @LibrarianRyan @Sarahreadstoomuch #PopSugar21 -Indigenous Author

Sarahreadstoomuch I read this for #atoz. Excellent choice!! 4y

48 likes1 comment

sprainedbrain

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II | Iris Chang

pick

It‘s hard to read about war atrocities, and even more difficult to look at images like those in this book, but it‘s important to know. In 1937, over a period of 6 weeks, Imperial Japanese forces systematically tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilian men, women, and children. Anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 people were brutally raped. Horrifying subject matter; well-researched and written book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

sprainedbrain This was my #AboutGenocide book for #Booked2020. @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft 4y

KatieDid927 I had never even heard about this until my younger brother did a report on it in high school. 😞 4y

sprainedbrain @KatieDid927 I‘m glad he learned about it in high school! I didn‘t, in high school or college. 4y

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LoveToReadLiveToRead I don‘t think we did anything about this in school, focusing on the impact of WW2 on Europe (I‘m in the UK). I learnt more about this and other aspects of the war in the Pacific whilst reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. 4y

sprainedbrain @LoveToReadLiveToRead that‘s also a great book! (edited) 4y

KatieDid927 @sprainedbrain Same all around. My WWII education focused solely on the Holocaust and European Theater. To the point that looking back, it was over-saturated with it. There were so many things I never learned because of it. Not saying it shouldn‘t be taught, it should! But the way my education panned out I spent literal years learning about one atrocity and never learning about others. (edited) 4y

sprainedbrain @KatieDid927 my situation exactly! 4y

KatieDid927 @sprainedbrain I learned about South African apartheid my senior year and was basically like, what else haven‘t I learned?! Between that and the whitewashing of our history in general, I‘ve been doing a lot of self-educating through reading. 4y

sprainedbrain @KatieDid927 I was just thinking of that tonight... I think that we, as people that read on purpose as adults, are not the majority. I‘m discouraged all the time by how much I don‘t know and how there‘s only so much time for reading in the day... but there are people that don‘t read or otherwise educate themselves at all after their formal education ends. It‘s disheartening. 4y

Butterfinger Do you think that it is where there is so much to teach that teachers assign different topics to different groups to research? It was just a thought that popped in my head. Although, teachers would have made sure the projects were presented to the whole group. I DO know that there needs to be more social studies taught in the elementary years. It is horribly neglected. This has been my battle cry for years. #TeachEmpathyThroughHistory 4y

KatieDid927 @sprainedbrain Absolutely. 4y

sprainedbrain @Butterfinger I‘m certain that there is too much to teach! I don‘t know what the answer is, and I‘m sure there are more things taught now that weren‘t when I was in school. I agree completely with your battlecry! 4y

Cinfhen Absolutely devastating piece of history few are aware of. I only know because my husband is a history buff and told me about it. Of course, I had to go down the Google rabbit hole. Wonderful choice and bravo for highlighting a part of history we need to learn from. 4y

Crazeedi I knew about this but have never read a book on subject, adding 4y

Dogearedcopy My father, a Filipino, *once* told me the stories of the Imperial Japanese as they raided his village. I didn‘t quite believe all that he said until I read this book and realized that he had understated the nightmare. (edited) 4y

sprainedbrain @Dogearedcopy I can‘t even imagine how horrible that was. 4y

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Butterfinger

With the Might of Angels | Andrea Davis Pinkney

Dawnie has been chosen to be the new student to integrate. My heart is literally wrenching right alongside hers. #teachempathythroughhistory
@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin My number 18. ♥️

TheAromaofBooks 😢 This looks like a hard but good read!! 5y

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Butterfinger

A Time of Miracles | Anne-Laure Bondoux

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This is a refugee story from the 90s while Soviet Union was falling apart. It begins in Georgia (Caucasus Mtns), and while one ends in France, the other refugee sacrifices her liberty to ensure success. A truly inspiring story. Because of the Around the World Challenge, I've read several books on refugees. I'm thinking of purchasing some of these books for the narrow-minded for Christmas. Would they read it? Would they start having more empathy?

TrishB If they‘re anything like my narrow minded, sadly, no ☹️ 5y

Butterfinger I agree @TrishB there is nothing one can say. And what steams me is when a family member says no talk of politics. It isn't a political issue, it is humanity. Thank you for understanding me. 5y

Butterfinger #teachempathythroughhistory 5y

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TrishB Agree, it‘s about people 💙 5y

Butterfinger My review from 4 months ago @jenniferw88 5y

jenniferw88 @Butterfinger thank you! I'll have a look but am also considering

The Searcher

jenniferw88 @Cinfhen , @Butterfinger has been helping me out! 😊 5y

Cinfhen Thanks @jenniferw88 @Butterfinger tagged book sounds really good 5y

25 likes8 comments

Butterfinger

The Hiding Place | Corrie ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill, John Sherrill

"How should a Christian act when evil was in power?"

So relevant to me in this age in which I live. When the people I love embrace wrongdoing; am I the only one who sees the difference between right and wrong?

#teachempathythroughhistory
#teachersoflitsy
#readtolearn

GingerAntics LOVE this book!!! 6y

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