The extent of how far educators are allowed to go to get a substantial response from students is often under debate. Many times, school districts will ban books and even whole subjects when parents could potentially take offense to whatever knowledge is being imparted. Understanding where the point between acceptable and offensive exists becomes especially salient when historical teachings demand an adherence to a history that our country is less than proud of.
Recently this issue was raised once more when a 14-year-old African American student in Orange County participated in a mock war trial designed to reenact the consequences for deserters during a living history field trip about the Civil War. Though the subject matter of the Civil War itself didn’t fall under question, concerns over whether the student’s participation was voluntary as well as the use of a noose as a prop resulted in his teacher being placed on leave.
When relating this particular student’s experience to issues of appropriate education, it becomes necessary to ask: Are living history exhibits like these going too far to include young students in demonstrations, or are the reactions to his experience exaggerated due to issues of hyper-sensitivity over historical events?
In contrast to what people might think upon hearing about the story, the issue around this event did not stem from the simulated lynching of an African American, but was based on the living history group reenacting the process of a trial for deserters during the Civil War. The truth about whether the student made the choice to participate or was volunteered is where most of the concern with the situation was raised.
Lynchings themselves should never be subject for reenactment, as even miming the act is highly offensive for a variety of reasons. In this instance, however, the allusion to lynching that many saw came from the fact that the student participating in the mock trial was African American. At the risk of offense, it is necessary to state that if a student participates in a mock trial revolving around punishments historically given out to deserters, they do not necessarily become issues revolving entirely about race. Any number of people of any number of races were victim to prejudicial violence, and as such, the living history group that staged the event should not be held accountable for a reenactment becoming racially charged through audience involvement.
However, the necessity of certain props also must be taken into account when teaching through such means. The use of a noose in the mock trial was a misstep, and the group should have known that the associations people draw today from such images affect a majority of racial, ethnic and national backgrounds. While the individual case of offense can’t be placed entirely at the feet of historical reenactment, it was surely a misinformed decision to use a real noose as a prop, as it is an item with a long and horrifying history of violence and oppression.
Additionally, the manner in which the student was brought in to the mock trial was questionable. Assuming that the student was indeed selected and not acting of his own will, then it is entirely possible that this is discrimination. Such a possibility also needs to be taken into consideration when a school organizes a trip to a such an event, where the environment is no longer entirely controllable, and the possibility that somebody is hurt on an emotional level becomes just as real as a chance for physical injury. Teachers and staff chaperoning events like these need to have greater contextual awareness of their students’ feelings and the effects that historical trauma can have on them.
This is an instance that reflects a need for understanding when teaching about a period of history marked by the oppression of one group by another. Though the Civil War living history group could have shown better judgment, the idea of immersing students in a historical environment is not an inherently bad one. If anything, it should be a reason to promote ethnic understanding in schools at every level including that of teaching staff.
