crazyopf.blogg.se

Please do not read this book to children, ESPECIALLY without the important context about the enslaved people who built the White House.

The White House was built on the backs of the enslaved, and their claim to it is as strong, if not stronger, than those of us whose ancestors benefited from the system of slavery. Some of them used that money to purchase their own freedom. It is an historically accurate depiction of how enslaved Africans were forced to build the White House for very little compensation. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend Brick by Brick by Charles R.

It is so disingenuous to present this story in this way, and it entirely erases the legacy of the Black bodies that did the labor to put up the building. What is so egregious about this book is the fact that it presents the creation and building of the White House as George Washington's work, without so much as mentioning the enslaved people who worked to build it. I was a teacher at a school that serves almost entirely Black students, and our librarian chose this book for our library time. I had the misfortune of being present for a reading of this book a few years ago in "celebration" of President's Day.