My Teach Me Tuesday Multi-Cultural series is a labor of love for me. It is titled Teach Me Tuesday because it teaches me about different countries, culture and kidlit and I actually thought it didn’t get may page views because it usually gets just a handful the week that it’s posted. I was really surprised to see that these posts do get read during the year so I will continue to do this series. Thanks so much for reading!
Tag: multicultural ya
The Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
In eerily similar circumstances, young Navajo Americans were forced to relocate to attend boarding school where great attempts were made by the school to purge them of their ethnic identity, particularly their language. Both children’s books that are featured talk about harsh punishments for speaking in their native tongue. This forced relocation is not unlike the Japanese Americans during WWII. Is this really America, the home of the free?! This is the ugly underbelly that doesn’t get much press coverage. Am I the only one who didn’t learn about the Navajo Code Breakers at school in U.S. History? I am glad for these books to teach a new generation, and our nation, that the differences that make us unique make our country more powerful. Imagine if that boarding school were successful in wiping out the Navajo language? It’s really not inconceivable if the timing of the war were different!