European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday. September 18. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 South Africa often neglected in textbooks by Lee Mitgang associated press w Illiam  minted to help ,10th Grade social studies class thin about South Africa and  wanted to expose his students at Grant High school in Portland. Ore., to More than the customary one or two class periods Ori South of Ica. He wanted his pupils to Ponder whether they could make a difference when he turned to world history textbooks however he found very Little help two or three pages on South Africa with barely a word about America s deep involvement with that far away land. I discovered Early on that textbooks were just not the Way to  says Bigelow who now teaches at another Portland High school and has published a curriculum guide on South Africa. Strangers in their own  according to Many textbook critics and african specialists what Bigelow discovered six years ago. In the Wake of heavy rioting in the Black South african suburb of Soweto remains True today As violence again convulsed South Africa. This year there is growing student interest in the origins of apartheid whether Blacks have benefited from . Investment in South Africa and whether that nation s problems can be solved peacefully. But typically textbook critics say. The few pages devoted to South Alica rarely go beyond a discussion of that nation s Gold and Diamond riches and a few Brief paragraphs on Apa their. Publishers reply thai limited space is always a problem in Survey texts. They also protest that some critics want moral and political judgments not objectivity. We Don t want to get into a political debate. We try to Lay out the facts  said tyra Sidberry. Social studies curriculum director of Ginn & co. Which publishes a sixth Grade text called the world. Even the harshest critics agree that textbook sections on South Africa Are better than they were a generation ago. Gone Lor the most part Are racially tinged and misleading terms like  native and huts once used in texts to describe the culture of South african Blacks. You no longer have textbooks saying How wonderfully advanced South Africa is without at least some reference to  said Mary Lee Crofts of Michigan state University s african studies Center. And there s a lot less coverage of wild animals. Finally textbooks Are recognizing that South Africa has More people than animals she said. But a recent study of 19 elementary and High school texts by Brenda Randolph a Media specialist at Howard University criticized current editions on several Points the texts were practically silent about . Relations with South Alrica. And Many suggested apartheid was an immutable Force immune to change from within or without said Randolph. We Don t Deal with american relations with South Alrica because politics is Ever changing. That is just not the textbook approach said Stan Christodlous. Executive editor of social studies for Silver Burdett Erma Bombeck which publishes the world .5 its people one of the a its in Randolph s study Ginn s the Vord sidesteps the question of America s stand on non Alheid. Many South africans have worked to end apartheid. Other countries have condemned the policy. The United nations has taken a stand against apartheid. But the government has not changed its  texts often sanitize the realities of apartheid Shn said. They May have pictures of bustling prosperous South african cities but rarely depict the poverty disease and despair in the Black neighbourhoods like Soweto and in the Bant stans or homelands the government forces most South african Blacks to live in. In world geography published by american Book co. Blacks Are said to live in special  they commute to work on crowded trains and buses they must be careful not to forget their passes. These passes show that they Are allowed to work in the  the textbook portrayal of South african Prosperity is misleading. Randolph contends. Exploring our world published by Follett. Includes charts showing that South Africa s $33 billion plus Gross National product far exceeds that of neighbouring african nations text often Haw chart1. That shown it of. D the a phone spi r capita. Or capita income nit1 of paved roads. But to  Africa. Again a to in ural lumping Blacks and Whites together a".1 air. R Whites Are cast in major roles. Africans or  Ginn s world history text will include  Ial tales c struggle against apartheid. Randolph praised a global history however Irr offering a lengthy passage on Nelson Man Riel. The South african Black nationalist Leader imprison a t 1964 for conspiring to commit sabotage. American textbooks do Tittle to clarify the real world of present Day South Africa. W Hen we speak of the empty nest we instinctively picture a woman in her late40sbored depressed neurotic an unfulfilled peeking through starched lace curtains holding a plate of freshly baked brownies and eagerly awaiting the arrival of her son s laundry. Now try this picture. A 50-year-old lather Ridden with guilt and full of regrets standing by the window holding a baseball Glove eagerly awaiting the arrival of his son to talk about Lile. It happens. The empty nest in t a female condition. It happens to a lot of men who during the child raising years Are Busy establishing themselves in a successful career. When they finally have the time to devote to the children the children have grown up and gone. It might be tragic it the state of the Economy had t returned a whole generation of kids to the nest. As my husband said when our kids moved Back Home god has Given me a second Chance. This time i m going to be there for them. This is going to give me an Opportunity to Tell them All the things a lather should pass on to his  the first night at dinner he asked. Where Are they your daughter gets her nails done alter work and your son has a Date and won t be Home until  of. Was it always like this i mean eating  always i said. They were never  on saturday morning he came into the Kitchen numb. I just dropped by their rooms and asked some one if they wanted to hit a few balls. I put a Mirror near their lips to see if they were still breathing. Do they always sleep this late i should have told you they re nocturnal i said. Always have been. I used to try to keep awake until they went out Tor the  one Day i saw my husband sitting outside the Bath room door looking very depressed. What s the matter i asked. I just spent 30 minutes talking to my son behind a closed door about Lile when i asked him How he Felt about it. He said. I m for it and took  during the weeks that Lollor a he tried to establish rapport he made a Stab at Dir cd Smy  with our daughter who . What Don t you understand. Dad he shouted advice to them As they Rode away in a Cloud of sex Gnu and told amusing stones about his childhood As they watched mtg one night he fell exhausted into a chair and said i give up. I Don t know How to reach them " have you tried the phone i said it s Ensy for you. You had Thorn As children. They were Here then weren t thoy"7" i Shook my head. They re no different now than they were  then How did you know the nest was empty it was t easy but the Day i took my first hot Shower i knew something was  in Loi Anuci i tempi Syndicate