# Curlcoat, what's the deal with you? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curlcoat-whats-the-deal-with-you/478379 "2008-12-22T22:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 12
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curlcoat-whats-the-deal-with-you/478379/12 "2008-12-23T07:05:38Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I’m a little miffed by all of the dissing of the public school system in that thread. I’m a product of the public school system myself, and I’m pretty sure I knew that virtually all black Americans were the descendants of slaves when I was in, say, 4th grade. Again, my experience with public schools has been extremely negative, but it may also depend on when you went to school. I was in 4th grade in 1969 and I have no memory of learning anything about the slaves other than they were the major reason behind the civil war, and that slavery was a Bad Thing. Even if I had learned this, I don’t think I would have assumed that in the almost 40 years since then there had been such low black immigration, since I also doubt we were taught anything much about British owned Africa. Where you went to school would also make a difference. I went to grade school in a very poor area and one thing I do remember is that our enclyclopedia was from the mid 1940’s. We were taught to read, write, basic math and basic history - I remember very clearly the extreme difference between my first grade school and the one I attended when my father finally graduated college and got his first decent job. The condition of the public schools here are a whole different thing. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curlcoat-whats-the-deal-with-you/478379)._