Can You Spell Racism?
Spelling bees seem like innocent competitions where the idea of systemic racism should be foreign. But flashback to the year 1908, and Dr. Carol François and Kourtney Square, her niece, will tell about how the level playing field of the national spelling bee was unleveled by systemic racism and a Black/African American girl almost became the first national spelling bee winner years before Zaila Avant-garde’s historic 2021 win. Want more, take our course Systemic Racism: See it, Say it, Confront it at www.whyaretheysoangry.com and find us anywhere at www.podpage.com.whyaretheysoangry
Citations
A Cleveland Bee Heard Round the World, by Jamie Stiehm
Before Zaila Avant-garde, these Black spellers made headlines | The 19th
Behind Zaila Avant-garde’s Win, a History of Struggle for Black Spellers
Cleveland girl's spelling victory created racial controversy, national headlines in 1908
Marie C. Bolden wins 1908 Spelling Bee in Cleveland OH
ohiohistory.org / The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920 / Cleveland Journal
P-R-E-J-U-D-I-C-E and S-C-A-N-D-A-L at the 1908 national spelling bee
Zaila Avant-garde Knows the Troubling History Behind Her Historic Spelling Bee Win
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