THREAD: I have to respond to @WenJackwoman in a separate thread, seeing as you've actually asked questions, which suggests to me that you're open to arguments.
1. Have you ever heard the expression "The lunatics have taken over the asylum"? In your case, it's the children who
1. Have you ever heard the expression "The lunatics have taken over the asylum"? In your case, it's the children who
have taken over the school. Your job as a teacher is not to appease your students, or confirm their preconceived beliefs - it's to challenge them and their entire worldview with knowledge, regardless of how "uncomfortable" it may make them. A place for education should be the
least safe place, intellectually for anyone. It should be a place where students are confronted with facts about reality, and have every single notion of their minds challenged.
You're asking if you should listen to your students about what they should read? The answer is simple
You're asking if you should listen to your students about what they should read? The answer is simple
NO! The students should be listening to you, and if they're uncomfortable - GOOD! That's the point, otherwise they should just stay at home and keep believing whatever they already believe.
You're basically asking how you should indoctrinate them. That's not your job. There is
You're basically asking how you should indoctrinate them. That's not your job. There is
also scientific reasons for this, not just logical ones: A person's brain isn't fully developed until they reach the age of 25 (on average). So, what makes you think what they believe in today is what they'll believe in tomorrow?
From a personal perspective, I was a devout
From a personal perspective, I was a devout
socialist in my youth, but I resent those ideas today. That means I've evolved. You are transforming eduction into a system of confirming people's pre-existing biases.
2. "Black voices". What is this nonsense? First of all, it is, by definition, racist. You think individuals
2. "Black voices". What is this nonsense? First of all, it is, by definition, racist. You think individuals
have a common voice, which derives from their pigmentation? Tell me, which is the blacker voice: Ta Nahesi Coates or Thomas Sowell? I mean, they're both black, but see the word completely differently. Which is the "authentic black voice"?
3. Literature is colour blind. You are
3. Literature is colour blind. You are
bereaving your students from some of the greatest voices in human history, simply because the colour of the author doesn't suit them? How about this:
Let's look at the content of a book, not the character of its author. Are you telling your students not to study Shakespeare or
Let's look at the content of a book, not the character of its author. Are you telling your students not to study Shakespeare or
Goethe or Dostoevsky because they were white men? How do your students know if they are wrong, if they are not exposed to a plethora of ideas?
Why are you coddling them into what they already believe?
4. Systemic racism
You have the audacity to say this is grounded in "a canon
Why are you coddling them into what they already believe?
4. Systemic racism
You have the audacity to say this is grounded in "a canon
of literature"? Why, because some of the greatest literature ever written was by white people? That makes it systematically racist?
What is systemic racism? As a brown man who's lived in England, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Norway and spent much time in US, I am yet to
What is systemic racism? As a brown man who's lived in England, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Norway and spent much time in US, I am yet to
see this. In fact, if there is systemic racism, it's the system you are implementing; by forcing your students to differentiate literature based on the skin colour of its authors. That's a racist system.
5. What's microaggressions?
How do you identify it? Simply based on what
5. What's microaggressions?
How do you identify it? Simply based on what
someone says? What if they're lying? Or, let's say they are feeling uncomfortable (which is what I guess microaggression means). Let's say I am in your class, and another brown student is there too. That brown student says he's triggered by you suggesting we read "To kill a
Mockingbird" so you say we won't, to appease him. But then I'm uncomfortable, because I'm here to learn and be exposed to new ideas. What then? Who are you gonna appease?
The Bottom Line:
Overall, you are under the delusion that all black people think the same way, simply
The Bottom Line:
Overall, you are under the delusion that all black people think the same way, simply
because they share a skin colour. That, in itself, is racist.
You are coddling your students, when you should be challenging them. If they are socialists, you should confront them with Hayek, Friedman and Adam Smith.
If they're capitalists, you should have them read Marx and
You are coddling your students, when you should be challenging them. If they are socialists, you should confront them with Hayek, Friedman and Adam Smith.
If they're capitalists, you should have them read Marx and
Engels and Chomsky. They should broaden their horizons.
You're not doing them any favours by making them feel safe intellectually, when in reality, they should feel challenged and exposed.
You are failing your students.
You're not doing them any favours by making them feel safe intellectually, when in reality, they should feel challenged and exposed.
You are failing your students.
