Racist Bastard

[livefrommombasa]

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, now the president of Spelman College, has a very special place in my heart, as she does in the hearts of many Mt. Holyoke women. I was at my local library and saw her newest book, Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation and of course checked it out immediately. Excitedly, I begin

Comments

[ellehollinger]

Disgusting.

Seriously, every day I am more convinced that the majority of people in this country are hateful, ignorant bastards.

Yesterday I was discussing the librarian's role in fighting the Patriot Act with a sophomore in high school. He said that the USA PATRIOT Act is a good thing because we *might* be able to catch someone talking about blowing up a building. I explained that in reality the Patriot Act is about creating a culture of fear, taking away our rights, and targeting minorities for illegal treatment (which is quickly becoming legal). Then he said to me, "Wow, I've never actually won a debate!" at which point I had to restrain myself from becoming violent.

Sorry about the rant. I'm just also feeling extremely frustrated with people as well.

[livefrommombasa]

Wow, that's pretty awful.

I took a few pretty interesting political classes in high school. I was fascinated by the process that many of my fellow classmates went through. When they entered the class, it was pretty obvious that their "opinions" were that which they had been hearing their whole lives from their parents. For a few of the kids, it was like they opened their mouths and I could just hear their parents speaking, not even their own voices (remember that I grew up in a pretty small town and knew many of my classmates' parents personally). As the class continued, people began to examine what they actually believed and begin to express that. At the end of the class, even if the kids hadn't swayed on what they believed, it was easy to tell that this was their own opinion with their own complex thought processes behind it. It was what they genuinely believed, whether or not it was the same as their parents.

[livefrommombasa]

Oh, where I was going with this: I wish all high schoolers had a chance to do that, to spend time in a learning environment where they were able to figure out what they believed themselves.

[nuclearvenus]

that is repugnant.

[stone_reader]

not that there is a whole lot of positive in that, but i am glad that you found the book, turned it in, and the library is replacing it so that ridiculousness doesn't get spewed all over the place.

[livefrommombasa]

Yeah, that's what I kept telling myself the whole time. No one wants to deal with racist comments like that, but I am pretty grateful that this white girl found them and turned them in before anyone else had to see them.