Friday, December 10, 2004

Relatively Racist

Pandagon has an interesting post regarding some of what was discussed in the last post. It's a hard subject to pin down, but I do find this conservative spin on slavery disturbing.

"In case you don't want to wade through the barely-coded crapfest, suffice to say that they define "Southern" as "the genesis of the white race", and the Civil War as that giant loss they're never going to get over. And, apparently, it's a part of a well-rounded education." - Pandagon post
As I mentioned before, I think the conservative angst about liberal education and PC teaching is that it is too relativist. Sometimes, and for some students, it can cross the line into "we must appreciate all other cultures in their own right and avoid any belief system." That's a broad brush portrayal of it, but I think you get what I mean.
So now we get these mental backflips and spins involving understanding slavery through southern white culture? Don't get me wrong, I'm no relativist. This isn't a black and white world, but not every answer can be right (despite what some Literature professors might say). But this situation seems to seek "understanding" at the expense of facts.

On top of that, I must add that most elementary and high school students do not get a factually well-rounded education. How much do we really hear about American Indians? How much do we really hear about our founding fathers (their religions and so forth)? African Americans? Joe McCarthy (not the cute and cuddly Joe McCarthy that Ann Coulter so loves)?
I don't want to create a bunch of America-haters, but don't we always hear about how it is important to learn from our mistakes? Looking at the recent election, that is clearly one lesson a lot of people missed in school.