On Revising History
[Adapted from an email I sent my mom]:
What really bothers me is the utter irresponsibility of the people in charge, who see history as being so malleable that they can blatantly twist it to suit their own political ends. Sometimes I feel like Limbaugh/Beck/Palin are all in on the joke, that they’re just trying to make a quick buck (and doing very well at it), but clearly a lot of people out there really are that frightened and bigoted. The sources of information are less and less trustworthy. Sometimes I worry that I’m getting just as much misinformation and that my opinions are as ill-founded as those of the Tea Party. To so blatantly mold what should be an objective text is straight out of 1984- or any dystopic fiction, really. It would be absolutely comical if it weren’t true.
Speaking of which, I read a great article about the Tea Party’s activities- spitting on senators and charging Capitol Hill armed to the teeth- and how they would be perceived if the members were predominantly black. http://ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-tea-party-was-black-tim-wise.html It’s a great explanation of the idea of privilege and how it colors one’s perception of fairness in the world. That’s something that should be taught in schools, when they teach Civil Rights. I know some teachers do address it- more power to them. Of course, they’re likely the ones who get the most complaints from parents to the principal.
This is the kind of thing that makes me want to move to France- for the education system, for the healthcare, and oh yes, for the cheese. Mmm. But Mom, I took to heart what you told me when I wanted to move to Canada when Bush ‘won’ in 2004. To live in this country and to have the awareness of the things that should be improved is to have responsibility to try to improve them. That is also what privilege is about. Not using the means I have to escape, but to use those means to make things better. I think about that a lot, along with that Ghandi quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I don’t care how corny that is. Being corny and being earnest are the best weapons we’ve got.
