While the author of this piece, John Fund, is essentially sound and the thrust of the column is certainly sound, I cannot grant the good intentions of the proponents of the new policy to effectively substitute Black history for old fashioned American history. But then Fund himself does not grant the proponents their share of good intentions, he merely concedes the possibility that their intentions "may be" good. I do not.
This is only the latest example of a self inflicted decline in the state of Black intellectual and political thought in America. As the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House has pointed out, this departure from historically proven curricula is not being offered as an elective to a student body already proficient in the three "R"s and well acquainted with the range of American history. It will absorb the time of students demonstrably incapable of reading history, (w)riting about history, and reasoning in a historical context and who are utterly ignorant of the greater context in which black history occured. Recent studies have complained about school districts inflating statistics of graduating seniors. It says that fully 40% of ninth graders will not graduate. Certainly, the statistics in Black schools in Philadelphia are worse. Why are these administrators putting the cart before the horse?
Because they are liberals, who have long ago forsaken the concept of education, indeed, dare we say it, "liberal" education, because they have been seduced by the siren of indoctrination. The true goal of education, to train the intellect and to liberate the consciousness and perception, has been replaced by a process of conditioning. Indoctrination and conditioning are the enemies of education but they are wonderful tools for mind control. While liberals are perverting the originating purpose of education, they relentlessly invoke its vocabulary. Consider sex "education" in high schools as perpetrated by liberals who advance it as an answer to teenage pregnancy and SDS.
Does any reader really believe that teenage boys need to be educated that tab A is to be inserted in Slot B? Does anyone doubt that pregnant teenage girls are embarassada because they did not know where babies come from? How long does it take to "educate" a teenager that a condom can act as a barrier to pregnancy and SDS? I think you can quite thoroughly cover the subject in about 10 minutes. What's next? Why has sex "education" failed so miserably whenever it has been tried, because the pregnant girls were absent that day? Liberals are always telling us we need more of it. Sex "education" is not education, it is an attempt at crowd control. It is what liberals love to do.
So it has been with Black, Womens', and gay studies at the university level. Why in the world would it redeem itself when it is inflicted upon even more defenseless minds? Follow the money; follow the power.
