Dear Professor Erickson:
I hope I will be able to help you out . . . .
You are extremely lucky that you have a student in the U.S. survey, education major/social science emphasis (he’ll be teaching high school) who absolutely loves history. Enthusiasm is the best teacher and I’m sure he’ll be far superior to those who just want an easy curriculum and regular paycheck with lifetime protection from the teacher’s unions. Do you not recognize and celebrate the fact that even teachers can be a diverse group—or is celebrating diversity only acceptible when it excludes philosophical diversity??
Many reasonable people agree that the Civil Rights Act precipitated some necessary changes, but it did indeed abridge a significant amount of private freedom. In fact, some black scholars hold the opinion that the Civil Rights Act and Great Society programs of the 60’s led to the destruction of the black family.
Why is a quote from Ayn Rand a problem for you? I’m sure if he had quoted Ghandi, or MLK or Marx you wouldn’t have given it another thought.
Frankly, I’m at a loss to understand how a professor such as yourself (who attended a university and who has some education) can view this writing assignment as an opporunity to indoctrinate a student into the correct way of thinking in your view. Wasn’t the point of the exercise to discuss whether or not he would have been involved? He chose not. Have you ever participated in a debate where you were assigned the side? Perhaps it wasn’t your personal view but it was an excellent intellectual exercise to have to support it anyway? Why are you concerned with the content of the paper as oposed to the form? Why are you not questioning your assumptions since you are teaching a college course? Why have you bought into the mindset of uniformity of thought? I’m scared to know that you have a teaching job.
You said:
“Note that this student also wanted the history department/history club to sponsor a speaker (about whom the student was almost giddy) whose books include The Politically Incorrect Guide to U.S. History (from Amazon – the entire New Deal/Great Society are socialist plots and historians in academe are all radicals) and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (need I say anything here?)”
What is wrong with hearing the views of this author? It’s okay to have Peter Singer or Ward Churchill as college speakers but not this author or the Minutemen? I think this is an excellent opportunity for you to learn something from this student and evaluate your own position on the role of a college education and freedom of thought and speech. I think this student may become your best teacher.
Finally, I am troubled that this apparently is the first student who has not fit your idea of the perfect robotic liberal spouting back to you the propaganda you seek to inculcate in your students. That is scary!!
Gator Girl at Freerepublic.com
I am a professor myself, GatorGirl. You get an “A” for that response.
Wow!!!!
Did you really send that to her?
One more thought:
Jim Crowe Laws are the antithesis of a capitalist society. It was not the private sector who were enforcing Jim Crowe Laws but THE GOVERNMENT. If anything, they hurt businesses and it was simply another way for government to control and regulate how businesses operated...very marxist/Dem party in nature.