Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Me White, Me Dumb
The Fox News Channel this afternoon was interviewing a fellow who believes that white and Asian folks cannot teach black history because non-blacks are incapable of understanding the black experience.My thoughts:
If whites and Asians cannot teach the black experience because they cannot understand it, then they can't learn it, so there is no point in trying to teach it to them. Total waste of time and class space.
Furthermore, since every black naturally does understand the black experience, being black and all, there is no point in a black person attending such a class. Why take a class to learn materials you've already mastered?
So, if whites and Asians can't learn this material, and blacks know it already, why have black history classes at all?
(Of course, I am being facetious. I don't agree with the fellow being interviewed on Fox -- a trial lawyer, not a teacher, by the way. Although he is black himself, his formulation requires a belief that black history is little more than feelings and emotions. He's wrong about that.)
Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:47 PM
