Vol. 1, No. 1
I'm long overdue to be out here. For so long, I was simply afraid - not that I would be known, but that I would be blamed for being me. You know, New York City intense, hiding my truth (that I was really a gay Jew trying to be a straight Mormon but came out a queer Saint), and still gun shy from being blind- sided at Utah Valley University. But, that's now over seven years ago. Statutes of limitations have expired. I am now free to proceed.
So, here I am. Happily married to Ben, living in Jackson, WY. Teaching young teachers who teach adolescents on-line but also teaching adolescents myself as I sub right here. My kids are pretty much amazing. My life is, as an ex-student living in Seattle told me, an amazing collection of the adventures of Mr. Kokol. My mind is filled with creative bursts just as always. My heart seems much more grounded now that I have come to realize that I simply don't need anyone else's rules - even if promised celestial something or other - and that I am grown up enough to write my own rules. And live by them.
______________________________________
What do I want to say today? Simple. The Election of 2012 was more than amazing. It was a game-changer. Not the way 2008 was. But in how we are lining up as we approach 2020. Many have already written and spoken about this - especially Gene Robinson of the Washington Post - that we are becoming a multi-hued and multicultural nation. I like that.
May I add that Europe is no longer the story that we must assume explains "us" - with everyone else simply a last minute additive. Now, you may find that we are now done with understanding what just happened. That we are now 13% African-American and 10% Hispanic-American. And that these groups along with Asian-Americans (and perhaps MiddleEast-Amercicans) voted overwhelmingly for the President to be re-elected. Yes, that does cover the three OTHER continents (not including Australia) that have contributed to the USA besides Europe. But, there is something even bigger that needs to happen - and I want to be a part of it.
I think about my own field - education. And I think about how wonderful it is that even Jackson, WY (let alone Salt Lake City) now runs dual immersion programs for those elementary schoolchildren lucky enough to have the opportunity, whether via a lottery, smart parents, or some other good fortune. But, it dawns on me this morning that as white privileged Americans (and yes, that was one of the major reasons why students at UVU were shocked - and I mean jaws dropping - when I tried to teach them this concept) wake up and realize that their Eurocentric assumed locus of power has truly run its course.
______________________________________
We are not just talking about the White House. Because we are not just talking about power here. We are also talking about how we tell story. About who we are becoming as a nation. And who we are becoming as a particular school. And what we are now charged with thinking about as we decide about how to teach history and literature - those two GREAT high school subjects that guide the assumptions of social place in society, leaving math, science and technology to guide the possibilities of economic stature in society.
What do I mean by this? Simple. If we teach US history through the assumption that it all began with Columbus in 1492, leaving out what we now know about China in 1421 - if we continue with a mention of Virginia 1607 but really begin with Plimoth Rock 1620, we are SAYING something to all of our multi-hued, multicultural students. What we are saying is this: the British story and all that emanates from that is more important. Even though we could also co-begin with St. Augustine (FL) 1565. Let alone Santa Fe (NM) 15?? (see even I don't know).
All I do know is that there has always been, under the veneer of teaching US history, a smugness on the part of those privileged White western-European stock straight men, a control over the storyline. Yes, textbook publishing companies have done a nice job adding lots of boxes to our textbooks to include examples of OTHER. But, truly, now that the books are coming in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces, and as today's adolescents (as I tend to notice them wherever I go) roll their eyes upwards and sideways even more every passing year, we are at another crossroads - but this time, it is our very story. And who owns it. And how shall we tell it. And why we should even care more than ever.
There were riots between Protestants and Catholics over textbooks in Philadelphia in 1843. Bishop John Hughes fought the New York City Board of Education so vociferously during the 1850s that they actually sold tickets to the "event" as he continued to lash out at the overtly Protestant coverage of history that were being taught in school. Three generations later, New York City decided a mayoral race (1917) over the great debate as to whether schools should be more pencil and paper or more vocational in nature. (Chicago/Gary IN went with the latter, NYC with the former.) In Los Angeles, all was NOT well during the 1940s (c.f. Zoot Suit) as Mexicans were almost universally tracked into non-academic tracks in their great high schools. When I was teaching high school in Miami in the 1980s, the textbooks were almost indecipherable for the first as well as second generation Cubans whose story seemed to be left behind, whose lives couldn't go any farther north than the gates of Disneyworld, 200 miles to the north. Today in the 2010s, here in Wyoming, I find textbooks that are almost impossible to navigate without a healthy dose of hyper-literacy.
______________________________________
What awaits us now is a clarion call to reformat the story we tell our children about the history of this country. No, not to blame white people for everything that wasn't done according to 2012 standards (e.g. blaming Lincoln for being a racist is, for me, simply ridiculous). But rather to begin finding a more balanced story about heartland America and coastal America - about Northwestern European stock and the story of America gone West vs. everyone-else stock and the story of the never-ending mix of big city America. This is what awaits us - a long-overdue reworking of this nation's story. And yes, privileged people, you can be afraid of me. Because I am no longer going to shove you to the top of the historical pecking order any more. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are no longer enough, let alone putting them into boxes for special observance.
In the end, it surprises me that I would start here. But, then, it's been over 10 years since I read "The Artist's Way" by Julia (?) Cameron. And she simply said "WRITE". It's been now exactly 25 years since Sara Lightfoot told all of us at Harvard's Graduate School of Education that we must all find Voice, and gain Vision. Because if we do it, then by example, we invite our students to this process as well. I'll be back on Monday, hoping to make this a Monday/Friday thing. As I begin the process of revealing my public voice and elaborating upon my private muses. Let me know how to shape this better for your intellectual wants, since I could stand for some feedback right up front.
Knowing that what I offer best, besides friendship, is perspective and insight.
What guides me the most is this: "Seek ye wisdom, not riches, and all else will follow"
Wyoming Tiger
6.5 years later and it's still spot on.
ReplyDelete