Anger is a gift (Happy 3rd Anniversary!)

[The Shadoe]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

While I am most impressed with your class roster, I must yield to the doers of society- I learned long ago that professors, while largely admirable, were teachers of what other people do. Not meaning to denegrate them whatsover, but they too have an agenda, and I would make it my business to find out what that was. It's easy to admire and follow people who spout off about the same things one already believes- they are geniuses!! It's much more difficult to read or listen to someone give an entirely differing viewpoint, and actually give that viewpoint a chance. Run it through your brain, look at all the shadings of grey, think that perhaps they may have something to offer. Life is not black and white, and if they are not teaching you that in college, than you are getting screwed. Or, you're in a junior college.

Well, I have another professor in African-American Literature. I listen to him everyday as well. He has started passing me up when I raise my hand because I confront what he has to say ona regular basis. This one makes fun of passwords being set on the computers, making fun of needed security measures. He constantly makes remarks about how botched up he thinks Iraq is, about how incompetent he thinks President Bush is, etc. The difference between him and my political science professor? My poli sci prof backs everything he says up with clearly outlined logic. My poli sci prof presents various points of view and where their strengths and flaws lie. My Afr-Amr Lit teacher doesn't do any of that. He's stopped calling on me because I confront him on what he says and ask him to back it up. The last time he called on me, it was when he said that "Bill Cosby is out of touch". I asked him to back that up and instead of answering me, he went on to the next person.

I don't see things in black and white, or in absolutes. There are no absolutes, except as the famous quote goes "death and taxes". It seems like a common viewpoint that Conservatives see things as black and white -- not so. What you are seeing is a group of people who have come together because they agree on a certain set of issues. My VERY-liberal and VERY-feminist European History professor wore black in class after Bush's election, and said that conservatives are very good and picking issues and agreeing on them. She told our class that Democrats are going to have to work on that in order to win elections in the future.

I find the Junior College remark to be out-of-line. At least in Minnesota. I attend the University of Minnesota, but I know plenty of people who attended community college here first because the class sizes are smaller and it's cheaper (in Minnesota we have what's called the Minnesota Transfer Curriculm which allows you to easily transfer your credits to other schools in the state). I don't know about Community Colleges where you live, but here they are held up to the same standards as the other public schools. One of them in particular which is only a few miles from my house, Century College, is constantly winning awards with their debate team, math team, etc.