The other day I blogged about needing an apology from my old school district. Some of you got the irony....some didn't, then yesterday....I read online that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer was going to be edited....leaving out the "N" word. I think I'm a little bewildered by the people who feel the need to apologize for or change history so that it is socially acceptable to everyone and not controversial at all. Do people really not understand that when that book was written that's the way things were? That's the language that was used and the "N" word was not always used in the connotation that we hear it today. It was descriptive of who they were. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone the use of that word today, by anyone , but I can tell the difference between then and now.
I guess what I am really confused about is our incessant need to apologize for history. I was not at Custer's Last Stand, The Little Big Horn, nor was I on the committee that established reservations. I was not in Africa as the Africans sold their "brothers" into slavery nor on the boat with them as they were taken to many countries including the U.S. I was not in Egypt as their slaves were building pyramids nor was I loading the Chinese into boats to come build railroads.
Should we put clothes on "Venus de Milo"? Should we paint in a camisole for the Mona Lisa? Should we put robes on the Angels in the Sistine Chapel? Should we change the "Diary of Anne Frank"? Should we take everything out of the Bible, Torah, Koran,etc, that might offend someone? Where do we stop? Where do we draw the line? Why can't we accept our history , learn from it, and improve our future? Why do any of us, today, owe an apology to anyone for our history of the past century? Shouldn't we get on with the business of making sure none of the bad things from the past are repeated in the future? To coin an outdated phrase....."I'm just saying....."
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
A little Christmas....
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Need an apology....
I was watching an old television show this morning and it really got me to thinking about how hard I had it growing up. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I needed an apology from the Mission ISD, school board and any surviving teachers for the way I was treated in elementary school. I was forced to sit in a classroom with no air conditioning. I was forced to learn the pledge of allegiance, the Star Spangled Banner, My Country Tis of Thee and numerous other songs that I remember to this day. I was forced to eat my home made lunch out of a lunch box while sitting on hard concrete in the fresh air. I was forced to go to recess and play. I was forced to attend Halloween Carnivals at school, go through the spook house and participate in the cake walk. I was forced to participate in the live nativity as a Shepard (because I broke my arm, but that's another apology I am owed) at Christmas time. I was deprived of Spring Break and only had a long weekend for Easter in which to rest my weary brain. I was taught to obey my teachers and behave at school or deal with the consequences when I got home. I was forced to make friends with other children that I didn't know. I was not allowed to ride a school bus because I only lived 1 1/2 miles from school instead of the required 2 miles; therefore, I was forced to ride my bicycle to school in good weather. My teachers were not concerned with my self esteem when they gave me a failing grade on a test and they definitely had no problem sending a note home to my mother. I was not allowed to wear shorts or pants to school unless they were under a dress.
I am sure I suffered many more injustices but I am probably to traumatized to remember them. How did any of us survive those terrible conditions?
I am sure I suffered many more injustices but I am probably to traumatized to remember them. How did any of us survive those terrible conditions?
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