n.b. This is not the type of post you are accustomed to reading on Travels With Linda, but it is something I could not let go by, and I would appreciate it if you would read it through. - Don
The title of this post is a classic quote by Pogo the Possum. Pogo was the main character in a popular comic strip that ran from the 1950s through the mid-1970s. The strip - much like Doonesbury today - focused on social and political commentary and satire.
For the past six months or so we have heard a lot of ugly rhetoric in our country. Words I had hoped we were long finished hearing. This has created a distrust and intoleration that is casting a pall over our country. The past week was a very sad and bloody one for us, and yet the rhetoric continues.
Pogo's comment is no longer social satire, but social reality. The enemy is, indeed, us.
I was a teacher. I had the privilege of having kids of all backgrounds, cultures, and races in my classroom.
I have taught kids with surnames 2 letters long, some with names 20 letters long, and some with apostrophes in their names; boys with turbans and girls with hijabs; skin colors of all hues; those who are first generation Americans and those who are themselves immigrants. I have taught kids with more differences than you can imagine.
And I have learned from all of them. I have learned many things. But primarily what I have learned is that all these different kids from all these different cultures and ethnicities are really all the same. Despite all of their differences, they are all just young adults trying to learn; trying to cope with adolescence; trying to manage (or as they think of it - survive) their parents; trying to imagine their futures.
In other words there is no we or they, there is only us. Why be our own enemy?
All that has happened recently brought to mind a song - an important song, I think - from the famous musical, South Pacific, which opened on Broadway 67 years ago in 1949. I copied the lyrics below because I think they bear repeating - especially in today's climate.
All I can think is that here we are 67 years later, and we have yet to learn the lesson of this song.
For the past six months or so we have heard a lot of ugly rhetoric in our country. Words I had hoped we were long finished hearing. This has created a distrust and intoleration that is casting a pall over our country. The past week was a very sad and bloody one for us, and yet the rhetoric continues.
Pogo's comment is no longer social satire, but social reality. The enemy is, indeed, us.
I was a teacher. I had the privilege of having kids of all backgrounds, cultures, and races in my classroom.
I have taught kids with surnames 2 letters long, some with names 20 letters long, and some with apostrophes in their names; boys with turbans and girls with hijabs; skin colors of all hues; those who are first generation Americans and those who are themselves immigrants. I have taught kids with more differences than you can imagine.
And I have learned from all of them. I have learned many things. But primarily what I have learned is that all these different kids from all these different cultures and ethnicities are really all the same. Despite all of their differences, they are all just young adults trying to learn; trying to cope with adolescence; trying to manage (or as they think of it - survive) their parents; trying to imagine their futures.
In other words there is no we or they, there is only us. Why be our own enemy?
All that has happened recently brought to mind a song - an important song, I think - from the famous musical, South Pacific, which opened on Broadway 67 years ago in 1949. I copied the lyrics below because I think they bear repeating - especially in today's climate.
All I can think is that here we are 67 years later, and we have yet to learn the lesson of this song.
You've Got to be Carefully Taught
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
from South Pacific by
Rogers & Hammerstein
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
from South Pacific by
Rogers & Hammerstein
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