What Three Days Of Subbing Taught Me About American Education
The questions 5th through 12th graders are really asking
Puberty is a b*tch.
I remember it.
It was a miserable minefield of mismanaged minors where Mavis-Beacon was meaningless but mandatory, and I learned to type so I could AIM chat with my friends and flirt with girls on dial-up. The frustration I felt with my slow finger-pecking at the keys came out in my writing and I sounded like a prick.
I still come off like a prick, but now it’s for completely different reasons, but today, 6th graders are not the reason.
“Ummm,” her brow shrivels, “I don’t stand for the pledge.”
It’s not about me. That little adult is finding her flex. She’s black — I get it — your people were oppressed for hundreds of years to build the American Empire and you probably don’t want to stand and put your hand on your heart for the anthem of nation that raped and destroyed the culture of your ancestors — an Empire whose modern culture erases a star football player who kneels out of respect for the People who gave up so much for that same anthem.
I see that, and appreciate it. I let it go and didn’t say anything.
