Looks like we may be in the same book, if not on the same page.

As a teacher, I need to my students to have pre-existing knowledge so that they can attach new knowledge to it. It distresses me how little AFRICAN knowledge they have; few have a clue why Liberia's flag looks like that and Apartheid is just a funny foreign word. What the hell are they learnig during black hstory month? A sanitized view of MLK and "We Shall Overcome." That's about it.

The hispanic students don't make nearly as much noise about their heritage. Aside from reconquista, they only have a vague sense of their own history; most don't even know enough about Columbus to hate him properly.

College teaching outreaches like UofH's "Common Ground" have sought to diversify Enlgish teachers. My wife has attended every year (first paid but now not) as the college profs have introduced literature from various cultures including Nigerian. This year, she presented a report to her colleagues on Purple Hibiscus, book that reveals much about religious evangelism and colonial attitudes. There are far too few programs like this however, and those that exist are too sparsely attended.

Quite frankly, most teachers don't care much about extending themselves outside of the school year, and English teachers are only slightly more willing to do so. The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake makes for a good mantra preached, but not practiced.

I picked up the most recent copy of Ebony dealing with the dreaded "N" word, and was dismayed at the lack of insights and the often banal writing it contains. The ocasional Essence articles I've read are far superior in writing style and cultural understanding. Ebony tends to take the "party line" It's defense of Russell Simmons left out (or I didn't see it) the tongue-lashing Stanley Crouch gave him and Common on Oprah recently, calling them "clowns." For the most part, Kanye can be classified among this self-gratifying group of chauvenist pigs.