Yesterday evening, Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) debuted a new video entitled, “This is America” and for the past 24 hours, I’ve been entranced with the layers of symbolism in this video dealing with racism, violence, gun control, etc.. Before I go any further, I have to be honest. Up until two years ago, I […]
America
The Perils of the United States of Smug
I make my living by teaching politics to high school seniors and college students. I am not a “read-the-textbook” kind of teacher. I want my students to watch the news. I want them to read political biographies. I want them to watch the complete seven seasons of The West Wing. Of course, few of them […]
What I Fear For my Students
We live a great nation. A nation where you can be whatever you want to be. I preach the American Dream in my classroom, I have to because I am an American Literature teacher. I love and believe in this country, but we are a country with problems. I teach at a poor, rural school […]