Really, I do.Which is why we are all doomed.
Let me explain why. As some of you know my husband teaches grammar at an elite SAT prep school. These kids have to get a certain score on a special diagnostic test just to be let into the school and at this school they work on improving their SAT scores for 2 or 3 years before ever even applying to college. Needless to say, most of them go on to study at various prestigious universities and Ivy League schools. So, in short, these are the best and the brightest of their generation.
And yet, they are still so stupid.
The following is a practice essay from one of these best and brightest.
(The prompt question is: Is a person's sense of identity primarily a matter of association with one group?)
"Being in a group means being identified. If you are in a group, then everyone knows that you are in the group, so he/she knows your identity. An example from history is Martin Luther King Jr. He was a member of the group called blacks then. They aren't called black any more. Now they are African American. But he was black then, and everyone knew that, so they knew that he wanted to fight for Civil rights and to end slavery.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was born he knew he was black. His parents knew he was black. Everyone knew that he was black. This shows that everyone is a member of a groups. When he was older, he wanted to help end desegregation against blacks. At that time in this country, it was okay to desegregate against blacks because they could not vote. Today, they can vote, so it is not okay to desegregate against them, but then you could. Martin Luther King thought this was wrong. So he had a dream one night and then he went to Washington DC one day to tell everyone. Soon, everyone knew why they were wrong. Blacks in the south stopped riding the bus. And Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was also arrested.
Being that he was black, he spoke out for blacks. He tried to tell whites that they were wrong. They didn't want to listen, but then they did and they realized that he was right. However, this took a long time before they did. Then things changed, and blacks were allowed to vote for the first time. Now we even have a black president Obama. All this because Martin Luther King was a member of a group. And because he identified with that group."
Now I'm going take my Dr. Pepper and go sit on the beach and wait for the world to end.
Wait was he arrested after being assassinated or before?
ReplyDeleteG
Sorry the G is of no significance I am just typing as I feed the twins.
ReplyDeleteErin, it looks like the assassination came first. I think my favorite part might be that when MLK was born he knew he was black AND his parents knew it too. I'm so glad that they weren't confused about that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was arrested for being assassinated?
ReplyDelete"So he had a dream one night and then he went to Washington DC one day to tell everyone." TJ and I seriously laughed out loud reading this. More please!!
ReplyDeleteI give it an A- only because he identified Obama as black & not half black.
ReplyDeleteI hear Fullerton Community College is lovely this time of year.
ReplyDeleteHo.Ly.Crap.
ReplyDeleteBahahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteOh boy are we in trouble! This post certainly made me laugh and cry all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThen again, maybe it made me cry and laugh. Oh heck who cares...we are doomed!LOL
~Naila Moon
http://yaknowstuff.blogspot.com/
Wow. This is hilarious. Simply hilarious. But, yes, very sad, you're right!
ReplyDeleteI can only say WOW! I felt like I was reading a ten year olds biography report...I take that back, the book reports my 8yr old daughter has to do is 100x better than that!
ReplyDeleteWhile the misunderstandings in this "essay" are obvious, so is something else. The inane statements come from the media, the books that our children read, the things that are said by teachers in classrooms. I am a former school teacher and I remember working in schools where hundreds of portraits of MLK were posted on walls. Not one of George Washington or Abe Lincoln. Not one of Thomas Edison or Madame Curie.
ReplyDeleteThe misinformation expressed here is gleaned from a media campaign which continuously promotes general, poorly defined, and purely emotional ideas about popular peoples and causes. Historical fact is not necessary when making celebrities into gods. Think of what was done for Whitney Houston - flying flags at half mast when young soldiers of 19 or 21 were never remembered throughout the state of New Jersey, when they died in Iraq or Afghanistan.
These misunderstandings come with politically correct ideas which have made people and events larger than life, itself. A careful study of history never happened in this kids life. History was never taught to this child as anything but a playground of favorite thoughts favorite ideas and favorite people. Don't forget this kid had teachers who taught him/her - this misinformation. Such ignorance was, at least in part, taught.