Education Dilemma

I hate math! I'm an Asian American and I hate math. How does that joke go? How do you know your house was burglarized by an Asian/? Your math homework is done and your computer is upgraded. The computer part is a cinch. The math? Let's just say that English is my forté...and I'm speaking French. AAAUGH. But I digress. It's more than just breaking stereotypes, it's an actual phobia of numbers. But I wasn't always like that. When i was in the sixth grade, I asked my mom if she could teach me calculus. When I saw her book from Japan, it had weird designs!

I looked at the formula and I was enthralled. When my mother taught me, I was actually getting it. Then something happened. I had to go back to reality and learn basic math. Then when i went to Jr. High (middle school for you young ones), I remained in remedial math...all the way to high school. But this apathy which started in elementary school encompassed my whole educational process and I sucked at: English, science, history, government, social studies...except P.E. Hell, I even sucked at the trade classes like auto mechanic and agriculture. Looking back, you know that saying hindsight being 20/20, I was bored.

My mother teaching me calculus (without a calculator) broke me from the mold of do your homework and return it back to your teacher. I mean it was refreshing! Then I got the news from my counselor. Tim you are not graduating. You cannot walk and will have to attend summer school to receive your diploma. My counselor said if I applied myself, I would have graduated like my relatives before me.

That destroyed me.

I said no more. I am going to get my diploma, join the Army and travel. The Army didn't want me. So what was I supposed to do? Oh well, I was a goof, so I might as well go to the 13th grade. I attended community college. I wanted to be an LAPD cop. But the LAPD didn't want me. So I dropped out of the Administration of Justice program and got into general ed. I just took classes for the Hell of it. Then I met a guy who said if I wanted an easy A, take Asian American Studies. I did and something strange happened. I was interested.

Back from K-12, I learned this: Columbus Discovered America in 1492. Then the Pilgrims came. Then the forefathers. Then there was the revolutionary war because of taxation without representation (LIE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UiLZk2TE8k), then the settlers head out west. you can see the wagon trails  to this day. Then the east and west met, Then WW1 then WW2, then VE Day. Then VJ day and the next grade up it started all over again. Same thing for 12 years.

But in community college., my instructor said, "This is not high school. I could not care less if you want to come to class. If you fail then it's your decision." I had the opportunity to do what I want? I loved it! So what did I do? I learned. I started to take classes because I wanted to learn. I learn that yes, Columbus came to the Americas in 1492 and in 1493, came back and raped, murdered and enslaved the Carib and Aruac Natives in the Caribbean Isles. I learned that the pilgrims were also murderers, cut-throats and the civil war was not to free the slaves but to destroy the economy's south because of the free labor.

I also learned about the rednecks at Blair Mountain and their movement for labor rights in the 1900s. I learned about what happened to my family during WWII

Not only did I learn, I got mad. I was mad what happened, and then I was mad that the commons failed me from K-12. I brought this up to the Principal in my high school and he stopped corresponding with me when I asked: why must A.P. students learn about what happened during WWII, the surprise attack that was NOT a surprise, the All-Japanese American military company, the torture of Aruac and Caribs, the genocide and so on.


I told him how boring school was because the curriculum was just rehashed over and over and over ad nauseum ad infinitum. I also brought up Rednecks and the discussion about 40 acres and a mule came up and some black friends were pissed that Japanese Americans received compensation and not them? I had to explain that the last of the slaves died in the early 1990s I believe so reparation does not apply.

BUT

They can receive reparation for Plessy vs, Ferguson, They asked what's that? I said: Separate but equal or Jim Crowe Law. The 14th Amendment prohibits that and it wasn't until Brown vs. the Board of Education that overturned PvF in 1954. So anyone born before the BvBOE were victims of Plessy and qualify for reparations. I learned this in college but not through K-12. Why? Because the district is racist? Not necessarily. But with NCLB making it worse, it's the answer to being naive and educationally dumbed down.


But this is what motivated me to learn and honestly, I can go back to my school and challenge the instructor. But it all happened when I graduated high school, albeit late. is there hope? So long as we don't allow censorship to happen, the ONLY alternative to stupidity is a liberal/progressive educational system. And what is the difference between a liberal educational system and someone like Michele Bachmann? The opportunity to criticize and critique any and all information. Many were taught to not question authority, but the failure to do so leads to being gullible. Who would have thought that the Boston Tea Party was NOT about taxation but the corporate takeover of small businesses by the East India tea company or the Wal Martizing...thanks to King George's harebrained idea of bailing out the company? Eventually you start asking about

Sherman anti-trust Act
Glass Steagall
Gramm Leach Bliley
Patriot Act


And other important topics that would vastly affect you and me and the future of our children. In conclusion, we will need to revamp our educational system and learn to use critical thought to make it past the first grade. We also need teachers and professor to teach what is the truth without the corporate influences watering down the truth. And maybe, MAYBE one day I'll like math. Oh and support your teachers and professors.