ReGeneration Page #6

they're more interested in it.

And so we're constantly

challenged to make education

more interesting, more exciting,

attention-grabbing.

Is there anything remotely real

about the real world?

Do you think what's really real is what

they teach you in an American history class?

Why? Why do you say that?

Why do I say that?

Because what I believe that I was

taught in History class in high school

is false information about what

actually happened in history.

I think the real problem is that we use

history as a way to comfort ourselves.

To tell uplifting stories,

even to the extent that the story

of America is the story of struggle,

it's basically a struggle that always

comes out about right in the end.

We embrace a mythic notion of history,

rather than one in which

we are really willing

to look at the past in the eye

and come to terms with it.

The loss of history

is always important,

because if you don't have history

then you're stuck with the present.

And you're also stuck with

the word of authorities.

This loss of history in

the United States today

has created a possibility,

in fact the inevitability,

of a whole population being

bewitched by television,

by the political leaders,

by the media leaders.

And without history to give

some basis for judging

what is being thrown at them,

the population becomes a victim

of whatever the authorities

decide needs to be done.

The world still walks in the shadow

of another world war.

Nations could defend themselves

against missile attack.

Our allies concur

that now is the time to strike.

Our country is still the target

of terrorists who want to kill many.

We have a goal to disrupt,

dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda

in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The result is we get into war

after war after war.

The loss of history

is a matter of life and death.

Now is the time...

to rise from the dark and desolate

valley of segregation

to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Now is the time...

to lift our nation from

the quick sands of racial injustice

to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Now is the time...

to make justice a reality

for all of God's children.

We grew up in the South and we never were

taught about the civil rights movement,

other than the 'I Have a Dream' speech.

Let freedom ring!

If America is to be a great nation,

this must become true.

Let freedom ring from

the Stone Mountain of Georgia!

I lived in Stone Mountain.

I'm from Stone Mountain

and barely anybody read the whole

speech to pick it out and ask,

why is Stone Mountain

mentioned in this speech?

Young people did not grow up learning

that this is a society

which is driven by class.

They grow up with the idea

that this is like one family.

Starts with the words

of the Constitution,

"We the people of the United States,"

and that's the impression we get.

That we're all together,

we all got together and fought

the revolution against England.

We all got together and formed

the Constitution.

The Constitution was formed

by fifty-five rich, white men.

Excluded were 20% of the population,

black slaves.

Excluded were working people;

excluded were Indians,

excluded were women.

But you don't learn

about this in school.

We were just talking about this

in my history class,

because we're not really learning

lessons of life in school

and it's just a bunch of busy work.

I remember being able

to pass a history exam

because I was able to recite the words

to Blackman in Effect by KRS-One,

and he was talking about

the Byzantine Empire and Mesopotamia

and these were things that

I wasn't learning about in school.

Stone Mountain was owned by the KKK:

the carvings on the mountain are the three

most prominent confederacy leaders.

If we were told that and given the history

of our own community,

and to see at a younger age how wrong...

If we could be inspired by our teachers

about our own histories...

class would have been

much more interesting.

It's not that the teacher consciously

deceives the student,

it's that the teacher conforms

to what has been taught before

and the textbooks conform

to whatever the textbooks were before.

Because if you step out of line,

if you start to do something different,

if for the first time in generations that

have been taught that Columbus is a hero,

the school teacher says,

"You know kids,

Columbus is not a hero."

16th Century Priest,

Bartolome de las Casas,

sailed with Columbus and estimates

nearly 3 million Native Americans

were killed at the hands of

Columbus and the Europeans.

Columbus killed, mutilated, kidnapped

and enslaved Indians for gold.

The United States continues to observe

Columbus's arrival as a national holiday.

I mean, if a teacher starts

talking that way,

that teacher will be singled out.

And we shouldn't just pick on history.

You can have the same belief

if your language arts teacher

doesn't look at your essays critically

enough and does this rubber-stamp,

'Oh very good, here's a smiley face.

You did a really good job.'

That would also be a crime.

In another way, it's kind of a lie.

I think it really depends

on what class, what teacher.

There are plenty of teachers who teach

because they thought it would be a good idea

and I can tell they don't like teaching,

they don't care about teaching that much,

those are the ones who will give you

the busy work.

I think that's what's

really the difference:

I really think it's the teachers

and how much they care.

The loss of history

and the cynical views

of today's education system

by both students and educators

is met with further challenge

by increasing class sizes,

and a series of governmental policies

whose systemic underfunding

often times does the opposite

of what it says it will.

The goals of No Child Left Behind

were admirable

and President Bush

deserves credit for that.

But beyond high school,

a recent survey conducted

by the U.S. Education Department

shows over 80% of tenth graders

still expect to move on to a four year

college or university

But, at what cost does this

post-high school education come?

We've had to talk about

what we're going to do with him,

what we're going to pay for

and what we're not

and right now I can say that

we're willing to help and chip in,

but we're not going to have

$80,000 to pay for college.

There's so much pressure to get

the perfect grades and everything

so you can get the scholarships

that are out there,

like my mom who was putting

all this pressure on me

all these last three years

I've been in high school to get top,

top grades because we can't afford

to pay for me to go to college.

So the only way I'm going to get

anywhere in life

is to have a scholarship to pay for it,

so I'm not in debt.

Now you have huge amounts

in loans at market,

and even above, market rates.

So for kids coming through this process,

you start at a point where you are thinking

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