BiddiesInMyBrain

Rant on History Textbooks

Why, oh why, must textbooks... especially college history textbooks... not only cost a fortune (for god's sake, it's HISTORY)... but also WEIGH a ton???

I just got a new history textbook for review... and it weighs... ELEVEN POUNDS. Either that, or my scale is off. *I* think it weighs 11 pounds.

Weird thing about it? The main body of the text, from the beginning of time to the present, is less than 1000 pages.

What the hell??

I can tell you right now that I will stay with the condensed textbook I am currently using ($45), teach from my lectures, and supplement from my website with the things I think they *really* need. They can print/view the supplemental materials and not spend an extra $50. Yeah. A basic history text which costs $95.

 

Many (most?) older profs do not take the textbook cost into account... but I have spent a lot of time recently shopping and asking; I am not about to ask non-majors to ever again buy a hugely expensive book for something they will never use again - or will keep only for occasional reference. It just makes NO SENSE. I've had students take my class in previous semesters and GO WITHOUT THE BOOK because they couldn't afford it. With history you can sometimes get away with that (though it's hard when you are supposed to be doing chapter summaries). I just can't can't can't break any more students' budgets. It breaks my heart... and there is something that also breaks my heart when I hear that a student has dropped all his other classes but mine because mine was the only book he could afford.

My criteria? Has to have the founding docs, has to be accurate. Everything else is gravy - because *every* book is going to cover basically the same material, no matter which publisher prints it. Different points of view, yes, but same basic story. Doesn't match my point of view? GREAT! I have a wonderful teaching experience ahead!

The way other profs justify it is that they want the best reference book possible for the students to keep. I want the best textbook for the money, and I will teach them what else I feel they need to know. That's what the classroom is for, asshats. Earn your keep.

It's HISTORY for god's sake. There are only so many ways to teach it from a book (I know, I know.. there really are.. but come on!). I appreciate that they are sexing it up - and I have been part of that movement - I've been in on the late writing/editing stages of two new textbooks so far in my career. But I can't justify this kind of cost for a course for non-majors. I mean... for Pete's sake. I have the ability to choose my text... and I assure you that this one won't be it, no matter how sexy it is.

The damn textbook companies just aren't getting it.

 

And I am fed up. Right up to here.

Jena 6 Update

Hey you. Do you even remember the Jena 6?

Yeah. Like ongoing racism in the South. Young black kids who were denied their civil rights. Major demonstrations. Big issue in 2007.

What has happened? Where are they now? Does anyone even care?

Well, you should.

Here's an update from AOL's Black Voices feature area: Jena Six Anniversary: How Things Have Changed.

And this is a great site for keeping up with ongoing developments: The Jena 6 Blog

Don't let up. Fight the good fight. Do the right thing.

And damnit - don't let racism and any sort of privilege get in the way.

Still Pondering the Anger

Wow.

I've gotten a lot of e-mail tonight about my last post, and it's made me think a lot about what I said.

I'm not kidding about the racial issues - the white privilege issues - that exist in this city.

But I think I was a little harsh on the efforts that are being made on behalf of meeting halfway. There *are* some people who are working hard to make a difference. It's just that until that difference can be manifested in even a vocal minority, there isn't going to be change... and until more people in pulpits and congregations and board rooms and school rooms REALLY teach tolerance and love (not to say that they aren't there - there are some damn good efforts out there... but dang... there just aren't enough!!) - and disengage from this whole idea of privilege - there is no hope of that succeeding. NONE.

But nobody - at least *very* few whites in this town - seem to want to look inward to deal with those snap judgments ... the same ones that seal fates all over the South. Those that say separation is better, that private schools are better than public schools, that discomfort in mixed social and religious situations is ok. I want to see DELIBERATE action. Real, positive, assertive, gentle action - the same kind of direct action King and Gandhi talked about - to look inside and remake this city, this region and this nation.

I *do* see some of that happening - don't get me wrong - and I see it the best of it in higher education. Unfortunately, the people who graduate University.. black, white, Asian, African, Hispanic, European... are not as likely to stick around here - the atmosphere is just so toxic that people really want to leave once they have opportunity. The best and the brightest tend to be lured away... and those who stay get beaten down by the constant... well, the constant inability of good folks to stand up year after year, decade after decade, to the racism and the privilege.

I have lived here for 15 years ... and I am just... tired of it. The Gandhi/King conference is coming and I want so much to take part in it... but I am so discouraged. Maybe it's all the talk right now that Memphis is such a "progressive" or "liberal" city in such a conservative state. No, I am sorry. I have lived in progressive, liberal cities - and this one is not one of them.

I'll continue to try - don't get me wrong. But you can bet that I will seek other opportunities in other places if they come my way.

And the city wonders why the tax base is just... floating away.

Get real already.

Dealing with an Unexpected Burst of Anger

I've had this *wonderful* day today ... it's been rainy, yes, but I have been busy and accomplishing things all day long.

So, the burst of anger that erupted when a friend sent me an op-ed piece from the New York Times really surprised me.

Branson is not all that far from Memphis... and Memphis is definitely a little blue dot in a vast sea of red, so it would seem I should be happy to see this apparently like area in our geographic vicinity.

But, I'm not.

Memphis has a good history of being a liberal stronghold the past several decades - and even before desegregation was known as a relatively progressive city. However, don't let the facade fool you.

There are deep lines of demarcation here. And I'll bet they're in Branson, too - but the reporter was too white to see them.

You see, we are a town - and a region - of white privilege.

A man walks into a gun shop in Memphis... or Branson. If he's white... he's a gun enthusiast and a patriot. If he's black... he's someone to fear and has criminal intent.

A man drives a tricked-out SUV in Memphis... or Branson. If he's white, he's merely affluent and a representative of the American dream. If he's black, he's involved in the drug trade.

A white kid in a school uniform is walking down the street at 2:30 pm ... he's simply been dismissed from school. A black kid in a school uniform is walking down the street at 2:30 pm ... he's a truant and up to no good.

White men and women standing on a street corner holding up signs and shouting out their support for their chosen candidate in a presidential race are 'doing their part for democracy'. Black men and women standing on a street corner holding up signs and shouting out their support for their chosen candidate in a presidential race are misguided, uppity and inciting a riot.

Do you see where I am going with this?

There are deep, clear lines of demarcation in this city - and throughout the South - a vile vestige of segregation and a mindset of white privilege.

It's not just seen in the places of worship - very few black men and women go to certain Presbyterian churches, just as very few white men and women attend COGIC services, for example - but it is seen in the snap decisions people make on the street and around the town about racial difference. The above examples I gave barely scratch the surface.

However, most people are terribly, horribly apathetic about doing anything. They are attached to the television and unwilling to get out in the heat or cold and actually motivate to do something about these issues.

The only people who are forced to get out and interact on a regular basis are our public schoolkids - and you see how well that works. Constant disruptions, guns in schools, racial slurs and epithets... and kids segregate themselves in the lunchroom and between classes.

There is no culture of oneness, no hope of understanding until the larger culture changes. And I see no hope of that happening right now. Until the larger racial divides are breached within the larger society, until the ideas of white privilege - and you can't tell me that a majority of this problem ISN'T that of white privilege - are eradicated there will never be any form of true progress.

Memphis and Branson may claim to be progressive, liberal cities... but just live here a while and really, truly look. Just as in the Op-Ed piece, there is an assumption of white privilege on which that progressive liberalism is based... and you need to ask yourself if that is really progress after all.

I Just Can't Let This Pass Unnoticed

Politics as usual for McCain... but Letterman calls him on it but good:

Keith Olbermann on John McCain's Flat Out Lies

All I can say is WOW. Just WOW.

McCain: Senator, Just Grow Up

Cyber Bullying by the Memphis Police Department

Check out this article about the Memphis Police Department's attempt to crack down on a website that is critical of the police director, MPD policies and staff. The City has actually joined in on this and filed suit to find out who the anonymous blogger is behind the site, which, while admittedly edgy, does not use data other than what is available through anything but the public record or the rumor mill in the MPD. (the blogger's site can be found here). Can anyone say First Amendment?? Just because Larry Godwin doesn't like what is being said about him and about his force does not mean that he can file suit to shut down a website which is saying things that are legal (though sometimes in bad taste... the Asshole of the Month thing is a little borderline, but I see where it's coming from).

Meanwhile, the main blogger, who posts under the amusing name Dirk Diggler, has retained an attorney, Paul Levy, who is part of a Washington DC-area group called Public Citizen Litigation Group, and he is seeking to quash the attempts by the MPD to obtain the name(s) of the bloggers - and to find the legal basis for the Director Godwin's witchhunt. (read more here and another good one here at the Memphis Flyer)

This is nothing more than another example of how the top administration in this city has collectively gone plumb out of its cotton-pickin' mind. Power plays by Hizzoner the Mayor Willie Herenton over the Superintendency of the School Board, the City Council's petulant move to cut funding for the City Schools, the ongoing fraud investigations (and convictions) within upper echelons, and now this... it really makes me wonder what on earth they think they are doing up there in their marble towers. They aren't living in the real world, and they see threats where there aren't any.

And now they are attempting to shut down a vital section of the internet simply because they can't take the heat from some anonymous blogger who believes a little honesty in public service is a good thing. Larry, you've really gone over the top... I believe our police force - the men and women who patrol our neighborhood - are decent, honest people; I have met many, many of them by stopping them on my street and chatting for a moment while they are on patrol. They are friendly, helpful and kind when needed... and they do their job well in an area where solid policing is a necessity. But I just don't know about the upper echelons. Some of the people I have worked with - Sgts, Lieuts... even a Captain or two - have been overwhelmingly responsive to the needs of the community. But there are clearly some bad eggs... and I am now wondering seriously if that bad policing doesn't start with the top. Certainly this boneheaded move does not speak well of the good judgement we expect from officers... and bespeaks of vendettas and personal feelings getting in the way of being bigger and better than the words on the screen.

This smells like a rat... and bloggers everywhere should be paying close attention to what is happening here in Memphis. Such an unlikely venue... yet the repercussions of the decisions that come out of this case could have a chilling effect on all of us.

I'll try to update as often as I can about it... but in the meantime, please make sure to be vigilant, too. This is nothing to sneeze at. Larry Godwin and the City of Memphis are dead serious in this threat - and we should be dead serious about opposing it.

What a chilling state of affairs for us all.

ADDENDUM: Thanks, Ms. Theologian, for pointing out this website: cyberSLAPP, which deals with frivolous suits of this type that threaten to chill the internet's basis in free speech and the right to anonymity.

Why Is This Acceptable?

I am in a bloody rage right now.

We lived through the Civil Rights Movement years ago - and, at least in the classes I teach, we celebrate it for what it was - and still is - in our collective memories. Race, color, creed, handicaps, sexuality - all these things are fruits of that Movement that make us both unique and part of a coherent and vibrant whole - I thought we were embracing these issues and moving forward. At least that has been my hope.

But I have recently heard some of the most racist crap I have ever heard in my life.

Take, for instance, the absolutely horrid joke about the White House Rose Garden being pulled up and replaced with a watermelon patch. @@

Or the cover of the New Yorker this week. Satire? I think not.  

Or the Oreo coment of John McLaughlin this weekend. A provocative slip of the tongue? No way.

What the hell is happening to this country that these things are somehow mainstream and acceptable?

The vitriol I see is completely out of whack with the object of its attention. Disagree with policies. Challenge viewpoints. Even argue past issues and records. BUT do not *ever* resort to name-calling, hateful sterotypical jokes and cartoons, and personal attacks of the nature we have been seeing the past several weeks and months.

The misinformation out there is appalling: the idea that Obama is somehow a terrorist; the nastiness that calls him by his race rather than by his deeds and record; the assertions that somehow, some way, Obama's association - however limited or expansive - with Muslims is a horrible thing and will lead this country down a path toward destruction (look around you, folks; we're already in that situation, and gee, it didn't take Obama to do it).

And the thing is, I get these e-mails and statements from people I have loved and cherished and called my dear friends, as well as previously trustworthy news sources. The world has truly gone topsy turvy.

What is it about this election cycle and this day and age that people - embodied in this one man - can be yet again marginalized and reviled with such acrimony and spite? How do people find it within themselves to think such horrors, much less give voice to them? Why are so many onlookers just accepting this situation as "business as usual" in politics and society at large?

It is long past time to speak out and do something about this. Write editorials. Respond directly to e-mails debunking this crap. Refuse to pander to the lowest common denominator in our political spectrum. Speak up regardless of whether your circle finds your view unpopular for the time being. Don't cater to these monstrous affairs.

After all, this is the home of the brave, right? So be brave and do the right thing. Stand up and be counted, even if you are not voting for Obama. Do it because it's the right thing to do. You'll feel better you did - and your country will be a better place for your courage and fortitude.

Continuing... On a Better Note... But Continuing

This afternoon I got a call from the Claims Department of the City of Memphis... and their rep was very sympathetic. She listened and asked appropriate questions and got the name and number of our plumber - and is going to follow up first thing tomorrow morning. She is sending me a claims form for the City, but has advised me that because the people who actually did this were contractors, we may need to file our claim directly with the contractor itself. Not happy about that. I plan to file with both the City AND the contractor, just to cover my butt. She is going to investigate THAT, too, and let me know about the situation in the morning as well. I have no intention of letting the City off the hook for this one. THEY dispatched these yo-yos. THEY are, ultimately, the responsible party, regardless of who actually pumped the water through my sewer lines and potty. Hmph.

Needless to say, this has all given me a headache. A bad one.

OK. Off to nurse this mess with something other than imitrex. I think I'll start with a nice, hot bath...

The Saga Continues

Fortunately, so far it's been a great day today. Lunch with Ann - and a long one at that - at Blue Coast Burrito. Happy tummy!

Yesterday? Not so much. Here's what I wrote some friends last night:

I was getting ready to go out to lunch with one of my best friends and her son, in fact - when I noticed the water in my toilet going back and forth. Whaaa? I finished brushing my teeth and went to the front of the house just in time to see two feet of soiled water erupt out of my husband's toilet. TWO FEET. I slammed down the toilet seat and the mess promptly went... sideways... all over my legs. I ran out the front door and yelled at the men who were working on the drain lines and told them to STOP RIGHT NOW... and when they FINALLY did, they basically told me "a little water on the floor was to be expected" and that "this would cause no damage to my sewer line." However, as I found out later, they were evidently running commercial grade psi through residential pipes - somewhere around 250 psi through mostly 60-year-old terra cotta and old cast iron - not a bright idea - in order to "clear a blockage further up." I told them I didn't give a damn where the blockage was, but they had better stop doing what they were doing to my house. I think it's pretty clear that when you have a blockage further up the line, and one really clear line, the pressure on the line is going to go to the really clear line and that one is going to take a beating. That's us.

@@

I called my plumber.

He came out loaded for bear - and has filed a complaint with the city. I have done so from my end as well - with both the sewer department and with the city's legal department. My plumber will be out next Monday to check the lines and we will determine at that time what needs to be done. They've been under the house and have already identified what appear to be two, possibly three cracks in the sewer line. My yard, which I just mowed today for the very first time, may have to be dug up... again.

What a freaking mess. This is the first I have been calm enough to sit still enough to write about it, and I am still just seething. The city crews are out right now checking lines and looking at what kind of a mess they have made, though I am certain they will say it's not their fault. We're going to hold their feet to the fire, though. I just had $14,000 worth of plumbing done, and I am not about to see it screwed up by some yo-yos who don't know what they are doing, acting on behalf of the city.

Now? I am just at a slow burn. We have to wait until Monday to get the results of whether or not they have screwed up the plumbing to the point that it has to be redone... and I am just going to be as zen as I can be until then.

Meanwhile, I am studying like crazy. The sun is too intense for me to be outside during the middle of the day, so I am in here working on French and Directed Readings reading. I plan to get through one of the history books today, and start another one tomorrow (AM-BI-TION!!! AMBITION! -- you're supposed to imagine Topol singing that), and continue reading the history of the US in French. Need to get over to the University at some point this week - perhaps tomorrow. I know they will be having a short week, so I probably had better make it tomorrow, or I may miss the boat entirely.

Wish I could get outside. ::sigh:: What sadness that I can't. Maybe tonight.