After watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk about the dangers of the single story, and reading Hannah’s blogpost, I can’t help but think of the education profession in this country. My mother’s a fourth grade teacher, so I know how teachers and education as a whole is under siege by the right wing of this nation. After reading Hannah’s blogpost, I can finally signify why the modern Republican party is at war with our teachers, and is out to destroy education, such as Scott Walker defunding the University of Wisconsin public university sysem.
The Republican party has been taken over a single story. One about fearing minorities because of their difference to the average white American. Hannah discussed how easy to perpetrate fear is, and how unfounded it is, and I see that fear here. I watched this single story begin when Mitch McConnel declared in 2010 that he would make Obama a one term presidency, and proceeded to vilify and obstruct our President like no other President had dealt with. This single story about fearing minorities has grown into a novel where the hard right wingers are the only patriots and minorities and other political ‘dissidents’ like liberals are out to destroy America. Social politics dominate the party, and economic conservatives and moderate conservatives are being left by the wayside with accusations of RINO for not buying into the single story. The culmination of this single story is the emergence of the Donald Trump to head the Republican Party. His flaws would end any other person’s campaign, but I see that his base is deep in their single story where everyone not their political cult is out to destroy America. So deep that they will follow him without question because he speaks to their fear.
To give statistics: people who haven’t reached high school or college diplomas are more likely to vote Republican. That’s not stereotype, that’s statistical fact. As Hannah said, our children are impressionable, and can be shaped by their education. Education familiarizes children with the very differences the modern Republicans fear, and they come to respect our differences.. The Republican party in recent years has watched its base shrink as the older generation dies off and our generation, with our generally superior education, has risen into voting age. Their solution has been to purge our educational system and dumb down our schools, in the hopes that more children will grow up not understanding, and fearing difference that the modern Republican Party has made its enemy. Even worse, Republicans are attempting to redirect public school students to charter schools, which are public money funded, yet run by corporations, and are no better than public schools. Without good education, their single story of fear and hatred will be passed onto our children, and our next generation will be ruined. This is a deliberate choice by Republican leaders.
Given the political makeup of SUNY Geneseo, I’m preaching to the choir, but I must state that the Republicans are believing in a single story about fear and hatred of difference. The Republican Party is destroying our schools to commit their sins of ignorance on our children.