Isn’t it funny the things that stick with you years after high school. (Unless, of course, you’re still in high school…) I had an English teacher who was not only hellbent on using the English language properly in print, but speaking it properly, as well. About once a week, you would hear her telling some poor soul, if not the entire class, to “ahr-tick-you-late” when you are speaking. She said it all the time. Mumbling and poor speaking habits were simply not tolerated. I think of her all the time as I read texts, listen to music lyrics, and…
The racism of low expectations
In 1964, the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, ending the ability to discriminate and the basis of race. Obviously, this didn’t end racism, but it did make it much harder to be overtly racist. Since then, as more and more racists die and are replaced by kids who didn’t grow up learning to hate others for characteristics like skin color, racism slowly dies out. It would be great to magic wand it away, but unfortunately, humans are not that easily programmed or reprogrammed. I’m sure some people grew or learned their way out of racist behavior,…