There’s a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words.
— Dorothy Parker
It appears that I may have ruffled some feathers yesterday with my post on Catherine Ariemma. It should go without saying that my intent was not to offend, but this is the risk one takes when one has strong opinions and puts them out there for any and all too read. I don’t hold myself above others, though again, strong opinions can sometimes work against me in conveying that message.
We all screw up. Lord knows I’ve committed more than my fair share of faux pas and f—k-ups. I have on occasion been something less than fair and objective here, and when that happens, I’m willing to man up and accept responsibility. I just don’t think that this is one of those times. You just don’t dress students in Klan robes, film them…and then claim to be surprised when some folks take offense. In Georgia, where the KKK was more than a mere academic exercise, it doesn’t (or certainly shouldn’t) take much to understand why African-Americans might take offense over ANYONE in Klan robes. When it’s a classroom activity in a public school it’s doubly offensive and highly inappropriate.
I don’t expect agreement or uniform, unalloyed approval. What I’m hoping to do is to spark a discussion, to get people thinking about whatever it is I’m writing about. Sometimes it works the way I want. Sometimes it doesn’t. I’m no authority, no do I make any claims to be smarter than the average bear. Hopefully, I don’t come across as holier-than-thou, but once again, strong opinions can on occasion be misinterpreted. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it gets someone to think. You don’t have to agree with me, but it certainly won’t cause injury to think.
In this case, I believe I can say “Mission Accomplished”. And I didn’t even have to land on a carrier deck or invade a sovereign nation under false pretenses to make my point. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to return my soapbox….
