Go-Go American Education System

Go-Go American Education System

I spent many of my formative years, 7th-12th grade to be exact, in the tiny town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I enjoyed the city so little, that after leaving, I rarely returned. I skipped my five, ten and fifteen year high school reunions, and only went to the twenty to see a friend that lives 934 miles from me.

While I had a good time at the reunion, I was more than a little shocked and surprised by the amount of people who had never left, had never even moved beyond fifty miles of the place they were born. They never traveled the world, or experienced other cultures or styles of thought. Trying my best to be non-judgmental, I found it sad that people could live so isolated. Especially so, considering that the more I interacted with these people post-reunion on Facebook, the more I saw they took physical isolation as an excuse to limit themselves mentally. More and more, I saw disturbing examples of why “small town values,” oft championed as something noble in any election cycle, can be amazingly detrimental when it comes to societal progress.

One case in point came via my friend, “Mary,” who still lives in Oconomowoc. She posted that she visited Milwaukee, and was a little frightened by the traffic. Another woman, “Jane,” responded that she was in Milwaukee once, and got scared when a black kid rode by her car on a bike. Jane also said she hated driving in “Brown Town” because of all the confusing, one-way streets. I do not know Jane, but from what I could see of her profile, she’s in her late 30s and also grew up in Oconomowoc.

My response to Jane’s post was, "Ah, racism and fear. Good times." Her cousin wrote, "Wow. BROWN TOWN? Just because you can't read the street signs doesn’t mean black people are bad.”

Jane responded to us with an overflow of emotion:

"NO I don't believe I said that black people are bad,I don't call Brown Down cuz of the colored,I am NOT a rascist at all[may not be able to spell it],My GPS tells me the st signs doesn't show me where my friend is though!I just dislike Milwaukee + Waukesha+Watertown because of all of their one way roads,I have a GPS to tell me where to go,but my friend was trying to wave to me+I was busy looking at the roads,and I can't see shit at night,and it was CRAZY BUSY so had my glasses on,I'd never survive Madtown too many people,and I NEVER drove to the Bradely Center or any place in Milwaukee by myself.It was Dan,Ashley,and myself+Ash was scared cuz we couldn't find our friend and it took me 15 minutes Yeah I don’t like being lost w/a scared 10 year old in the back seat,I do not know Milwaukee at all.I’d be able to get to a Brewer Game though,I guess when it comes to directions I’m like my Mom-No mean intention’s at all,I figured that would happen,just don’t know the town well,I LOVED the Riverside though.Just can’t drive out there by myself+have to know where my friend is the parking structure doesn’t start+end in the same place..I am not afraid of anybody either!Just said afraid of Milwaukee because I got lost.I’d be scared if I were lost anwhere,and I just panicked. I used to say downtown browntown a LONG time ago,and alot of people say it.I guess I have to watch what I say.I call every down different,I’m sure O-town has it’s bad names as well.GEEZ LAWEEZ people.I am human I had a great time at the Riverside so I am no where near a rascist.”

After navigating my way through that mess of grammatical incoherency, my first response was to rub my eyes, shake my head, and pray the education system of today is better than the one that put a diploma into her unworthy hand. That aside, I do believe the post has a lot of hidden information, and I’m not sure Jane even understood her racist ways. The way she wrote, “I used to say downtown browntown a LONG time ago,” means I think her behavior is something learned in childhood. She honestly might have just been parroting a phrase she heard about Milwaukee, and as she grew up no one ever explained to her, “Yeah, not cool.”

I also don’t think she grasps the influence parents have on their children. Her sentence, "I don't like being lost w/a scared 10 year old in the back seat” exposes this lack of comprehension. Kids are like animals; they sense fear. A ten-year old in the back seat of a car is going to be looking around at the world with wide eyes and curiosity, especially if that kid is from a small town and is now surrounded by big cool buildings. The only way he would be frightened is if the parents were freaking out, and in turn, spreading that fear around. If mom is hysterical because, “OMG I’M ON A ONE WAY STREET, WHAT DO I DO? THERE’S A BLACK KID ON A BIKE!! WHERE’S MY FRIEND???” of course a child is going to pick up on that and grow scared, too. And living in a small town, surrounded by similar thoughts and actions, as he grows older and receives no outside stimulus or a different way of viewing the world… so as you see, so as you become.

Jane eventually posted several more backtracks, and in the end I believed she’s probably not overtly hateful, just unconsciously prejudiced. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but it is better than the alternative, as others from my hometown outright frighten me. More often than not, their posts are as poorly written as Jane’s, only filled with anger and paranoia. They forcefully proclaim Obama is a socialist, Fox news is the only true source for information, and that the United Nations controls all the federal parks (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc.) we have within the U.S.

Sometimes, but not too often, I challenge their wing nut and non-factual assertions. When I do, their response is generally two lovely words: “Your ignorant.”

Indeed.