fiat lux: February 2006

Update your links!

I have a new, improved blog with a title that's much easier to remember. Click here to access it. I will no longer be posting to this blog.

This isn't funny

Emma has appointed herself the humor referee in our family, and she decides when it's okay for us to laugh. When something makes us giggle, Emma will often say, "That's not funny." She is not impolite about it, but she is very firm. We're not sure what the rules are, because sometimes she laughs uncontrollably at things that we don't think are very funny at all.

American Americans

Last night at dinner Andrew said, "Dad, did you know there's an African American who's still alive who makes Super Soakers?"

February is Black History Month, so Andrew is learning in school how to categorize people by the color of their skin.

I told Andrew it's neat that the man makes Super Soakers, but it doesn't matter that he's African American.

Andrew then asked, "What are we? Are we American American?"

So we had to do some deprogramming.

There are so many problems with the Black History Month stuff they teach in schools. First of all, Andrew has now learned that the man who makes Super Soakers is able to do this despite the fact that he is black: in other words, black people are not able to accomplish very much, so it is remarkable that one of them is capable of making Super Soakers. What a terrible bias to teach the kids.

Secondly, Andrew is being taught that some of us are African Americans, some of us are Asian Americans, some of us are "American Americans," etc. Aren't we all just Americans?

The way Black History Month is taught in schools perpetuates a legacy of "otherness" that should be forgotten, not enshrined in the curriculum. Until it was taught to him in school, Andrew was blissfully unaware that kids in his class had different shades of skin.

What a destructive thing to teach six year olds.

Strangers in a strange land

Yesterday I had lunch with a guy from work who was born and raised here in Indiana. We went to a Mexican restaurant where I was surprised to learn that he didn't know what enchiladas or chalupas are. Chalupas, okay...but enchiladas?

Co-worker: What's inside an enchilada?
Me: You can get an enchilada with beef, chicken or cheese inside. It comes wrapped in a tortilla and they cover it with enchilada sauce and cheese.
Co-worker: So it's like a burrito?

Zillow

Walter Mossberg reviewed a new website today called Zillow. It can show an aerial view of your neighborhood with an estimate of home values. The beta site launched today, and has been overwhelmed with traffic. I haven't been able to try it yet, but it looks very cool.

Lazy Sunday

One of my favorite things is when I'm lying on the floor and Emma decides to copy me by coming over and lying down in the same position. Her head is sometimes too heavy for her arm to hold up.