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southern education A three hour conversation with Ann ended my Saturday night Sunday morning at work. We talked about many things or to be more precise I listened to her talk with me commenting now and then. She openly admits that she likes to talk and I would have to agree. Once she gets started, it is very hard to stop her and I usually don't. Once in a while I might laugh at something, but I'm not laughing at her. I think that I am more amused by the amount of energy that she has when she is talking. She talked about many things, but what caught my attention the most was when she was telling me how they teach The Civil War in Louisiana. I found it to be very biased, if not downright frightening the things that they tell school children. Everything boils down to the belief that the North destroyed the South and never did anything to help the economy in the southern states recover. Now to me this seems like too simple of an answer for some of the current day poverty in the southern part of the country. Never mind the fact that the war took place over a hundred years ago. One would hope that three or four generations of people would be able to come up with some new ideas rather than hanging on to the past and growing bitter. Besides if Europe can pull itself together after two massive wars in the twentieth century, I would think that the South could do something to improve their situation. I am reminded of the Faulkner story, A Rose for Emily, with its sad heroine believing in something that never was nor will ever be. Despite our differences, I truly like talking with Ann. Her perspective on life is almost nothing like mine and that can be a good thing.
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