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HISTORY TEACHER TEACHES HISTORY?

history teacher

Image via US Global Investors

 

History teacher narrow focus gives poor view.

 

Darrell Huckaby says, “Take a seat, history class is in session.

Is he talking to you?

Not when he says, “Ignorant young people who have no knowledge of how this Republic is supposed to work are dying to get attention by marching in the streets and generally acting the fool.

“And, no, these are not the peaceful protests guaranteed by the First Amendment. You must have a grievance to protest.

“These are spoiled brats and attention-seekers and they should be ashamed.”

Shaming a generation. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

The Greatest Generation worked to shame Baby Boomers.

We weren’t tough enough. We wouldn’t follow the leader. We questioned authority.

And the old folks used their life force to squeeze boomers as hard as they could.

The thing that got boomers in the street was the draft for the Vietnam War.

Country Joe sang about it in Fixin’ To Die Rag:

Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
Yeah, he’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
Gonna have a whole lotta fun.

The Greats saved the world from people who didn’t have the best interests of others in mind when they invaded and bombed their neighbors.

Then they heaped scorn on Little Johnny for rejecting a war based on faulty evidence.

Baby Boomers love our old folks; we’re turning into old folks ourselves, but we won’t get the love if guys like Darrell Huckaby keep spewing attention grabbing ideas based on faulty evidence.

history teacher

Image via Performance Based Results

Ignorant young people who have no knowledge of how this Republic is supposed to work might be dying to get attention.

Darrell Huckaby needs some attention, too. Why else set yourself up as a history teacher if you don’t?

Toss Mr. Huckaby a bone for making the effort, just throw it hard and aim high.

All he needs is a wake up conk to realize the Millennials are the biggest generation in America.

Some are shameful, some aren’t. You need a better paint brush if this is the picture you’re presenting.

The millennials I know are ambitious, non-tatted, un-ear ringed people, locked into what they need to do for the future they see.

The future we leave them is where they’ll be when they get to our Boomer age today.

Where patriotic Americans roll out the accolades for the eighteen year olds on the beaches of Normandy on one hand, then bash college age kids for needing their ‘safe place’ in the same breath, they’re missing an important point.

Millennials ARE the armed forces, son. Who do you think is fast roping from helicopters onto the decks of gun runner ships heading for Yemen?

Who do you think sits on the power raft heading for those ships?

If you need to shame someone, shame guys like Darrell Huckaby for telling one side of a generational story.

Maybe he forgot to mention the people working to pay back student loans, pay the rent, pay the bills, and get up and do it again.

Why ignore the work ethic of a generation on the edge of greatness?

Oregon’s boomer blogger is a history major, a history coach. Here’s the pep talk Huckaby forgot to include:

The man replacing your roof is a millennial. Look at him go.

The guy on the high ladder doing your gutters? That’s right, millennial.

Who is the new teacher in the local school? A millennial.

No one is credible when they skip the good parts for sensationalism.

I’m not saying history teacher Darrell Huckaby is a spoiled brat attention-seeker who should be ashamed. That’s not what boomerpdx does.

You’ll have to decide that one for yourself.

Hey, Darrell, get off my yard.

About David Gillaspie

I am a writer. This is my blog story day by day.

Comments

  1. Mark Mullins says

    Whee, hah! Love that old song by Country Joe, stickin’ up for our kids’ generation is what parents do. Thanks Dave

    • David Gillaspie says

      Young people are able to communicate, but the bigger question is who’s listening.

      One of the big points I heard as a parent of young children was answering their questions. If you don’t answer, they make up their own, which isn’t a bad deal either.

      In spite of my own connection to millennials, they are my favorite generation. There’s so many of them, which isn’t such a surprise, or shouldn’t be since most are children of the former largest generation in a long line, that lazy writers can choose a segment of them to go off on.

      If you’re going to rag, like History Teacher ragged, do a better job. Maybe it’s having sports in common that allowed me to regroup after one of my kids dumped me into a wall.

      Making things work out is the job, and it’s never easy, so why do pretend history to make it easier?

      History class in session? It’s always in session.