LETTER: Desire to learn about own culture should not be perceived as ignorance, racism

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by Lisa De La Torre

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To the editor:

Personal likes and dislikes are sometimes difficult to explain factually, and I heartily disagree with Gaslightwala's criticism of his friend for not wanting to visit Africa in the Feb. 9 issue of the Thresher ("Ignorance begets ignorance").

My dislike of grape jelly, for example, does not stem from a deep-rooted dislike of Californians who grow grapes, nor does my preference for Coke over Pepsi indicate a hatred of Mormons.

But the question at hand is deeper than that. Criticism of the American education system has gone too far.

There is simply not enough time to study every culture, so it is most rational to choose to learn about the history of the culture that will be most useful in your day-to-day living -- that of the country in which you live.

Rice has recently begun to allow a class on Asian history to fulfill the humanities requirement for S/E majors, but even that is not as useful as the standard humanities class.

In order to be successful in the United States, one must have a thorough understanding of Western culture.

Many S/E majors are not exposed to some of the great writers of Western culture and consequently may find themselves at a loss when they read a newspaper article on the law with references to the writings of John Locke or David Hume.

Though this class is about Asian history and not African, it adequately illustrates the point that it does not educate about Western culture.

Furthermore, for Gaslightwala to assert that "whites recognize that blacks, Asians and Hispanics are different from them without fully accepting the equality of these races" is simply ignorant and offensive.

And to say that "unconscious preference is always being given to white men" is an immaterial generalization that Gaslightwala never backs up.

If the American educational system is "biased" toward Western culture, it is because it seeks to educate students about the society in which the majority of them will live as adults.

Because no amount of knowledge about African technological innovations will help to earn a promotion in a Western society, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the history and culture of one's own nation.

Lisa De La Torre

WRC '99

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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