Uncover 'a veil of ignorance' and study a diversified history It is surprising to me how people continue to believe in regressive ideologies, especially when it comes to education. But I realize that not many people have the opportunity to reevaluate the nature of our blatantly Eurocentric perspective. Because it is so heavily ingrained in our daily lives, it becomes common sense to us, allowing for a constant and consistent veiling. Michael Welch, a recent graduate of Boston College, articulately defines an argument, that is often used against the diversification of education, in his opinion piece on September 17.
While it is frustrating to hear arguments like this for people who have been historically marginalized, it is important to understand that everyone suffers from cultural hegemony, that the people who argue against diversification only do so because there is not an alternative understanding of the world.
Welch points out that "the core curriculum is designed to give students a solid and firm foundation in basic academic disciplines" and that one can attain a sophisticated worldview through electives. The mere fact that achieving a "sophisticated worldview" and having this firm foundation in academia is separated is telling of the ways in which diversity is blatantly excluded from dominant forms of education.
One can and should attain a firm foundation through a lens that allows for a more thorough understanding of ourselves, of others, and of privilege so that something can be done about national and global inequities. By separating these things, Welch unknowingly perpetuates the notion that having a worldview does not, in fact, give one a solid education. Another point often argued is that since our "political institutions, political ideas, philosophy, language, art, and literature" are all derived from Europe, that students should be required to know this history well. I couldn't agree more. As Americans, we should know how our country came to be and how European thought became so central to our understandings of the world. One must go beyond its dominance in academia and push to understand why and how it became dominant.
This is what it means to think critically. Firstly, European culture could not have formed itself without its ideological, economic and political investment in slavery, colonialism, and imperialism. The economic prosperity that led to the unquestionably important philosophical dialogues that grew from the Enlightenment could not have been possible without being beneficiaries of the worst form of human exploitation.
While it is important to "know that history well," it is the institution's obligation, especially as a place that champions itself in social justice, to provide a lens that forces constant reevaluation of one's identity in a history of constant subjugation. Secondly, to say that our institutions are purely derived from Europe denies the United States its truly complex and unique identity. Marginalized communities of American society have heavily influenced (and continue to influence) the ways in which society is shaped. As James Baldwin beautifully states, "American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." It is not the intention of those pushing for diversification to eradicate the teaching of Western civilization.
It is important to understand it, especially since we are a part of that Western culture. But the necessity for other perspectives is of utter importance in order to combat a growing capacity for ignorance, something that affects our everyday interactions with other people and other countries.
The last point argued is that in education, one should not start with "detail and nuance," but should start at the rudimentary level. Just because something is difficult, nuanced, complex, and possibly ugly does not mean it should not be taught at the core level. It is exactly this fear of the complex that allows people to hide in their ignorance. Students don't want to be children forever; it is part of the reason we go to college.
And if you believe that Boston College should cover our eyes with a veil of ignorance that allows us to live happily as privileged people, you had better expect to have the intellectual and moral capacity of a child.
Yejin Lee A&S '09
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