Patriotic Education and the Politics of Lies
Not long after my daughter started losing baby teeth and going to bed excited about visits from the Tooth Fairy, she confronted me in our upstairs bonus room while I sat working at my computer.
“You and Mom are the Tooth Fairy,” she asserted, with no hint of asking.
When I admitted such, she replied, “Why did y’all lie to me?”
I can still recall that moment vividly—just as I can one of my moments of having to face the disconnect between mythology and reality concerning my father.
During my first year of marriage, we lived in the converted garage of my parents’ house, and one night we were awaked by my sister yelling and pulling the screen door off the hinges to our room. My mother had found my father collapsed and covered in blood in their bathroom.
I rushed to help him. In the next few hours, our roles shifted and would continue to transform until he died a couple years ago, very frail and worn down by both the myth and reality of his invincibility and job as provider.
As a parent and grandparent, coach, and career-long educator, I have had to CONTINUE READING: Patriotic Education and the Politics of Lies – radical eyes for equity
