Ignorance is not bliss
Posted by Ben White
As I was driving to Athens, Ohio today on the Ohio River Scenic Byway (a beautiful view of trailer homes and murky water), I grew tired of the Audioslave CD I had played for 3 hours on repeat. I turned the radio on and flipped through my presets, most of which were static. Then, something on 107.9 fm caught my ear.
Apparently, 107.9 is the ignorant station here on Ohio’s southern border just like in Cleveland, but in a completely different way. I had tuned in just in time to hear an old man rant in an Appalachian twang about his son being taught the theory of evolution in his elementary school.
“I guess these scientist folk told my boy that tadpoles made frogs which made monkeys and apes and then me!” he shouted. “Some of my ancestors may have hung from ropes, but not from no dang tails!”
Really?
It’s 2009. We have a black president, and we’re 63% closer to bringing back Neanderthals. Did this man just say that the human race is only 6,000 years old and that scientists are Satan’s best friends? Does he realize that his father probably said the same thing about radio? I would expect myself to laugh at something like that, but he seemed so sincere that it actually hurt.
I hate stereotypes, but I hate them even more when they turn out to be correct.
Posted by Ben White
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