>>188833, >>188834, >>188835, >>188836, >>188837, >>188838, >>188839, >>188840, >>188841, >>188842, >>188843
Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius - Some fossilized retired Army colonel "professor" defending DEI.
Quote:
orion @orionsxspear
What dislodged that memory from yonder years gone bye?
Quote:
RE: Mr. Fratinardo, Harrison Bergeron and DEI
My 7th Grade homeroom and math teacher was Mr. Fratinardo (you can imagine what kids did with THAT name). I was basically a bad kid. Not evil, just troublesome. I got good grades, but I was bored and restless all the time in school so I was constantly getting into trouble over stupid little stuff.
Mr. Fratinardo had a standard punishment for me and the other bad kids. If you acted out, you had to stay after school and hand-write a copy of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron.”
If you are unfamiliar with Harrison Bergeron, I’ll link to a copy of the story below. Basically it is a short and powerful tale designed to demolish the pipe dream that government can make us all “equal."
Long before anyone ever tied together the words “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” into a tyrannical policy of racism, sexism and bigotry, Vonnegut demolished DEI’s basic premise with a short story that is as eloquent as it is powerful.
Honestly, as a 7th Grader the meaning behind Harrison Bergeron was kind of lost on me, but I must have hand-written that story fifty or more times, to the point where I can still recite much of it by heart. (“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal . . .”
As the years went by, however, I came to understand that story more and more, and my childish hatred of Mr. Fratinardo turned into deep admiration. I doubt Mr. Fratinardo is still alive, but if he is somehow, I say this: “Thank you sir. You made a much deeper impact on my life than you may have realized, and thanks for using my bad behavior to teach me something truly meaningful.”
AND… if you have never read Harrison Bergeron yourself, please read it ASAP and share it with your kids, your friends, your family, your neighbors… anyone, really.
That short story is one of the most powerful tools available to acknowledge innate human dignity and destroy the grotesque evils of DEI and, more broadly, critical theory and Marxism.
In our America of 2026, understanding Harrison Bergeron is more important than ever.
🇺🇸