After reading “A talk to the teachers” it made me think more deeply about what type of society we live in. What I think he is trying to say is that there is much more to the reality of this world than what they tell us. He mentions if those truths were to be taught exactly how they are we would be in chaos and things would be different. From my understanding James Baldwin is trying to tell us the education system teaches us what they want us to believe to keep us from questioning and almost for them to keep us under control. I believe the education system isn’t something that was made up entirely to help us but rather restrain us from learning about the real world. In my opinion we should have the “necessity” to question everything and everyone. The way I think of it, especially after seeing James Baldwin’s POV is you can’t rely on others(teachers) to tell you the truth about history and this world if they weren’t there to experience it. The education system is holding back on things that should be obligated for kids to learn. For example how to file taxes, how to set up a bank account, the first steps to live on your own different career paths and job options. There are some optional classes that offer these things however kids don’t know they should be learning these things if they were never mentioned in school. Some will argue it is a parents responsibility to teach their kids these types of things. However I disagree we go to school to learn how to read, write and learn about the world’s history of why it is the way it is, then why are any of these topics any different? If they are things we learn to use in the real world. Like James Baldwin mentions in the end of the the article if he was a teacher he would teach them to “he must never make his peace with it.’’ meaning it is up to them to use their energy and find their own answers not so much depend on the teachers.
