Before Sept. 11, many in this country would be hard-pressed to find Afghanistan on a map. Despite horrifying news accounts, few knew much about the Taliban regime and how it treated the Afghan people - especially women.
While educators nationwide grapple with the task of teaching students about a subject largely ignored or glossed over in many history books, the system itself is now under fire for teaching multiculturalism.
William F. Buckley, Jr. led the pack in a syndicated column that ran in last week's Albuquerque Journal, blaming the anti-war sentiment seething from college campuses on a society that embraces multiculturalism.
He admonishes educators for teaching American youth that all cultures are equally valid, adding that such ideas are divisive and paralyze a country when it needs to defend itself against evil.
In perhaps the most repulsive section of his column, he compares the Nazis to the Aztecs, painting them as equally brutal regimes that should be vilified, not glorified.
While I am aware of Mr. Buckley's long history of espousing conservative views, surely I am not the only one in New Mexico who sees a problem with comparing the exaggerated tales of cultural Aztec traditions of human sacrifice to Hitler's regime.
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Mr. Buckley demands that schools amend what they teach our youth and denounces the anti-war movement as a an illustration of what is wrong with our country.
Somehow, I don't think that silencing people and censoring what comes into the classroom is the best way to respond to a country waking up to problems the rest of the world has known about for decades. Our ignorance has never been more apparent and the only way to combat it is by providing as much information as possible, not suppressing it.
And last time I checked, protesters weren't dropping bombs on people. I don't necessarily agree with the simple answers offered by those backing the peace movement, but how much of a national security threat can cries for peace really be?
Anyone on either side of this argument who begins a conversation about the Middle East or the United States' foreign policy with the words, "It's simple ." clearly lacks the ability to understand just how much is at stake.
I'd love to see the world the way Mr. Buckley and many other Americans seem to - in black and white, with easy answers and clear winners. Unfortunately, I wasn't given rose-colored glasses at birth. I am stuck searching for answers and knowing that no solution to our problems is really all that good.
Iliana Lim¢n
Editor in chief
