Albert Einstein once said:
“Everybody is a Genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Most of us believe that genius is defined by one distinct characteristic: intellectual excellence. From a young age, we are conditioned to believe that “knowledge is power” and that knowledge is gained only through the overly emphasized subjects of math and science. To not be able to excel in the math and sciences has led most to believe that they are intellectually incapable and lacking in intelligence.
“Everybody is a Genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Most of us believe that genius is defined by one distinct characteristic: intellectual excellence. From a young age, we are conditioned to believe that “knowledge is power” and that knowledge is gained only through the overly emphasized subjects of math and science. To not be able to excel in the math and sciences has led most to believe that they are intellectually incapable and lacking in intelligence.
Ironically, the educational system that is fundamentally supposed to enrich creativity and educate individuals has been rather restricting. Everybody is judged based on their grades in universal subjects, as the video "I Will Not Let an Exam Grade Define My Fate" by Suli Breaks depicts, as well as race, as the clip of the O'Reilly show featuring Dr. Marc Lamont Hill who discuss President Barack Obama. Social expectations and demands have all narrowed the possibilities of who is considered a genius. Everyone has been judged "based on their ability to climb a tree" which, as Einstein argues, is absurd if you are a fish.
Suli Breaks shows us how school contributes to the assessment of genius within the limitations of Einstein's metaphor of climbing a tree. Breaks refuses to believe that he is stupid by not letting grades define him. Breaks argues that standards and grades set by society make it seem as though this is part of the ladder of success when in reality, grades are not that. We begin this paper with Suli in order to discuss the issues related to the marginalization of all young people's |
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talents and gifts in standardized schools. We then then move on to discuss a deeper level of specific marginalization: misrepresentations of educated African Americans made to feel outside of mainstream standards. We look closely at the incident where former President Bush describes current President Obama as articulate, a perspective many interpreted as negatively. The history of race in America has always made the subject a sensitive topic and for Bush to state, "He ain't g0t elected yet, he's an attractive guy, he's articulate, I've been impressed with him, but he's got a long way to go. . ." has been interpreted as though Bush himself is trying to set standards on what it takes and what one has to be in order to become president. In parallel to Albert Einstein's quote, race prevents Bush from even seeing Obama even amongst his own school of fish or forest of trees.
