I never considered myself a teacher, as odd as that sounds . . . not in the traditional sense, anyway. As a U. S. Government teacher, I resisted the pressure to canonize the American system, preferring instead to lay bare the facts. I was a contrarian to expectations pushed by colleagues, curriculum, administration, parents, and quite often, students. I resisted being a delivery system for state propaganda. I felt it was my duty to not only unlearn what I had learned in my own education, but also to make sure students were aware of alternatives to how it came down in America, from 1492 to the present.
I paid a price. I was labeled, dismissed, and marginalized. I didn't care, mainly. I thought my colleagues stupid, most students too far gone by what the system had done to them to pay me much mind. It was a lonely existence, but I never gave up.
I am damn glad to be out of it.
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