I have never forgotten a comment from one of my colleagues as I walked into the staffroom in the London college in which I used to work. He noticed that I was carrying a book that was over 1/4 inch thick and said something to the effect that I was showing off or thinking I was clever for walking in with such a big book. He didn’t know what the book was. It could have been a Mills and Boon compilation. It might even have been a Stephen King book. The point was is was a ‘big’ book and that represented intellectual arrogance!
A Ghanaian friend of mine went to get her hair styled and took her book to read under the hairdryer. The other Ghanaian women taunted her, asking if she thought she was so clever for reading a book. I would have responded that it is precisely because I don’t think I’m clever that I read books. Rather it is you who think you already know everything therefore don’t need to read books!
It is often seen to be pretentious or elitist to discuss forms of culture that some consider to be ‘high art’ yet discussing the latest celebrity is acceptable. I got sick of reading messages on facebook when Michael Jackson died such as “Oh my god, I can’t believe Michael’s gone!” So I reposted them but substituted Jackson’s name with Stockhausen – someone whose music has genuinely touched my life. The action was too obscure but what was interesting were comments from friends who thought I was being pretentious by even mentioning Stockhausen.
Many middle class people in the UK, especially left-wing teachers, feel obliged to drop their ‘t’s (as in wor-ah instead of water) and to pronounce ‘th’ as ‘f’ (fink instead of think) in an attempt to ‘relate’ to their students and be ‘street’. They are ashamed of their middle class accents which they think will be perceived of as being elitist. How embarrassing it all is! Instead of raising people up we are supposed to ‘respect’ the level they are at, as if that is who they are and thereby cut off their access to something more.
There is an anti-intellectual strand to many of our cultures where being thought of as ‘clever’ is a bad thing. It is the inverse snobbery syndrome. It is not about trying to be clever but about a thirst for knowledge and self-development. We have to challenge the peer pressure that wants to embarrass us if we want to move ahead. The results are already showing in cultures that have consciously dumbed down in the name of ‘equality’.
Great work done Brother.
I believe we need more insightful posts like this one.
Keep it up and coming.
Thanks for the encouragement Donald.
I’ve always been the only person reading over lunch at work, the only person reading on the trotro back home and I know how everyone looks at you like reading is meant for the classroom and the home. For lack of knowledge my people perish!!
Love this post! Interesting and insightful. Just yesterday I talked to someone who always carries a book as an antidote to having her time “wasted”. We who do, should do so with pride.
Thanks Kajsa. I also hate finding myself in a situation when I’m waiting and I don’t have my book!
Praise the Lord. I have never had anyone make fun of me for reading books. Now, I have never lived in the UK or in Africa – only in the States and… East Central Europe. I live in the sort of place where even ‘bimbo’-type females can apparently be seen reading serious literature while on their exercise bikes at the gym. All that having been said, I think the problem is somewhat different from what is mentioned in this article.
I spent the first 21 years or so of my life more or less exclusively in the company of people with Ivy League/Seven Sisters connections – the last four years of that time, I spent acquiring such connections in a personally direct manner. But then my personal goals required me to spend a certain amount of time working part time because I had other non-remunerative items on my plate.
My part time occupation turned out to be waiting tables. A far-too-usual state of affairs for a person with a degree in music. The other employees were all from very different circles. Not to say they were ‘dumbed down’. They were attending reputable Catholic high schools in the area, or local universities. And with some of them, it was even possible to carry on serious conversation.
For example, I have pleasant memories of working on, as I recall, Memorial Day. The restaurant was a complete zoo. I would have been working there for nearly a year by then – at any rate, I had never seen the place so crowded. And yet, somehow in between rushing back and forth serving customers, I was able to squeeze in a meaty discussion with the cook about the things of God.
With others, however – even among the college-student population – I had to make significant changes in my language usage in order to be understood. Even not doing so, and then trying to explain my vocabulary choices, turned out to make things worse rather than better. And again – this was even among people who were making that effort to educate their minds.
The point is: it’s not always ‘dumbing down’ to make shifts in one’s language. Some barriers of understanding just will not be crossed in any other way, no matter how much effort the other party is putting in.