James Banks wants to change the way we teach our citizens about human rights. Rather than simply memorizing laws such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he urges us to immerse ourselves in the subject matter in order to internalize the concepts. Rather than surrendering our individual cultures to create a monoculture, we should embrace our differences and realize that being different is what we all have in common! Why not form a nation state on the notion that we're all unified by our differences?
I believe Banks comes very close to accomplishing the task of re-focusing our views of what it means to be a citizen in today's modern world. I never before thought that there should be a balance between patriotism to one's homeland and patriotism to the rest of the world, but i makes sense if one wishes to truly be a global citizen. This article has certainly made me view what it means to belong in a different way and has made me realize that my world should encompass more.
Great post! I especially like your statement"...being different is what we all have in common." I also agree with thinking about "good citizenship" on a local, national, and global level.
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteAwesome analysis! I really enjoyed how you spoke about the author re-focusing our view, and that we should be completely immersed in the subject matter in order to fully understand. Like Shannon, I thought it was really awesome how you mentioned that we should all be unified by our differences, it truly is the diversity that really makes us unify :)
-Brett
(P.S. - you can check out my blog at http://theaimsofdiversity.blogspot.com/ )