"It doesn't matter," she said defiantly. "She can't check all of my sources."

I smiled to myself, recognizing the battle cry of the desperate academic. It's a note I've sounded too many times myself to mistake in others.

Today we had a presentation on racism by Kaye Johnson (a.k.a. the local NDP candidate). What really stuck with me was the insidious racism that creeps inside even when we think we've rooted it all out. The connotations of dark and black for instance, versus the connotations of white (think of magic). I began to realize that some of the media's queasy fascination with the "gothness" of the Columbine shooters has to do with an inability to understand why white kids would ally themselves with all the symbolic power of darkness. And truthfully, a lot of the shock value of goth comes from just that kind of juxtaposition between the bored, alienated white kid and the darkness he or she chooses to revel in. I know that not all goths are white, but let's be truthful: it's a pretty white, privileged subculture overall. And it's a way to play with the idea of darkness without fully committing to it. I can dye my hair red (again) and/or wear colourful clothes and boom, I'm back to being a nice white girl. And I can also wear the alienation like a cloak, discarding it when I chose.

"You play pretty good for someone with no real problems."

- bleeding gums murphy.

We watched a bit of American History X (thankfully not the curb sandwich scene) & then talked about dealing with students as passionate & articulate as the main character. Watching Edward Norton argue was an oddly familiar experience: change the subject from races to unionized employees and I've been through that barrage of b.s. at the dinner table.

Unfortunately, the overall effect was somewhat compromised by the conclusion of the presentation: a 6 minute powerpoint presentation that periodically spewed up feel-good pictures of children with different coloured skin in the same picture to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Heal the World." There are so many things to attack about that idea, yet while I am under the obligation of "professional behaviour," I will leave their expression to others.