Tuesday 1 June 2021

Latin/Greek Discussion

 To be honest, I shouldn't care.....but it came up yesterday that the University of Princeton has dropped Latin and Greek as a language requirements classics major.  Reason?  Well....it's 'systemic racism.’

If you look around....most all universities in the US have dropped Latin/Greek in general, over the past hundred years.  It used to be a big deal....you went to a college and they mandated debate....they mandated geometry even if you were going for a degree in history....they mandated Latin, and so on.

The necessarily for Latin?  It basically goes back to knowing and understanding Roman history/culture, and how it interacts with our lives even today.  Some people will even say that it leads to linguistic problem-solving and opens your mind to true meanings of words.

Latin already gone in high schools?  If you look around.....it's down to a few private academies.  Back in the 1960s, there were around 700,000 kids in America studying Greek or Latin.....I doubt if you even get to 5,000 today.  

As for it causing systemic racism?  You might as well make the case that college basketball/football also triggers systemic racism, and end that.  Maybe even these basket-weaving classes might cause systemic racism, and you ought to end them as well.  Frankly, in general....all college is system racism, and you should just limit your educational path to air conditioning repair, plumbing, and carpentry.