By Steve Sailer
05/06/2011
The news that lots of teenagers don’t know who Osama bin Laden was reminds me of a story a high school teacher emailed me in 2008:
Student Named Yesenia: "Teacher! Teacher! I have a question."
Teacher: "Yes, what is it?"
Yesenia: "Who is Son of Aladdin? Why are they always looking for him in a cave?"
Teacher: "Huh?"
Yesenia: "What’s so bad about Son of Aladdin? Why are they trying to catch him?"
Teacher: "Oh, you mean … Osama bin Laden?"
Yesenia: "Yeah, Son of Aladdin."
Teacher: "He’s a terrorist."
Yesenia: "Oh."
Teacher [trying to make this into a Teachable Moment]: "But don’t confuse Osama with Obama."
Yesenia: "Who’s that?"
Teacher: "Barack Obama. He’s running for President. The African-American candidate."
Yesenia:
Teacher: "You know, the black guy?"
Yesenia [Eyes widening]: "He’s black?"
Teacher: "Yes."
Yesenia: "And he’s running for President?"
Teacher: "Yes."
Yesenia: [With wide-eyed alarm]: "That’s bad."