The 'let's apologise for everything' bandwagon reaches France
Jack Lang has been campaigning for the bainlieu vote attending a conference in Algeria, and reckons that it is time for a 'recognition of the crimes committed [by France] during the colonial period in Algeria'. He wants a reform of school history books, and a 'decolonisation of mentalities' too. Le Pen is livid, Gaullist Bayrou deems the comments 'seriously unwise' and the Foreign Minister thinks France should stop beating itself up over it.
Over in Algiers, however, it has gone down un orage. La Tribune dubs Lang a "highly popular person in his own country". (Which would be why he didn't bother running for the Socialist candidacy...). The Algerian paper further quotes Lang that "colonialism was an exercise in exploitation and humiliation".
Worth asking them to apologise for 1066? Although as a mate puts it, the Normans were Vikings anyway.
Over in Algiers, however, it has gone down un orage. La Tribune dubs Lang a "highly popular person in his own country". (Which would be why he didn't bother running for the Socialist candidacy...). The Algerian paper further quotes Lang that "colonialism was an exercise in exploitation and humiliation".
Worth asking them to apologise for 1066? Although as a mate puts it, the Normans were Vikings anyway.
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It is a bizarre modern phenomenom isn`t it C ?I suggest apoligising , but not nicely That way teacher knows you are insincere.
"It's gone down un orage." That was funny!
I hope you have all seen today the new UK school curriculum ,now published, which suggests that 'slavery' be a key point of learning for all our kids.
As well as urdu and arabic, of course.
here
V - One of life's minor pleasures is over-literal translation...
CU - Yes, and there was much head shaking at the idea of two minute lessons and the like. The national curriculum was a grossly illiberal measure and I dispproved of it at the time.
I hope they are going to concentrate on Britain's heroic role in the abolition of slavery?
What do you mean, no?
Surely they will be mentioning that it was the Africans who kidnapped and sold other Africans into slavery?
What do you mean, no?
Then they will make a strong point that the people who bought the slaves and transported them against their will were islamics?
What do you mean, no?
In other words, they are going to teach children lies. Who can we write to about this? Who is accountable in today's unaccountable Britain?
BTW, I am surprised at Jack Lang. I thought he was a stronger character than that. He has the ability to take a principled stand.
Second, what on earth is the point of teaching loser's languages? After we have alternate sources of energy in place and don't have such a high level of dependency on oil any more -- in other words, no higher than what is available in the West and Russia - the sands of the Sahara will blow over all the glittery new buildings in Saudi Arabia. It will remain a boutique language, learned by people wanting to sell aeroplanes and so on, but it will never be a language of trade. Ditto Urdu. Why bother?
Much more emphasis should be placed on Spanish, though, as, with around 600m speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and Latin American development proceeding at a gallop. (Admittedly, Brazil is Portuguese. But I believe they can understand one another. Like Danish and Swedish.)
And instead of wasting children's time and taxpayer money on deadbeat languages, they should be concentrating on Chinese. 1.2bn people racing into affluence is worth the effort.
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