[Abcdxxxx]

depends on if you've grown up amongst people of varied backgrounds or not. i was raised in a progressive atmosphere in san francisco ... the black history month type events just got tossed aside because we were all too sophisticated to really care, and it wasn't a novelty to discuss martin luther king in a classroom... and there wasn't any seperation of histories or pushing of a white american outlook on events. with that said, there was a climate where overt liberalism added to racial tensions where they would never have been.... people would move there from states where they hadn't been exposed to such multi-culturalism, and they'd force their guilt on people. san francisco is now a fairly tense place when it comes to race relations. another examples was when the gay community insisted on instating the rainbow curriculum into schools changing text books to read "mommy and mommy" or "dick and dick and jane". perhaps in kansas this might have some value, but in sf, you're pretty aware at an early age that there are varius sexual preferences and some of your friends might have two dads. by showcasing these issues or suggesting it's a seperate history, or education we just put these issues in their own ghetto.