The Lost Voice (or I Think This Essay Belongs in This Book) :: Essays Papers

The Lost Voice (or "I Think This Essay Belongs in This Book") You've heard about the dumb farmer who won a million dollars in a sweepstakes, haven't you? When he was asked what he was going to do with the money, he said he'd farm until it was all gone. And did you hear about that farm kid who went to the U of M? Her first reaction on her first day of school was, "Wow! This place could hold a lotta hay!" Years ago, no one could have told me that all of those "dumb farmer" jokes would seriously affect my confidence in my intelligence, abilities, and goals. I never knew what to think about those dumb farmer jokes at first because growing up around a whole bunch of farmers, I never met a dumb one. I just thought they must be somewhere else. When I transferred to St. Cloud State after one year at a small community college, however, I found out those dumb farmers were in my hometown . . . or at least that's what other people thought. And, on the other side of the coin, no one could have ever made me believe that growing up hearing "dumb city slicker" jokes would instill in me a fear of becoming one . . . and make me reject those who already are . . . and hate myself for wanting to be one anyway . . . . The difference between small farming communities and institutions of higher education probably wouldn't be considered a cultural difference. But as we slowly succeed in our attempt to put a clamp on racist, sexist, ethnocentric, and other such jokes, who is fighting the "dumb farmer" jokes and the "city slicker" jokes? Isn't there a voice fighting for a respect between these two groups as well? And if both groups think the other group is stupid, who is defining intelligence, anyway? And what happens when someone like me crosses the border and goes to the "other side?" Do you think about people from remote rural areas when you think about cultural diversity on a college campus? Honestly, I never used to, either, so it's OK if you don't . . . because even though I was raised in a rural community, I never saw myself as "culturally diverse." After all, "cultural diversity," in its most frequently used definition, implies diversity among races, ethnic groups, nationalities, or language backgrounds.