My callous indifference to the news that the president of the United States had contracted the coronavirus brought some clarity to the real nature of the pandemic that has afflicted the nation.

What happened to my innate compassion toward those less fortunate or ill? My compassion had been replaced with contempt, and it did not feel right! 

Maybe Trump’s name-calling, insults and overall divisive rhetoric are the genesis of the real pandemic afflicting the nation?

Whereas Abraham Lincoln tried to heal and unify a nation in the midst of a civil war in his second inaugural address (“With malice toward none; with charity for all”), Trump has consistently worked to divide the nation with his belligerent language toward those with whom he disagrees. When the media produces information that differs from his own vision of the world, it is “fake news.” He wants to be the sole architect of “reality.” It is a poison that has infected the body politics of our nation and the world. 

What does this have to do with teaching, learning and overall education? Maybe the process of teaching and learning could heal this collective wound. Maybe we can relearn the process of respecting people with whom we disagree or even liking them. There have been previous presidents with whom I strongly disagreed (Ronald Reagan comes to mind), but I thought that they were essentially decent people. That is not the present situation.

Teachers have a large and important task before them. It is they who must teach empathy and compassion. Teachers and effective schooling might be the very last guardrail to keep our very fragile democracy from completely going off the rails.

Larry Hoffner, retired