This gives me some credibility with students and shows that it is possible to struggle for the line among a larger group of people. It also involves the students closest to us in some ideological struggle in the classroom. I teach four courses each semester, and I try to focus as much as possible on racism, capitalism, and imperialism. I teach both intro. In some ways the intro.
Many students are from relatively affluent backgrounds.
They come with little knowledge, a good deal of nationalism, expectations to enter lucrative careers, and a lot of illusions about society. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to reach them. I make plenty of mistakes, have good and bad days, get subjective at times, but I seem to make some progress each semester. And I have put forward a sharper line during the past couple of years. However, I'm generally not able to keep up with these non-majors, so I rarely see them again after they complete the semester.