In Oberlin, Ohio, a battle is brewing over whether or not white teachers can adequately teach black history at the local high school.

Leaving aside the fact that such classes are of extremely dubious educational value to begin with (motivated not by a desire to impart knowledge but rather a desire to impart a point of view and to heighten "self-esteem"), there is much to be troubled about here. Seeds are being sown even now which will produce their poisened harvest in future years.

If you wonder why race-relations in the country are often still tense, look no further than this snippet, from the story printed on a local TV station's website:

Phyllis Yarber Hogan, a member of the Oberlin Black Alliance for Progress, said a white teacher wouldn't be well-suited to teaching students about subjects like slavery.

"When you talk about slavery, students need to understand it is not our fault," she said. "Our ancestors did nothing wrong to be enslaved.

"How do you work through that when the person teaching it is the same type of person who did the enslaving?"