It was the first day of school in Marietta, Georgia, and a new student named
Suzuki, the son of a Japanese businessman, entered the fourth grade classroom.
The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American history. Who said,
"Give me Liberty, or give me death?" She saw a sea of blank faces, except
for Suzuki, who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, 1775." He said.
"Very good!" said the teacher. "Who said 'Government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth?' " Again, no response
except from Suzuki: "Abraham Lincoln, 1863."
The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Suzuki, who is
new to our country, knows more about its history than you do." She heard a
loud whisper: "Screw the Japs." "Who said that?" she demanded. Suzuki put his
hand up. "Lee Iacocca, 1982."
At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm going to puke." The
teacher glared and asked, "All right! Now, who said that?" Again, Suzuki
said, "George Bush, to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."
Now furious, another student yelled, "Oh yeah? Well, suck this!" Suzuki jumped
out of his chair waving his hand wildly and shouted to the teacher, "Bill
Clinton to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"
Now with an almost mob hysteria someone said, "You little crap! If you say
anything else, I'll kill you." Suzuki frantically yelled at the top of his
voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001!"
The teacher fainted, and as the class gathered around the teacher lying on the
floor, someone said, "Oh well, we're screwed!" Then Suzuki quietly said,
"The Taliban, 2001."