Et tu, Brute

The other night, I was hanging out with my friend Yendelela and her friend Adrian. At one point, I sided with Adrian in a minor disagreement, to which Yendelela jokingly said, “Et tu, Brute?” I laughed, and she expressed glee that I understood the literary reference. Apparently, she feels that the people who could understand the reference are few and far between. Once, she even had to explain the “Ides of March” to a Duke University Law student.

All this makes me wonder if the typical American has knowledge of similar scholarly references and facts. I know such knowledge is sort of inconsequential, but my God I hope the American education system hasn’t failed the populace that badly (or that the American populace has failed itself).