Needs to be said, again and again. Until recently teaching American History, as you say, emphasized the heroism of white people and it’s no wonder that most of us grew up believing in some form of white superiority. To undo this misinformation is extremely difficult. And now as teaching began to be more racially inclusive, it is being peeled back. The teaching of the young is the foundation of a civil society.
Absolutely so, Robby. As a youngster attending public schools in South Dakota, I got some history of the indigenous people of the area -- the Arikira, the Ree, and eventually the Sioux -- but I'm dubious that it was as full an exploration of their culture of the sort that we got about the folks who arrived in the 19th century. My reading more recently is so instructive (and interesting).
Well said, as always, but one caution: You sometimes sound as if school curricula would be pretty close to fine if it weren't for the Republican anti-woke patrol. As you know, however, neither history nor any other subject is designed, taught, and learned very well in most schools much of the time. Chemistry doesn't teach that organic chemicals can be redesigned to be green; World War I and Vietnam get short shrift, while WW II is glorified as if there were no intelligent case against US entry; math fails to engage a substantial majority by high school; many graduate without writing a poem or short story. The list of shortcomings is long and deep. So I invite progressives to figure out how to talk about all that rather than focusing too much on Republican threats.
Good points, all. The challenges confronting education are myriad. Maybe we get distracted by the threats that are so visible from the political class, and thus fail to pay enough attention to the pedagogical problems that have persisted for years.
Thanks for this. People need to be reminded about the importance of leaning the truth about our history, as well as scientific truths, or democracy is totally at risk. I am not hopeful, given what we see around us. But it is so good to see the truth and common sense put out there!
You know, it's easy to lose hope in part because journalism tends to focus on deviations from the ordinary -- we don't cover safe takeoffs and landings at airports, but only the bellyflops, of course. So it's surely true that there are countless terrific classrooms where students are getting thoughtfully trained. That doesn't mean we should ignore where things go awry -- only that we need (for our mental health!) to keep all this in perspective.
Thank you for what you do. Please keep doing it. I feel the effort is futile however, and as an octogenarian my observation is we are too selfish and self-centered a cultured to change. It will take, in my view, a cataclysmic event to change us. We can not even acknowledge our historical truth. I am inclined to feel more like Chris Hedges. We are at the beginning of the end of the empire. Sad we had such promise.
I think Chris is a bit too pessimistic, but his analysis points to where we are in peril. Hang in there! I'm like you, from another generation, but I have a daughter not yet 30 who gives me hope.
Needs to be said, again and again. Until recently teaching American History, as you say, emphasized the heroism of white people and it’s no wonder that most of us grew up believing in some form of white superiority. To undo this misinformation is extremely difficult. And now as teaching began to be more racially inclusive, it is being peeled back. The teaching of the young is the foundation of a civil society.
Absolutely so, Robby. As a youngster attending public schools in South Dakota, I got some history of the indigenous people of the area -- the Arikira, the Ree, and eventually the Sioux -- but I'm dubious that it was as full an exploration of their culture of the sort that we got about the folks who arrived in the 19th century. My reading more recently is so instructive (and interesting).
Well said, as always, but one caution: You sometimes sound as if school curricula would be pretty close to fine if it weren't for the Republican anti-woke patrol. As you know, however, neither history nor any other subject is designed, taught, and learned very well in most schools much of the time. Chemistry doesn't teach that organic chemicals can be redesigned to be green; World War I and Vietnam get short shrift, while WW II is glorified as if there were no intelligent case against US entry; math fails to engage a substantial majority by high school; many graduate without writing a poem or short story. The list of shortcomings is long and deep. So I invite progressives to figure out how to talk about all that rather than focusing too much on Republican threats.
Good points, all. The challenges confronting education are myriad. Maybe we get distracted by the threats that are so visible from the political class, and thus fail to pay enough attention to the pedagogical problems that have persisted for years.
Thanks for this. People need to be reminded about the importance of leaning the truth about our history, as well as scientific truths, or democracy is totally at risk. I am not hopeful, given what we see around us. But it is so good to see the truth and common sense put out there!
You know, it's easy to lose hope in part because journalism tends to focus on deviations from the ordinary -- we don't cover safe takeoffs and landings at airports, but only the bellyflops, of course. So it's surely true that there are countless terrific classrooms where students are getting thoughtfully trained. That doesn't mean we should ignore where things go awry -- only that we need (for our mental health!) to keep all this in perspective.
Thank you for what you do. Please keep doing it. I feel the effort is futile however, and as an octogenarian my observation is we are too selfish and self-centered a cultured to change. It will take, in my view, a cataclysmic event to change us. We can not even acknowledge our historical truth. I am inclined to feel more like Chris Hedges. We are at the beginning of the end of the empire. Sad we had such promise.
I think Chris is a bit too pessimistic, but his analysis points to where we are in peril. Hang in there! I'm like you, from another generation, but I have a daughter not yet 30 who gives me hope.
The karmic retribution of this whitewashing (literally and figuratively) will be massive. And well-deserved.
From your lips, Al, to wherever it needs to go...