Revisionist history about the founding of this country is bound to be controversial at any level of education, but nowhere more so than as part of the curriculum in grades 7 through 12 (“The Philosophical Force Driving the Fight to Rewrite History,” the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, Feb. 21).
I say that because students of that age are extremely impressionable due to their immaturity. As a result, they take as gospel whatever their teachers and textbooks say. When prominent historians charge that the 1619 Project is fundamentally flawed, I believe them. Yet school boards in Buffalo, New York and Washington D.C. quickly voted to incorporate the 1610 Project in their schools’ curriculum.
Why they have done so in light of their responsibility to present a balanced view of history is unclear. Unlike in higher education where activist faculty members make decisions about what is to be taught, local school boards of education are supposed to take into account the views of all stakeholders. But when race is involved, apparently it’s a different story. I think students are being shortchanged when they are taught that the 1610 Project is gospel.
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Seems like the problem is not so much “revisionist” history as inaccurate history.
Personally, I’d like to see K-12 teach much less “history” and much more current civics/current issues. Yes — in theory, students, citizens and voters cannot fully appreciate current income tax issues w/o some knowledge re the history of taxation in the US. But, it seems like most students make it out of high school with zero knowledge re current income tax issues — knowledge they must have to be functional citizens and voters. And, most of what students learn in K-12 “history” is largely irrelevant to any/all current economic or political issues.
In other words, the important battle is current-issues vs. history rather than what history should we teach.
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Labor Lawyer: I think a balance is necessary. I’d like to see teachers showing how events in the past have relevance to issues in the present. The 1619 Project is historically incorrect, but because it serves to promote an agenda it has been adopted by three school districts so far. I expect to see other districts following suit.
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