It’s been said that history is written by those who won the wars, and by those in charge. Electronic news coverage and virtually everyone’s ability to record and share events over the Internet increasingly are providing actual accounts of events that are getting harder to spin to any political group’s advantage.
This doesn’t keep those in charge from trying. Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed into law House Bill 3979, a declared effort to counter the growing use of critical race theory, the 1619 Project and other efforts to give greater attention to the historical effects of slavery and racism, and to amplify the contributions of Black Americans.
BH 3979 names approved sources for social studies courses, such as the country’s founding documents, writings from Alexis de Tocqueville and the first Lincoln-Douglas presidential debate. It also states that teachers can not be compelled to discuss current events, but that those who choose to do so “shall, to the best of their ability, strive to explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”
Abbott said the new law doesn’t go far enough to restrict the use of racial references in the classroom, and that he wants a special legislative session to craft another bill that goes even further.
Texas is only one of several states that is trying to limit efforts to give more attention to our nation’s racial struggles, and President Donald Trump last year threatened to withhold federal education funding to any state or district that adopted the 1619 project.
This is hardly a one-sided affair. Some state legislatures and education departments have ordered textbook writers to downplay or even eliminate the contributions of key historical figures, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, because they owned slaves.
It’s impossible to give proper context to major historical events such as the Civil War, Underground Railroad or Voting Rights Act without addressing the racial elements involved in the related debates. Likewise, discussions of current events such as the use of force by law enforcement, attacks on Asian Americans or the use of “dog-whistle” statements in rhetorical studies of political speech need to address underlying racial issues to be complete.
Similarly, officials shouldn’t seek to limit discussions of other social issues such as gender and transgender rights, competing economic theories, religion and political diversity.
A proper education should be comprehensive, and those who are best equipped to provide that education — our trained teachers — should not be unfairly handicapped. While standardized curricula best assure that students everywhere are learning the same basic concepts, teachers who believe they can add better context with additional material should not have to worry if they’re breaking the law.
History is best written by the historians, and education is best handled by the educators. In both endeavors, political influences should be kept to a minimum.
