The culture war (cold civil and cultural war) in America has two prominent fault lines emerging . Teaching history and voting rights.

Here is the big picture context of where we are in the war on history.

Big Picture Context

Ringing the Alarms
If you have time, we highly recommend reading this Salon Article by Chancey Devega. It is a longer read (12 - 15 minutes) but is well worth it.

Devega begins, “Today's Jim Crow Republican Party, and the white right more broadly, have taken the spirit of those words and updated them for the 21st century, effectively by arguing that 'white people are not bound to respect historical truth or established facts — at least not as they pertain to Black and brown people in America,' As the next step in their war against multiracial democracy, the Republican Party and its allies have launched a moral panic about "critical race theory." Of course, their version of "critical race theory" is a type of racial bogeyman or psychological projection, a function of white racial paranoia about the 'browning of America' and the threat of 'white genocide.'"

Devega continues by ringing the alarm about the true dangers of continued propagation of made up history. The ultimate goal is to weaken the knowledge and critical reasoning of the electorate therefore driving down the ability of the electorate to participate in or defend democracy.

Misrepresentations of History
Michael Harriot from The Root did a fantastic, interesting analysis that is also worth your time as well. Harriot took the age of every U.S senator that has commented against teaching accurate history and found the textbook that they learned history from when they were in junior high or high school. Every textbook was heavily influenced by the ideology of  the United Daughters of the Confederacy (a right-wing hate organization).  One text describes enslaved people as loving slavery by the time of the civil war. It states, “Unbending loyalty to “ole Massa” prompted many slaves to help their owners resist the Union Armies. Blacks blocked the door of the “big house” with their bodies or stashed the plantation silverware under mattresses in their own humble huts, where it would be safe from the plundering “bluebellies”...Newly emancipated slaves sometimes eagerly accepted the invitation of Union troops to join in the pillaging of their master’s possessions.”

Harriot notes that across textbooks, the narrative comes from the perspective of the enslaver, not the enslaved.

So where do people learn the unrepresented side of history?  Literary notes that, “Struggles for social transformation and their accompanying study are often found beyond the walls of formal higher education. [Although not systematic, there are] ...interruptions to Eurocentric curricula, but perhaps more importantly, they leave an imprint, however temporary, that higher education must contend with its role in settler colonialism.”

Local “Moral Panic” Evolves in Sophistication

In Columbia, Missouri, school administrators are trying to distance their curriculum from CRT or the 1619 project. School boards in Missouri and across 28 other states are starting to pressure teachers based on facist-styled restrictions passed by state legislators.  The Columbia Daily Tribune said 2 teachers received a grant for an elective course related to the 1619 Project. Even that has to be explained. "The teachers involved in the grant are evaluating the primary and secondary sources presented within The 1619 Project and are using two senior-level elective African American studies courses to do so," Baumstark said[school administrator].  The state of Missouri has gone so far as to actually poll school districts to find out if they are teaching the 1619 Project or “CRT.”  All answered no.

In Loudon County, Virginia, Amanda Mars of El Pais wrote that a random man who calls himself a security analyst started a website that encourages students to upload videos of anything they perceive to be “CRT” or the 1619 Project. What will be done with this supposed information is unknown.

History Beyond the Black / White Binary
Indigenous tribes in Montana are still fighting for treaties and laws dating back to 1972 and before to be honored.  The laws explicitly state that Native history is to be taught in schools.  The AAPI community is fighting to ensure that  Asian American studies are included in college curricula.
We gave advice on this in a past newsletter..

Actions for You
As usual on this issue, it is important for you to analyze your local news and make sure that accurate and age appropriate history is reflected in your kids history books.  If you are looking for a resource on teaching history (as a teacher or a parent), consider starting with this article from the Southern Poverty Law Center or resources from the Zinn Education Project.