Hello friends! I hope you've been living your lives to the fullest and whatnot. It's been a crazeballs time here in The Shire and I hope to have a Real Life Blog Post soonish to make up for the fact that I STILL haven't written on April 30 #oops
I'm writing to address an issue from my high school district. On Thursday evening, the Jefferson County School District posted yet another resolution to change the pay of teachers on an evaluation-based system (again? freaking again?) and something that I found ridiculously revolting, which was the restructuring of US History curriculum in the schools. I'm a history nerd—I have a t-shirt with Thomas Paine on it and wear it frequently—and pretty passionate about the endless hate it gets from all angles. And the fact that this is happening in the VERY PLACE I LEARNED TO LOVE THIS DISCIPLINE AND GOT TO NERD OUT WITH PEOPLE THAT LOVED IT AS MUCH AS I DID IS ABSOLUTELY RAGE-INDUCING HNNGGGGGHHHHHHH.
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| ROUND TWO OF NERD RAGE MOTHERFUCKERS WITH GAME OF THRONES THIS TIME |
The original draft of this contained an exponentially large amount of profanity, and I cut it down a lot because I'm trying to appear Ladylike and Not Sleep Deprived and Mildly Pissed Off instead of YOU'VE WOKEN THE DRAGON pissed-off. The fact is, though, I'm beyond livid—I sulked around most of Saturday night and Sunday morning and this always seems to happen in the fall semester—democracy goes haywire and I get Extreme Nerd Rage, so if Congress shuts down again this year I am getting the hell out of Dodge and I'm moving to Helsinki where they DON'T HAVE PROBLEMS LIKE THIS OMFG.
So yeah here's my open letter and discourse on history and patriotism. Enjoy!
To the Jefferson County School Board,
As a graduate from Jefferson County, the proposal on the table for curriculum review, particularly for US History curriculum, is, frankly, viscerally unsettling. That is putting it lightly.
In my time spent at Ralston Valley, I took eight AP exams and scored highly on each one of them. On the AP US History exam in particular, I received a five out of five. The class taught me important skills of historical analysis, to recognize biases in documents, to define overarching themes throughout history, critical thinking skills and, ultimately, changed my life. Originally, I applied to college as a history major, and switched to political science to apply one of the only things I truly loved (history) to the real world. US History gave me some hope that the words of old dead people could inspire people for decades and could continue to change the world.
The fact that this proposal could very likely restructure the curriculum taught in the course is quite shocking, and I'll admit I didn't quite believe it when I heard about the proposal from my mother, a Jeffco educator. The proposal states that materials should be "accurately and objectively presented," that "materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife, or disregard of the law," and, lastly, that "instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage." I take issue with these aims of the proposal.
That materials should be accurately and objectively presented is, of course, a goal of any historian, and if it was possible it would be a dream come true for the historical community. However, history is an inquiry into the past and the study of human behavior over time. Humanity is defined as flawed in almost any definition you choose to look at, and our individual biases are an intricate part of writing and reading of history. Learning to distinguish between a bias and a fact is a skill learned through the curriculum in place for US History, in particular AP US History. This part of the proposal is undeniably noble, but its application is flawed. The ways you propose to seek this elusive objectivity are my objections.
In discouraging materials that condone civil disorder, social strife, or disregard of the law, one invalidates nearly all events and materials used that make up American history. This nation was born from a war, and the Declaration of Independence is, in fact, an act of treason—blatant disregard of British law, wouldn't you say? The Boston Tea Party, an act venerated by most patriots, was an act of civil disobedience in regards to the Tea Act passed by British Parliament. There were tensions between the loyalist Brits and the separatists Americans, which caused undeniable social strife and the discrimination against Tories through tarring and feathering, a punishment previously used for perpetrators of smuggling. These examples stem from literally before the United States was even established, and our history is filled with these numerous acts—all instrumental in shaping the narrative and the nation of the United States.
We are a democracy—the fount of all authority stems from the people. When the government doesn't do its job, it is the obligation and duty of citizens to assert their voices to right the wrongs made by policymakers. Our history is chock-full of these examples, many of them taking on mythic proportions, and indeed, I'd need a book-length narrative to compile them all. It's a valuable education in civics to learn about these repeated assertions by the people of their rights. It's also a valuable education in morality—only when it was absolutely necessary did people blatantly disregard the law or act in manners of civil disobedience—it took, to quote Jefferson, a "long train of abuses and usurpations" to validate their actions. Distinguishing between this and anarchy is historical analysis by finding patterns in human behavior. It's an integral part of American history and provides a great starting point for historical analysis.
In presenting positive aspects of the United States and its heritage, you do a great disservice not just to the students in Jefferson County, but to the study of history and to the United States in general. There are claims that the material being presented is primarily negative and paints, in particular, white American males as oppressors and perpetrators of wrongs through American history. And honestly, the answer is that it's complicated. Laws that discriminated against minorities were passed, judicial decisions were handed down that perpetuated segregation, and executive orders were passed down that made life for minorities in America highly complicated. Nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not help matters. There were dark times in American history—it is known. Much of the literature, written in hindsight, is self-deprecating and apologist in nature, and much of the study of AP history involves distinguishing these retrospective biases. Taking away the negative literature and aspects of the curriculum would diminish the ability of students to think critically and analytically about the past.
Another part of the proposal states that materials taught should encourage patriotism. Patriotism isn't necessarily agreeing with everything a country does and adhering to the notion of America as a "city on the hill" that can do no wrong. For me, patriotism is loving your country and therefore being forever mindful of the past and critical of the actions it's taking in the present. It's exhausting, this notion of patriotism, but that's what I learned in US History. I learned you have to analyze the past through lenses—both with the lens used by contemporaries of the era and with the lens of retrospect. I'm not proud of some of the actions we've taken in the past and I'm concerned for the future of the United States. The historical record is the best data we have as political scientists to find out what works and what doesn't, and that has to remain as open at all levels of education for it to be a valid source of evidence.
If the curriculum changes in the manner proposed, Jeffco students would be uniquely underprepared for levels of higher-thinking required in universities. They would miss out on valuable lessons on civic virtue and activism, patriotism, analysis, perception biases, and critical thinking. If the AP curriculum is going to be changed in this manner as well, it would require that the national curriculum would have to be changed (unlikely, since AP is managed by the College Board and changing those requirements is a behemoth of a task) or the AP program in Jeffco be cut entirely. If the program was cut, it would deny students to gain up to six college credits at a reduced rate, as I did, and would deny students a chance to practice higher-thinking as a college course requires.
It is unnerving as a student, as a graduate, as a lover of history, and as an American that these changes are being seriously debated in Jefferson County, and I sincerely hope the Board listens to the members of the Jeffco Community on a matter this important.
Sincerely,
Maggie Rose
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