Today, one of the most outrageous bills was approved by a House panel in Oklahoma.
“State Rep. Dan Fisher (R) introduced a bill at the beginning of the month that keeps the state from funding AP U.S. History unless the College Board changes the curriculum. The bill also orders the state Department of Education to establish a U.S. History program that would replace the AP course” (Source: MSN News).
This is absolutely ridiculous. These Conservative politicians need to stop propagating this perfect image of America to the public, especially towards GROWING children who are eventually going to enter the workforce in America. Can you imagine these children never learning the REAL history of America? The America that’s built upon a history of intentional slavery, poor military actions, an unfair economy, and government-implemented racism? These kids are going to unintentionally become the most bigoted and ignorant people to ever live in the United States. Some of these kids are going to eventually become the foundations the United States, getting voted into Congress and perhaps even running for the Presidential Office.
The biggest problem the RNC (Republican National Committee) has with the current APUSH curriculum is that the course doesn’t cover enough of the Founding Fathers and the U.S. military commanders and battles.The committee also believes that College Board, the company that governs the entire AP sphere, presents a “biased and inaccurate view” of a number of historical events, such as what was involved in the 17th century American settlers and the U.S. Involvement in World War II (Source: TPM).
What makes America, America, is not ONLY because of its Founding Fathers and its military. There were a lot of conflicts that helped characterize and shape America to how the country is today. I would argue that everything ‘bad’ that happened in history made more of an impact than the very few good things this country did. Every poor decision that led to an even worse outcome taught each American that no country is perfect, that no human being is perfect. As a country, we have MANY regrets (Trail of Tears, Dred Scott, Civil War, Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Vietnam War are just SOME of them). However, we know that it’s history. Learning about this doesn’t mean that all individuals are going to think America is the worst country in the world. Also, learning history, BOTH the good and the bad have many benefits that help shape individuals in all different aspects.
I believe that raising a generation who has very little knowledge of American history is not only going to be debilitating to the students but harmful to the future of the United States. These students are going to be ignorant of the problems that led to the historical faults, which will most likely cause them to make similar mistakes in society in the future, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
On a final note, if the APUSH curriculum changes, what’s going to stop all the middle schools and high schools to change the curricula as well, to replace all the faults of the United States with the glory of Founding Fathers? The K-12 education is going to be the breeding ground of propaganda… Our country is not Nazi Germany, but if the alteration of the curriculum ever gets modified, we might as well be the next most brainwashed country in the history of the world.
JOYPinions 