Over the last few months, Americans have debated the issue of removing statues of Confederate icons from town squares across the United States. Opponents to the removal of these statues claimed a certain perspective of history is being "white washed". They feared future Americans will not understand or learn about an important era in American history.
NO HISTORY BEING TAUGHT
The people who protest the removal of the statutes falsly claim these statues teach American history. In truth, these statues, like most other statues do not teach history. Statues are created and erected to show people from the outside what is important to their communities. This is the reason why Arthuro Di Modica created a 3.5 ton, 18 foot long sculpture of a raging bull and placed it in front of the New York Stock Exchange. There is not plaque explaining the meaning behind this farm animal as it sits in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. But those who work on Wall Street understand the meaning.
Likewise, most Confederate statues contain nearly no explanation or meaning of the person crafted in bronze. Above was the plaque for a General Robert E Lee statue that was remove from Dallas, Texas. Note the lack of historical information about General Robert E. Lee. It does not explain why Lee was important to Texas, who he was, or even when he lived and died. This is why the teaching occures in the classroom.
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?
As a history teacher in the public schools, it bothers me how there's been little or no protest about the slash and burning to cuts in the subjects of history, civics, and social studies across America. In the last twenty years, school district after school district have created an educational apocalypse with huge cuts to the graduation requirments in the area of social studies. Most American students receive only one-half year of American history and one-half year of Government. Gone are the days when students delved into American history when they had one or two years of American history and one full year of US Government. Local school boards and states made cuts in these important subjects to make way for more math or English classes.
When I addressed the slashing of history requirements from two years to one year, my superintendent instructed me to "teach only the important parts of American history". To which I rebutted, I am already teaching only the important parts with two years. This is how "whitewashing" history occurs.
As a classroom teacher I have to cut even more out of my curriculum to fit demands of my school district. But, the annihilation of US history requirements in my small school district was repeated in all states, in many other school districts, large and small across American. The whitewashing of American history occurred before our very eyes, without ANY protest or counter point. No flag waving, chanting for saving our history.
HISTORY IS A UNIQUE SUBJECT
As I have pointed out many times to my principal friends, US History is a very unique subject. Unlike math, English, or literature, the curriculum for US History grows EVERY year. I began teaching history in 1997. Now, think about ALL the historical events that occurred since this year. Bill Clinton was President, Saddam Hussein was the leader in Iraq. The Twin Towers were still part of the New York City skyline, there was no Facebook, smart phones, and the Internet was a neophyte shadow of what it will become. But with all these historical changes, the US History teacher is not allowed any more time to teach their growing curriculum. In fact the opposite has occurred in the United States as social studies requirements are butchered from graduation requirements.
If these some people who are so concern about America's the removal of Confederate statues really care about our past, they should contact their state governments, local school boards and DEMAND young Americans take two years of American History and one year of American government. We all should be concerned about the slow and methodical destruction of American social studies in our public schools.
