Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

President Donald Trump was obsessively concerned with the NYTimes celebrated, widely publicized (but not widely used) 1619 Project, that offered a historic perspective on the United States that he (and perhaps not coincidentally Fox News and conservative radio commentators) deemed offensive. In response to the project, which conservative media outlets (without evidence) insisted was replacing the traditional history lessons in schools across the nation, President Trump created the 1776 Commission which was charged with developing a recommended curriculum for all schools to follow in the future. The Commission’s findings, which Common Dreams writer Andrea Germanos described as “not only a scholarly failure but a reflection of the racism espoused by the outgoing administration“, was written by a panel of conservative operatives that had no historians. 

Sadly, Ms. Germanos’ article, which could have been substantive and meaty, consisted mostly of tweets written by bona fide progressive scholars who descried the findings in 280 characters or less. After reading the article, there are several conclusions I drew: 

• Mr. Trump’s obsession with the 1619 Report probably extended the “legs” of the story and certainly broadened its reach among social studies teachers across the country.
• The resulting reactions to HIS response made it clear that the version of history offered in public schools is one of many versions of history that could be offered. This is good thing because it helps students understand that ALL history has SOME point of view and the narratives about the past can be skewed to reinforce current perspectives and forecasts for the future.
• It is impossible to rewrite history in a Democracy… and the widely public pushback and mainstream revulsion to this effort to do so by the Trump administration underscores the fact that we are living in a Democracy.  
• Mr. Trump’s defeat is a major victory for truth. Had he prevailed in November it would not be surprising to have Betsy DeVos mandating a form of this curriculum in 2021-22 and devising some kind of standardized test based on it as a graduation requirement. 
• The Biden administration might consider creating a Commission charged with establishing a national standard for history instruction… one that would be based on the premise that ALL history has SOME point of view and the narratives about the past can be skewed to reinforce current perspectives and forecasts for the future. The conservative counter-argument about the relativistic nature of the Commission’s findings would prove the point.