THE REVISION OF PRIDE

North Carolina public schools are proposing a new lesson plan for American history.  They are not the first state to do this, and they unfortunately probably won't be the last.  Under the proposed plan, high school students would no longer be taught American history before 1877. 

No Declaration of Independence.  No Revolutionary War.  No Constitution.  No War of 1812.  No Civil War or Reconstruction.  No Founding Fathers, and no Abe Lincoln.

Why are they proposing this?  They feel that the things that happened in this country prior to 1877 are irrelevant to todays students.

According to Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the goal of this change is to teach what students will feel connected to, “where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day.”

Wow.  So, apparently, an entirely new system of governance, a war to impliment it, a war to cement it and a war to make all men truly free in this country are not "big ideas".

According to The Heritage Foundation, the reason for this is simply a Progressive agenda to promote government as the answer:

The Progressives sought to remake America, so that the Declaration’s Founding Principles, the Constitution’s institutional structures, and the Civil War’s meaning as a victory for Founding principles would no longer ring true. The progressives argued that equal, natural rights were non-existent; government creates rights. They replaced representative government with the administrative, bureaucratic state.

I have another take on it. 

I'm not saying that the remaking of America by Progressives isn't the cause - it certainly is.  But I think there is more to it than that. 

I think that is it just not possible to learn about our history and not fall in love with this country.  Sure, there's the bad stuff, like slavery, but there is also the Civil War, which certain (Republican) factors fought in order to right that wrong.  It's no wonder Progressives don't want to teach the Civil War, since their Democrat brethren were most definitely on the wrong side of that one!  The decade after the Civil War, called the Reconstruction, ran from 1865 to, interestingly enough, 1877.  Why wouldn't the Progressives want to teach about that?  Well, the Reconstruction was marred by the creation of the KKK and the many attempts by southern white democrats to oppress the black (republican) community.   Suddenly that 1877 or earlier date makes a lot of sense, huh?

To learn about our country's Founding, from the Declaration of Independence, through the Revolutionary War and on to the creation of the Constitution is to learn what men of honor, integrity and moral standing were capable of.  Is it possible to learn those things and not foster a deep sense of pride that you are descended from that?  Is it possible to learn those things, those freedoms, those rights, without yearning to have them, nurture them and pass them on?

And therein lies the dilemma of the Progressives.  The objective for them is ultimately a nanny state that is subservient to a global community.  When there were attempts to add the U.K. to the European Union and have them forfeit their pound in favor the the euro, there was a hue and cry that was quite unexpected.  The British were proud of their long history and did not want to lose their national identity in the European collective.  One would imagine the other countries were not as concerned about the amalgamation of the European states into one union because they were used to the highly elastic boundaries of their countries throughout the centuries.  But the island nation of Great Britain has always stood apart, both literally and figuratively.

The United States is cut from the same cloth.  We are more of an amalgam of races and creeds than the EU,  but we have, in the peerless melting pot that is our country, created something new.  Something different.  Something special.  American exceptionalism is real.  Our love of freedom is ingrained in us from birth - it above all else, is our birthright.  It is that exceptionalism  and freedom that makes us a country, it is what binds the many different factions into We the People.  No where on Earth is like us, and, as long as we know our history, we will never give that up.

The Progressives know this.  They have revised their own history, but have found it difficult to revise ours, so instead have decided to ignore it.

The whole scheme has caused such an uproar that it is currently being "revisited" - for what that's worth.  Let's hope sanity (and concerned parents) prevails.

There is cause to hope, too, in Texas.  They are in the midst of battling textbook companies over the pronounced leftist tilt of the publications.  Texas is the largest consumer of textbooks in the country which means:

Textbook publishers will have to follow Texas guidelines if they wish to continue to sell textbooks in Texas.

In other words, as Texas goes, so goes the nation.  This battle could potentially affect all of our children's education across the country.  I don't know about you, but I'm damn glad this battle is being fought in Texas instead of California! 

The proposed changes will be voted on in May.

Considering the Battle of the Alamo occurred in 1836, I feel a tiny little spark of hope.....

THE REVISION OF PRIDE