150 years later, schools are still a battlefield for interpreting Civil War

[Captain Obvious]

And 150 years from now very little will change in this aspect. Diversity and social unity have failed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/150-years-later-schools-are-still-a-battlefield-for-interpreting-civil-war/2015/07/05/e8fbd57e-2001-11e5-bf41-c23f5d3face1_story.html?hpid=z6


Five million public school students in Texas will begin using new social studies textbooks this fall based on state academic standards that barely address racial segregation. The state’s guidelines for teaching American history also do not mention the Ku Klux Klan or Jim Crow laws.

And when it comes to the Civil War, children are supposed to learn that the conflict was caused by “sectionalism, states’ rights and slavery” — written deliberately in that order to telegraph slavery’s secondary role in driving the conflict, according to some members of the state board of education.

Slavery was a “side issue to the Civil War,” said Pat Hardy, a Republican board member, when the board adopted the standards in 2010. “There would be those who would say the reason for the Civil War was over slavery. No. It was over states’ rights.”

The killings of nine black parishioners in a South Carolina church last month sparked a broad backlash against the Confederate battle flag (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/06/27/woman-takes-down-confederate-flag-in-front-of-south-carolina-statehouse/), to some a symbol of Southern heritage but to others a divisive sign of slavery and racism.

There is also a call to reexamine a quieter but just as contentious aspect of the Civil War in American society — how the history of the war, so central to our nation’s understanding of itself, is presented in public school classrooms and textbooks.



https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/06/27/National-Politics/Images/478761606.jpg

[Private Pickle]

Good. Seems to me like they are educating instead of indoctrinating.

[Mister D]

How can you have any sense of commonality in the midst of such radical diversity? It's like wading in a stream and expecting not to get wet.

Anyway, history is about meaning and meaning will always be up for grabs, so to speak. Indeed, greater diversity can only lead to more interpretations not less.

[Tahuyaman]

How can you have any sense of commonality in the midst of such radical diversity? It's like wading in a stream and expecting not to get wet


Racial diversity is not the issue. The problem is an intolerance to the diversity of ideological beliefs.

[Ransom]

How can you have any sense of commonality in the midst of such radical diversity? It's like wading in a stream and expecting not to get wet.

Anyway, history is about meaning and meaning will always be up for grabs, so to speak. Indeed, greater diversity can only lead to more interpretations not less.

But that don't mean history is then 'up for grabs', Mister D. Now.....that's not true on this forum of course, on these threads history is a f'n all skate. And I do mean we hear some renditions that just defy logic. History cannot be altered or changed...it can be misinterpreted and ignored....but isn't up for grabs.

I did understand your context and thus wasn't correcting you as much as reminding you we have young and impressionable ears and eyes here on tpf.

Don't want them confused, you get one or two out of whack and well......as the Jurassic Park Dude says, they do move in herds.

[Mister D]

But that don't mean history is then 'up for grabs', Mister D. Now.....that's not true on this forum of course, on these threads history is a f'n all skate. And I do mean we hear some renditions that just defy logic. History cannot be altered or changed...it can be misinterpreted and ignored....but isn't up for grabs.

I did understand your context and thus wasn't correcting you as much as reminding you we have young and impressionable ears and eyes here on tpf.

Don't want them confused, you get one or two out of whack and well......as the Jurassic Park Dude says, they do move in herds.

History is altered and changed all the time. That's the nature of history which is not merely about "facts". It entails the interpretation of those facts as well as their selection (i.e. what facts are relevant to the historian). That said, arguments and interpretations should be appropriate and plausible. Sometimes, they aren't. We see that on this forum quite often, actually. I agree. :smiley:

[Adelaide]

It seems like the interpretation is a bit sideways to me. But then, I know up here they really spent very little time discussing the period we had slaves or the maltreatment of aboriginals. I actually learned more in public school about how the aboriginals were mistreated in the US than up here. That was only 10 years ago and I doubt it's changed.

[Mister D]

Racial diversity is not the issue. The problem is an intolerance to the diversity of ideological beliefs.

You're whistling passed the graveyard.

[Newpublius]

And 150 years from now very little will change in this aspect. Diversity and social unity have failed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/150-years-later-schools-are-still-a-battlefield-for-interpreting-civil-war/2015/07/05/e8fbd57e-2001-11e5-bf41-c23f5d3face1_story.html?hpid=z6



https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/06/27/National-Politics/Images/478761606.jpg

Slavery motivated secession. But the North was willing to guarantee slavery, SEE: Corwin Amendment. That's a major problem if one says that slavery caused the WAR. Essentially one side said, "hey, we're ticked off and want to leave, mostly about slavery." The other side then says, "we understand, we just want to preserve the union, so we'll guarantee slavery." At which point the other said says, "well, other issues between us are STILL enough for us to desire separation"

[Ransom]

It seems like the interpretation is a bit sideways to me. But then, I know up here they really spent very little time discussing the period we had slaves or the maltreatment of aboriginals. I actually learned more in public school about how the aboriginals were mistreated in the US than up here. That was only 10 years ago and I doubt it's changed.

An ex British territory, I would figure they'd have taught you of 'aboriginal maltreatment' by the empire the sun never set on. It's legendary. But, with the popular history being taught today, Mister D may be correct. Facts get lost.

[Cigar]

Denial Runs Deep ... now it's being taught, but still hasn't changed History or Reality.

[The Xl]

The fact of the matter is, the winners write history, and the narratives pushed at school are filled with lies and half truths. You see it with, the civil war, ww1 and 2, etc.

[Mister D]

The fact of the matter is, the winners write history, and the narratives pushed at school are filled with lies and half truths. You see it with, the civil war, ww1 and 2, etc.

I wouldn't call them lies. It's just the western liberal narrative presented as the only possible narrative. Any other makes you a racist, undemocratic etc.

[Safety]

And 150 years from now very little will change in this aspect. Diversity and social unity have failed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/150-years-later-schools-are-still-a-battlefield-for-interpreting-civil-war/2015/07/05/e8fbd57e-2001-11e5-bf41-c23f5d3face1_story.html?hpid=z6



https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/06/27/National-Politics/Images/478761606.jpg

Seeing how Texas wrote the most scathing letter of secession, I can see why they would want to distance themselves from that part of history. Couple that with the current effort to whitewash what the confederacy was established for, and you have what Texas is trying to do in the OP.

If anyone needs links, let me know.

[The Xl]

I wouldn't call them lies. It's just the western liberal narrative presented as the only possible narrative. Any other makes you a racist, undemocratic etc.
Sometimes the narrative is a lie. I've done some research on some things recently. Western propaganda is a monster, it's hard to believe anything they say.