REMOVING HISTORY FROM SCHOOLS
The state board of Education in Texas this past week voted to eliminate several historical figures, they were Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller, from the states social studies curriculum. A Texas Republican and member of that board recommended this elimination in a group called Essential Knowledge and Skills. In speaking to educators and others who give evidence these names were mentioned. This was a 15 member body reportedly came as an overall effort to streamline the states social studies curriculum.
Texas high school students have been required to learn about Clinton after the former first lady made history and 2016 I becoming the first woman to be the presidential nominee for a major party. Texas third grade students have also been required to learn about Helen Keller, who was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and later led a life of activism. This volunteer work group made this recommendation own that state requires children to learn about too many historical figures. Is it truly possible that our children can learn too much?
Therefore, the group went about grading historical figures to deem who was essential and who was not. This group would ponder things like whether the historical figure triggered a dividing line change or if he or she were from and under- represented group. On this 20 – point grading scale Clinton reportedly scored a five and Keller scored a seven. Although this vote is only preliminary this boards members were elected to represent specific geographical areas, a final vote will be in November.
The decisions where a few vote and represent an entire nation has gone rampant throughout the United States. Why are we allowing a few to govern what our children are to learn? I personally do not care if my children learn in school the value of counting calories; this should be done at home. I do not care if my children do not learn how to color with and the lines, these are trivial things that the schools teach and it should be taught at home. I believe it is important that reading writing and arithmetic be taught; history and anything about history should be taught in schools. Writing, proper writing should be taught in schools.
Throw away the calculators at home and in school, arithmetic should be taught in school. For the students wanting to have a higher education may need algebra, trigonometry, and calculus; in my chosen field, these were not needed. However, on some level even those subjects should be offered to all students.
Throughout time, from the oral history, carvings on rocks, paper and pen, typewriters, computers and voice machines, historical records of the events in this world was left for the future education of people.
It has been passed down through the generations; the stories have been treasured for centuries to remember a world and its events that would otherwise be forgotten. Occasionally, certain events and even people have simply been written out our forgot. Every event and every person is important, the line has to be drawn somewhere. Nevertheless, do we start that line with truly historical figures? Do we want to forget what Hillary Clinton has done for our country, or for what she has not done; least we not make the same mistake twice should it be forgotten. I will not even dignified removing an individual like Helen Keller from our school textbooks. She is a major accomplishment for the impaired, the handicap in any way, and what can be accomplished through teaching. As times goes on where we continue to do away with more history because we find it undesirable.
I want to add a personal note here; a member of my family married someone of German nationality. They had children, during a visit to the United States a move the was being shown on the Holocaust and the extermination of Jewish people. This individual said that his children could did not watch this movie as it was propaganda created by America against the Germans. This was not a statement made in 1945, it was a statement made in 1980. If the true history of this world is not taught in school or at home, deception to future generations will be rampant.
There are several things that I would like to point out; even the Romans literally used the words “the damning of a memory”. During a time when a heritage was held in higher regard than even life, a lifetime of achievement from books as if that individual our group of individuals never existed. This by Roman standards was reserved for the worst offender’s religious, political, disgraced members of affluent families.
Geta Severan and family, Geta attempted to divide his father’s kingdom. The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. Geta was murdered, his wife executed, and all inscription with either of the two names was removed from history. Now one might say that this information is not important and should not be taught in school. However, because of my interest in history at some point I myself sought out this information, the same of situations can be found somewhere in our world of today. We can reference point back to the year 235 that families fought to win a provable our cause disgrace. I believe this is an important lesson a lesson that we have not learned in over 1500 years. Somewhere, learning this information might change one family, it would have been worth it.
Nikolai Yezhov was the enemy of Joseph Stalin, Nikolai was ruthless and feared. He himself among many angered the communist leaders. He was ousted, murdered and disgraced a long with his family and erased from photographs and books. He and his family was disgraced no one dared to utter his name. It was commonplace for the communist government to deny failures, inconvenient truths and even have people disappear. Yet, this history lived and all because among our history texts we discuss the lives of such people as Yezhov.
Few dictators in history have been recorded as bigger lunatics than the bloodline of Kim Jong-n. Truly upsetting politics have emerged from the secretive, totalitarian government. One is the cold-blooded murderer and deformation of anyone including family who opposes any official policy of the state.
Few dictators in recent history have been painted in the media as bigger lunatics than the bloodline of Kim Jong-n and his predecessors. Despite the grandstanding and often belligerent statements made by the current authorities, some truly upsetting policies have emerged from the secretive, totalitarian government. One such policy is of cold-blooded murder and defamation of anyone—including family—who opposes the official policy of the state. Current dictator Kim Jong-un, declared his own uncle a traitor and had him murdered. The man’s life was removed from all media in that country. The man who had enjoyed an inside position for years now officially never existed in the country of North Korea. It is in our texts, our findings, our research. This is a horrible individual do we not want our children to know about this, it is a lesson to be learned.
The Egyptians may have actually invented the practice of historical revision, no one knows for sure. Each new pharaoh sought to prove himself the superior of his predecessor, by demolishing all memory of a former king. The names of conquered rulers were literally chiseled out of their place in history. Sometimes entire bloodline, attending priest and even household pets were put today at, this served to and the traditions that people had followed before. Queen Hatshepsut was a peaceful queen who led a prosperous Egypt for 20 years after the death of her husband Thutmose I. When, Thutmose III inherited the throne, whether it was a personal grudge or a political move, Thutmose had all inscriptions removed, her statuses walled up are destroyed, her name was a raised from history.
We are fortunate that these things are now taught in school in higher education, do we want to start these practices all over again. The removal of prominent figures from history because a group of 15 people decided it was not necessary to be taught in school is disgraceful.
The War Between the States in the United States of America is horrible history, the years before, leading up to the Civil War were too horrible to think about let alone see pictures and movies depicting those times. However, this is history; let us not wipe it from the face of the earth as if it never happened. Instead of removing statues to remove from our sight, those things that make us sick. Leave them, as reminders of a time we hope will never come again. When I look or looked at the southern statues I do not see them as being glorified, I see them as a time when brother fought against brother, son fought against father, and the blood-soaked ground will never be forgotten.
Let us not remove history from our textbooks in America, let us teach even the more horrid history, lest we forget and make those same mistakes again.
©elizabethannjohnsonmurphree
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Research “History of the World”.
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