is our children learning?
May 10, 2021 5:29 AM Subscribe
We Found the Textbooks of Senators Who Oppose The 1619 Project and Suddenly Everything Makes Sense. Michael Harriot @ TheRoot.com takes a dive into the confirmed (or likely) school textbooks used by the US Senators most vocally opposed to the 1619 project and is . . . not surprised at all.
The 1619 Project previously on Metafilter.
"[. . .] we dug through bios, school archives and academic resources to find out how these GOP legislators gained their knowledge of America’s past. In most cases, we were able to find the exact textbook each legislator’s school district used for one of the state or American history courses. In other cases, we were able to find contemporaneous descriptions of the textbooks from academic journals or reports. To our surprise, most received a well-rounded education on the history of Black people in America.
Just kidding. They all learned variations of the same white lies. And, apparently, they’d like to keep it that way.
Here’s what we found."
"[. . .] we dug through bios, school archives and academic resources to find out how these GOP legislators gained their knowledge of America’s past. In most cases, we were able to find the exact textbook each legislator’s school district used for one of the state or American history courses. In other cases, we were able to find contemporaneous descriptions of the textbooks from academic journals or reports. To our surprise, most received a well-rounded education on the history of Black people in America.
Just kidding. They all learned variations of the same white lies. And, apparently, they’d like to keep it that way.
Here’s what we found."
Same thing is going on in Australia. Our current Federal Minister for Education and Youth - a vapid empty suit whose name sounds like a euphemism for a quick hand shandy behind the shelter sheds and who holds a Harvard MBA and used to work for Boston Consulting Group because of course he did - has recently been kicking up a stink about the idea that we might want to cover our own history of dispossession and genocide a skoosh more honestly than we did in his day.
He'd fit right in as a Trumpublican.
posted by flabdablet at 6:15 AM on May 10, 2021 [12 favorites]
He'd fit right in as a Trumpublican.
posted by flabdablet at 6:15 AM on May 10, 2021 [12 favorites]
Excellent article-- thanks for posting.
posted by travertina at 6:18 AM on May 10, 2021
posted by travertina at 6:18 AM on May 10, 2021
This is a very serious issue that makes me mad, but I LOL'ed when I read:
posted by wenestvedt at 6:29 AM on May 10, 2021 [36 favorites]
Perhaps the only thing more racist than this textbook is the name 'Tom Cotton,' which sounds like the person you have to fight when you defeat all the other slave masters.It's so frustrating that textbooks cater to the lowest common denominator of education (i.e., Texas) instead of the most rigorous and accurate account available.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:29 AM on May 10, 2021 [36 favorites]
FTFA:
posted by wenestvedt at 7:00 AM on May 10, 2021 [34 favorites]
Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)Reminds me of the South Pacific song "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught," about how racism is inculturated:
What he said: “A lot of these kids don’t know. They haven’t been taught. They have not been taught the fundamentals of what this country and how this country was built and why we’re here and why we’re so strong.
You've got to be taughtHere's an NPR piece from 2014 about the song.
To hate and fear, you've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught
To be afraid of people
Whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:00 AM on May 10, 2021 [34 favorites]
"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught,"
I just don't get WTF is wrong with people sometimes. Why? Why? Why?
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:06 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I just don't get WTF is wrong with people sometimes. Why? Why? Why?
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:06 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's so frustrating that textbooks cater to the lowest common denominator of education (i.e., Texas) instead of the most rigorous and accurate account available.
But then some white people might have to face what their ancestors have done, and might feel bad. Or some who know deep down that when their parents and grandparents accepted the WASP offer to join the US White Club during and between the US's participation in the world wars, they became part of the oppression and they might feel bad. Not bad enough to reject it all, but, you know. And some other McConnell-type white people know that if kids learn the whole truth, their ilk might have a harder time keeping their grip on power, money and other resources.
African-Americans were taught from those books as well, and I'm sure many of the white administrators and teachers wanted them to learn that history and accept as inevitable their place as lesser in the socio-economic hierarchy as they grew up. The self-loathing I sometimes saw from my guardian aunt I can pretty much trace from the history she was taught at school in the 50s and 60s about our people's history in the US and about African peoples. I think I had the Texas version of The American Pageant in the 70s and 80s, but I was a voracious reader as a kid and read outside books where I learned different things. I knew to parrot the answers from the book for the grade, though. THHHBBBBT!
posted by droplet at 7:09 AM on May 10, 2021 [13 favorites]
But then some white people might have to face what their ancestors have done, and might feel bad. Or some who know deep down that when their parents and grandparents accepted the WASP offer to join the US White Club during and between the US's participation in the world wars, they became part of the oppression and they might feel bad. Not bad enough to reject it all, but, you know. And some other McConnell-type white people know that if kids learn the whole truth, their ilk might have a harder time keeping their grip on power, money and other resources.
African-Americans were taught from those books as well, and I'm sure many of the white administrators and teachers wanted them to learn that history and accept as inevitable their place as lesser in the socio-economic hierarchy as they grew up. The self-loathing I sometimes saw from my guardian aunt I can pretty much trace from the history she was taught at school in the 50s and 60s about our people's history in the US and about African peoples. I think I had the Texas version of The American Pageant in the 70s and 80s, but I was a voracious reader as a kid and read outside books where I learned different things. I knew to parrot the answers from the book for the grade, though. THHHBBBBT!
posted by droplet at 7:09 AM on May 10, 2021 [13 favorites]
Oooh is that another musical theatre reference from Hamilton?
posted by sixswitch at 7:09 AM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 7:09 AM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Michael Harriot (the author of this piece) is a wonder, steadily churning out hilarious, cutting commentary. He's also one of a wave of new writers who have been tapped to join The Amber Ruffin Show, which seems like good news for her, for him, and for us.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:14 AM on May 10, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:14 AM on May 10, 2021 [16 favorites]
Despite Tom Cotton and I attending school nearly contemporaneously and not all that many miles apart, we apparently had very different experiences of the history curriculum.
posted by wierdo at 7:22 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 7:22 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Despite Tom Cotton and I attending school nearly contemporaneously and not all that many miles apart, we apparently had very different experiences of the history curriculum.
This gets at a problem I have with this piece. It's very well-researched and written, but it seems to suggest on some level that these revanchist bigots are just the product of their primary school education, and thus a victim of the policy choices of others. But these clowns are U.S. senators, not high school seniors. They've had every advantage for decades, access to any information they want, staff at their beck and call to satisfy any curiosity they might have about the nation they're supposed to be leading, and still they either cannot see the truth or they cynically pretend they can't. Meanwhile, literally millions of other Americans, brought up with the same or similar textbooks, and in almost every case lacking the tremendous privileges and advantages enjoyed by these senators, have managed to reach much smarter and more humane conclusions about key aspects of this country's history.
The worldview that these fucks espouse is the culmination of a staggering series of moral and intellectual failings, failings that are sufficiently disconnected from textbooks that even talking about textbooks seems, on some level, to be muddying the waters and deflecting blame.
posted by saladin at 7:56 AM on May 10, 2021 [52 favorites]
This gets at a problem I have with this piece. It's very well-researched and written, but it seems to suggest on some level that these revanchist bigots are just the product of their primary school education, and thus a victim of the policy choices of others. But these clowns are U.S. senators, not high school seniors. They've had every advantage for decades, access to any information they want, staff at their beck and call to satisfy any curiosity they might have about the nation they're supposed to be leading, and still they either cannot see the truth or they cynically pretend they can't. Meanwhile, literally millions of other Americans, brought up with the same or similar textbooks, and in almost every case lacking the tremendous privileges and advantages enjoyed by these senators, have managed to reach much smarter and more humane conclusions about key aspects of this country's history.
The worldview that these fucks espouse is the culmination of a staggering series of moral and intellectual failings, failings that are sufficiently disconnected from textbooks that even talking about textbooks seems, on some level, to be muddying the waters and deflecting blame.
posted by saladin at 7:56 AM on May 10, 2021 [52 favorites]
I have dim memories of the watered-down bit of "Texas history" that was offered in elementary school in the 1960s. Basically mythology.
The truth about the founding of Texas: it's all about the slavery. Lots of bits and pieces of info that could be mentioned, but the stat that comes to mind is this: in 1845, when Texas became a state, there were 30,000 enslaved people in Texas. (Remember: Mexico didn't allow slavery. The early Texians--the "heroes of the Alamo"--were fighting to preserve it.)
By 1860, there were over 180,000 enslaved people in the state. That's a shocking forced migration of people on an industrial scale, in a very short period of time, and in the 1850s, when that forced migration had to happen overland.
Add all that to the "things we weren't taught in school" pile.
posted by gimonca at 7:59 AM on May 10, 2021 [16 favorites]
The truth about the founding of Texas: it's all about the slavery. Lots of bits and pieces of info that could be mentioned, but the stat that comes to mind is this: in 1845, when Texas became a state, there were 30,000 enslaved people in Texas. (Remember: Mexico didn't allow slavery. The early Texians--the "heroes of the Alamo"--were fighting to preserve it.)
By 1860, there were over 180,000 enslaved people in the state. That's a shocking forced migration of people on an industrial scale, in a very short period of time, and in the 1850s, when that forced migration had to happen overland.
Add all that to the "things we weren't taught in school" pile.
posted by gimonca at 7:59 AM on May 10, 2021 [16 favorites]
Oh that was fascinating, such great research, and it led me to do a little digging about the history text I remember as a little white 4th-grader in Virginia. Turns out it was part of a 3-book series worked up in the 1950s. (Site asks you to sign in, but I just closed that window and was able to read the article anyway. Here is archive.org version if you need it but I quite understand if you don't want to see it at all.). Apparently it was just as bad as I was afraid it was. I don't remember if I had the 7th-grade book or not; that was in 1976-77 so it's possible. School certainly did its best to make me into a terrible human being. I definitely need things like the 1619 Project to keep me from sliding into blind unthinking complacence. It is soooo easy to just Not Think About Stuff.
posted by JanetLand at 8:02 AM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 8:02 AM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Glad to see Michael Herriot here. His Twitter account is one of my best follows.
posted by sjswitzer at 8:31 AM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 8:31 AM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
I had to take Georgia history in 8th grade. Wow that was dull. I don't remember what we were taught about the Civil War but it was probably about like this.
posted by thelonius at 8:31 AM on May 10, 2021
posted by thelonius at 8:31 AM on May 10, 2021
So, I researched the books that my schools used. These were the Beka Book (now Abeka) series and the ACE series.
They were and are horrifying.
Some choice quotes:
“There were many causes for the ‘war between the states’ or the Civil War, slavery is a likely casual factor, but not the only one. States’ rights and protective tariffs also played a big role. God may have also been punishing people with the war, as it was preceded by a time of ‘religious apostasy and cultism.'"
and
“After the war, the South suffered, but it rose from the ashes to become the Bible Belt, a part of the country that has continued to stand firm on the fundamentals of Christian faith.”
posted by pdoege at 8:35 AM on May 10, 2021 [14 favorites]
They were and are horrifying.
Some choice quotes:
“There were many causes for the ‘war between the states’ or the Civil War, slavery is a likely casual factor, but not the only one. States’ rights and protective tariffs also played a big role. God may have also been punishing people with the war, as it was preceded by a time of ‘religious apostasy and cultism.'"
and
“After the war, the South suffered, but it rose from the ashes to become the Bible Belt, a part of the country that has continued to stand firm on the fundamentals of Christian faith.”
posted by pdoege at 8:35 AM on May 10, 2021 [14 favorites]
So, is there some mechanism on the Web to make it easy for these folks to get the knowledge they might not have? I'm not talking about a bunch of papers or books, or podcasts that cover various highlights. I'm talking about structured, digestible, efficiently-delivered information that shows the connections between history, culture, events, and human nature.
Because I think that should exist, I think it should be free, and that it is perhaps the best use for the Internet.
posted by amtho at 8:53 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Because I think that should exist, I think it should be free, and that it is perhaps the best use for the Internet.
posted by amtho at 8:53 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
At the risk of opening up a stalkery derail: Michael Harriot was homeschooled??
I'm sure that many people who are homeschooled get a perfectly fine education, but if Harriot's work is any indication, I feel like his mom should be given some kind of teaching award. Here's a Twitter thread in which he gets into it a little bit, and here's an article. I'd love to see a list of the things he read as part of the elementary school education curated by his mom, though it sounds like self-guided learning and discovery was a key part of it, so maybe a list of books kind of misses the point?
I went to a left-leaning, "experimental" public high school, but The American Pageant sounds reallll familiar. If we weren't using that textbook, it was something with an equally anodyne name that trailed of sometime around 1968. The saving grace was our underpaid teachers who went out of their way to supplement the textbook with handouts, assignments that pushed us to look elsewhere, and an emphasis on critical reading. (Plus the teacher who casually had a Free Huey flag hanging in his classroom, should anyone care to ask about it.) It definitely wasn't perfect, and we still got a white-lens, rah-rah, "arc of the moral universe" presentation, but I'm grateful for the dedication and work that went into giving us something more than pageantry.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:04 AM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
I'm sure that many people who are homeschooled get a perfectly fine education, but if Harriot's work is any indication, I feel like his mom should be given some kind of teaching award. Here's a Twitter thread in which he gets into it a little bit, and here's an article. I'd love to see a list of the things he read as part of the elementary school education curated by his mom, though it sounds like self-guided learning and discovery was a key part of it, so maybe a list of books kind of misses the point?
I went to a left-leaning, "experimental" public high school, but The American Pageant sounds reallll familiar. If we weren't using that textbook, it was something with an equally anodyne name that trailed of sometime around 1968. The saving grace was our underpaid teachers who went out of their way to supplement the textbook with handouts, assignments that pushed us to look elsewhere, and an emphasis on critical reading. (Plus the teacher who casually had a Free Huey flag hanging in his classroom, should anyone care to ask about it.) It definitely wasn't perfect, and we still got a white-lens, rah-rah, "arc of the moral universe" presentation, but I'm grateful for the dedication and work that went into giving us something more than pageantry.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:04 AM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
Because I think that should exist, I think it should be free, and that it is perhaps the best use for the Internet.
From what I can tell, there's two types of sources for this kind of thing. One is college/AP prep videos that teach based on the official curriculum, I've heard good things about Crash Course but haven't watched their US history series. These try to be "neutral" so theoretically should not scare off people who identify as conservative but they can be a bit corporate.
The other type of source is YouTube videos produced by individuals with a specific point of view. It's difficult to produce engaging video content, so it either needs to be funded by test prep, or is a work of passion by some person or group that wants to spread their particular vision. Ie, basically the video version of the 1619 project. I don't actually know of good ones on US history so I'm curious if others do. But, this kind of video will definitely come off as "biased" to conservatives unless they originate from the same conservative ideology/world view.
posted by JZig at 9:29 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
From what I can tell, there's two types of sources for this kind of thing. One is college/AP prep videos that teach based on the official curriculum, I've heard good things about Crash Course but haven't watched their US history series. These try to be "neutral" so theoretically should not scare off people who identify as conservative but they can be a bit corporate.
The other type of source is YouTube videos produced by individuals with a specific point of view. It's difficult to produce engaging video content, so it either needs to be funded by test prep, or is a work of passion by some person or group that wants to spread their particular vision. Ie, basically the video version of the 1619 project. I don't actually know of good ones on US history so I'm curious if others do. But, this kind of video will definitely come off as "biased" to conservatives unless they originate from the same conservative ideology/world view.
posted by JZig at 9:29 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
So, is there some mechanism on the Web to make it easy for these folks to get the knowledge they might not have? I'm not talking about a bunch of papers or books, or podcasts that cover various highlights. I'm talking about structured, digestible, efficiently-delivered information that shows the connections between history, culture, events, and human nature.
That's kind of what the 1619 Project is. The problem isn't that the information isn't out there, the problem is that when we show it to these numbnuts, they dig their heels in because it's not what they were taught when they were kids, by gum.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on May 10, 2021 [22 favorites]
That's kind of what the 1619 Project is. The problem isn't that the information isn't out there, the problem is that when we show it to these numbnuts, they dig their heels in because it's not what they were taught when they were kids, by gum.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on May 10, 2021 [22 favorites]
I guess it's worth noting that it's not just about which textbook you get but which version of the textbook you get.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:15 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:15 AM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me was an earlier take on this same issue. He was a history professor at the college level and was baffled how few of his freshman students seemed to have even the most basic grasp of American history, and often had to spend the first few weeks giving them a crash course in what they "should have" learned. Finally he set out to examine just what in hell was going on; Lies My Teacher Told Me is the result of his spending two years studying the various high school textbooks then on offer.
He agrees that the books have a main narrative that is quite Eurocentric, but he also argues that the recent efforts to add "diversity" into the narrative are so ham-handed that they backfire. Ultimately, it gives you a book and a teaching approach that turns kids off and bores them to tears, and teaches them nothing.
Also, there's the notion that he came across a few times that some of the books were meant to inspire loyalty or patriotism in the reader, which a) half the time doesn't happen because a lot of the kids smell bullshit, and b) isn't history, it's propaganda.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:17 AM on May 10, 2021 [14 favorites]
He agrees that the books have a main narrative that is quite Eurocentric, but he also argues that the recent efforts to add "diversity" into the narrative are so ham-handed that they backfire. Ultimately, it gives you a book and a teaching approach that turns kids off and bores them to tears, and teaches them nothing.
Also, there's the notion that he came across a few times that some of the books were meant to inspire loyalty or patriotism in the reader, which a) half the time doesn't happen because a lot of the kids smell bullshit, and b) isn't history, it's propaganda.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:17 AM on May 10, 2021 [14 favorites]
But these clowns are U.S. senators, not high school seniors. They've had every advantage for decades, access to any information they want, staff at their beck and call to satisfy any curiosity they might have about the nation they're supposed to be leading
It might have been more instructive to frame this as textbooks their voters read.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:38 AM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
It might have been more instructive to frame this as textbooks their voters read.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:38 AM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
I've heard good things about Crash Course but haven't watched their US history series.
They've just started Crash Course Black American History [episode #1, The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade], taught by Clint Smith.
posted by sukeban at 12:42 PM on May 10, 2021 [7 favorites]
They've just started Crash Course Black American History [episode #1, The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade], taught by Clint Smith.
posted by sukeban at 12:42 PM on May 10, 2021 [7 favorites]
I feel like part of the implication of this article is that these racist asshats are exactly the type of profoundly incurious and narcissistic people to take the propaganda they were fed as kids at face value -- because their ancestors are the heroes of that particular story. The last thing in the world they'd do is use the resources at their disposal to risk undermining that narrative
posted by treepour at 12:47 PM on May 10, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by treepour at 12:47 PM on May 10, 2021 [10 favorites]
I love when Michael Harriot is asked/asks himself an impossible question to answer then proceeds to do exactly that, seemingly effortlessly and with all of the requisite research.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:13 PM on May 10, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:13 PM on May 10, 2021 [5 favorites]
Michael Harriot is a treasure and I'm super excited to learn he's going to write for Amber Ruffin.
posted by biogeo at 1:16 PM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 1:16 PM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
It is so obvious that a lot of our current troubles stem from ignorance. And also that the ignorance is deliberately planned. Once you have established free access to education for all, it's hard to take it back. But then instead you can make sure that the education is worthless. It's not a joke when people here on the blue say again and again that the left and the liberals need to engage in every level of policy, including the school board and dog catcher. If we don't do that, the conservatives will keep on winning.
It isn't only in the US. I still have my history books from when I went to posh English schools. Let's just say I know exactly what Boris Johnson and Farage are about. I was there too.
Here in Denmark, the war against education didn't really take off before around 2001, but then it was a total war that burnt down generations of progressive teaching. I tried several different schools for my kids, but overall there was a fear of critical thinking. Probably not so ironically, the most progressive school we found was in a very wealthy suburb. Rich parents are not afraid of education for their own children, as long as the prols don't learn anything.
posted by mumimor at 1:20 PM on May 10, 2021 [8 favorites]
It isn't only in the US. I still have my history books from when I went to posh English schools. Let's just say I know exactly what Boris Johnson and Farage are about. I was there too.
Here in Denmark, the war against education didn't really take off before around 2001, but then it was a total war that burnt down generations of progressive teaching. I tried several different schools for my kids, but overall there was a fear of critical thinking. Probably not so ironically, the most progressive school we found was in a very wealthy suburb. Rich parents are not afraid of education for their own children, as long as the prols don't learn anything.
posted by mumimor at 1:20 PM on May 10, 2021 [8 favorites]
But these clowns are U.S. senators, not high school seniors. They've had every advantage for decades, access to any information they want, staff at their beck and call to satisfy any curiosity they might have about the nation they're supposed to be leading
They didn't just fuck up and fail to notice that their knowledge of history is lacking. They have to either actually be ignorant or feign it in order to get elected. It's demanded of them. It could not be another way.
posted by axiom at 1:26 PM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
They didn't just fuck up and fail to notice that their knowledge of history is lacking. They have to either actually be ignorant or feign it in order to get elected. It's demanded of them. It could not be another way.
posted by axiom at 1:26 PM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
Love me some Michael Harriot.
I do think it's possible someone could dismiss this like "well they could have learned since then." But first of all, obviously they haven't. Or if they have, as axiom notes they are feigning ignorance for political gain, which is even worse.
Second, it really helps paint a picture of what these folks think of when they think of "history class." It's not reading a great biography of Dubois in grad school or Lies My Teacher Told me on the plane, it's the 6th grade teacher inculcating a very specific set of ideas that are almost irreversibly considered fundamental from then on.
Here in Seattle I got a fairly good education, I think, and in particular one teacher in high school really worked to challenge white students on matters of racial equity and history (I didn't get it at the time — thanks, Ms Thompson!). But there was still a big time erasure of native culture and the brutality of colonization, and although the civil war was definitely for us fought over slavery, we didn't linger on the lasting effects of Jim Crow. After the '60s everything was coming up roses and we were approaching a post-racial society. Congratulations, everyone!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:34 PM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I do think it's possible someone could dismiss this like "well they could have learned since then." But first of all, obviously they haven't. Or if they have, as axiom notes they are feigning ignorance for political gain, which is even worse.
Second, it really helps paint a picture of what these folks think of when they think of "history class." It's not reading a great biography of Dubois in grad school or Lies My Teacher Told me on the plane, it's the 6th grade teacher inculcating a very specific set of ideas that are almost irreversibly considered fundamental from then on.
Here in Seattle I got a fairly good education, I think, and in particular one teacher in high school really worked to challenge white students on matters of racial equity and history (I didn't get it at the time — thanks, Ms Thompson!). But there was still a big time erasure of native culture and the brutality of colonization, and although the civil war was definitely for us fought over slavery, we didn't linger on the lasting effects of Jim Crow. After the '60s everything was coming up roses and we were approaching a post-racial society. Congratulations, everyone!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:34 PM on May 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
So, is there some mechanism on the Web to make it easy for these folks to get the knowledge they might not have? I'm not talking about a bunch of papers or books, or podcasts that cover various highlights. I'm talking about structured, digestible, efficiently-delivered information that shows the connections between history, culture, events, and human nature.
Heather Cox Richardson, who both writes on Substack at Letters from an American and presents talks on Youtube, draws lines from the earliest days of slavery to the current iteration of the Republican Party, exposing its roots and how they wind through American culture. She apparently extemporizes her talks, which make them even more impressive; her explanation of how the figure of the American cowboy was created in the 19th century was fantastic. You can get an entire historical education just watching her videos or following her online (she also has a Facebook page).
posted by jokeefe at 2:26 PM on May 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
Heather Cox Richardson, who both writes on Substack at Letters from an American and presents talks on Youtube, draws lines from the earliest days of slavery to the current iteration of the Republican Party, exposing its roots and how they wind through American culture. She apparently extemporizes her talks, which make them even more impressive; her explanation of how the figure of the American cowboy was created in the 19th century was fantastic. You can get an entire historical education just watching her videos or following her online (she also has a Facebook page).
posted by jokeefe at 2:26 PM on May 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
“It is important to realize that all history is revisionist history,”
This is a great remark. It reminds me of a comment one of the professors in my college's history department once made to a classmate of mine: "Never confuse history with truth."
posted by nickmark at 2:55 PM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
This is a great remark. It reminds me of a comment one of the professors in my college's history department once made to a classmate of mine: "Never confuse history with truth."
posted by nickmark at 2:55 PM on May 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
> Oh that was fascinating, such great research, and it led me to do a little digging about the history text I remember as a little white 4th-grader in Virginia.
I read that same book! That cover is unsettlingly familiar. Thanks for digging that up, janetland. And yet, I too, managed to overcome my childhood education in the virtues of white Virginians to learn the larger, more accurate history, and embrace anti-racism. It can be done.
I also second the James Lowen -- the Lies book and his book about historical markers, too.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:57 PM on May 10, 2021
I read that same book! That cover is unsettlingly familiar. Thanks for digging that up, janetland. And yet, I too, managed to overcome my childhood education in the virtues of white Virginians to learn the larger, more accurate history, and embrace anti-racism. It can be done.
I also second the James Lowen -- the Lies book and his book about historical markers, too.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:57 PM on May 10, 2021
On its own, I like the 1619 Project. I am someone who believes that we have barely scratched the surface of the impact racism has on society, and that racism has an impact in almost every aspect of our lives. But I am very sorry to say that I am starting to understand the animosity the right has with the 1619 Project.
I am lucky that my life is mostly devoid of people who voted for Trump, so this might affect my experiences. But surprisingly, despite all the protests and book clubs and conversations people are apparently having, I have experienced a too large amount of racism (though to be fair, this is in part because of the new American vice president). When I attempt to call this out, there is no attempt at understanding, despite the fact that these people are supposedly anti-racist. It is as if all their knowledge and all their anti-racism means that they do not need to listen to me, because they already have all the answers they need. What I think is the most interesting part of all this is that, I do not interact with that many white people, because white people, even (especially?) the anti-racist ones, are not really interested in being friends with me.
There is a lot of posturing, and very little self-reflection and self-awareness. I recently had a conversation with someone about how we need to act in minority-occupied spaces, as if I am not a racial minority myself. I talked to someone who told me about the conversations they were having with minorities, which turned out to actually mean, they read books and articles written by minorities. And so on. People keep whitesplaining racism to me. What's funny is that, I love to talk about race, and about my experiences and thoughts on racism. But no one ever asks me anything. It's like, if you claim to care so much about racism, wouldn't you take the opportunity to ask a racial minority what they think?
To me, the 1619 Project feeds into that. Its effect is not that you end up thinking about your actions or how you treat the people around you or what you can do to improve the situation. Its effect is that you applaud yourself for being knowledgeable and blame your history teacher for not teaching you correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the criticism is rooted in the feeling that many anti-racists seem to care more about appearing anti-racist than actually doing anything about racism.
posted by chernoffhoeffding at 3:01 PM on May 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
I am lucky that my life is mostly devoid of people who voted for Trump, so this might affect my experiences. But surprisingly, despite all the protests and book clubs and conversations people are apparently having, I have experienced a too large amount of racism (though to be fair, this is in part because of the new American vice president). When I attempt to call this out, there is no attempt at understanding, despite the fact that these people are supposedly anti-racist. It is as if all their knowledge and all their anti-racism means that they do not need to listen to me, because they already have all the answers they need. What I think is the most interesting part of all this is that, I do not interact with that many white people, because white people, even (especially?) the anti-racist ones, are not really interested in being friends with me.
There is a lot of posturing, and very little self-reflection and self-awareness. I recently had a conversation with someone about how we need to act in minority-occupied spaces, as if I am not a racial minority myself. I talked to someone who told me about the conversations they were having with minorities, which turned out to actually mean, they read books and articles written by minorities. And so on. People keep whitesplaining racism to me. What's funny is that, I love to talk about race, and about my experiences and thoughts on racism. But no one ever asks me anything. It's like, if you claim to care so much about racism, wouldn't you take the opportunity to ask a racial minority what they think?
To me, the 1619 Project feeds into that. Its effect is not that you end up thinking about your actions or how you treat the people around you or what you can do to improve the situation. Its effect is that you applaud yourself for being knowledgeable and blame your history teacher for not teaching you correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the criticism is rooted in the feeling that many anti-racists seem to care more about appearing anti-racist than actually doing anything about racism.
posted by chernoffhoeffding at 3:01 PM on May 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
Like a lot of others in the thread, I've been following Harriot on Twitter for a while, and read what he writes on the Root as often as I'm able. As far as him being home schooled, yes, his mother certainly does deserve recognition, but not just for the education she gave him, but for her reasoning behind home schooling him:
posted by Ghidorah at 6:23 PM on May 10, 2021 [11 favorites]
Some people know I was homeschooled until I was 12. I recently found out my mother was conducting an experiment. She told me she doesn't believe "a black child fully realize their humanity in the presence of whiteness."The thread where he discusses it is pretty fantastic, but then again, pretty much all of his Twitter threads are.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:23 PM on May 10, 2021 [11 favorites]
Closely related to these textbooks is the 1776 report as reviewed by Shaun. There is similar white washing and straight up near-religious propaganda in the report that Trump and his advisors wanted enforced in education [if he had the chance].
posted by RuvaBlue at 7:43 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RuvaBlue at 7:43 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was initially wondering how you even find out what textbook you used way back when. Then I remembered at least one of the years of high school I didn't even have a textbook (teacher* ran out) so it may not have mattered all that much which one was used. I do remember reading Lies my teacher told me and Howard Zinn as a teenager, which were more influential.
*(BlackLeotardFront, same teacher, weirdly enough.)
posted by blueberry monster at 8:54 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
*(BlackLeotardFront, same teacher, weirdly enough.)
posted by blueberry monster at 8:54 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was never taught, in any of the schools I attended from Kindergarten through university, that slavery had ever existed in my home state (New York).
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 AM on May 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 AM on May 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
After the '60s everything was coming up roses and we were approaching a post-racial society. Congratulations, everyone!
posted by BlackLeotardFront
This definitely was the vibe I got from my education. I wish, when we complained that "we get it, don't be racist" after reading Black like Me, Cry my Beloved Country, To Kill A Mockingbird- that we had been told that racism was still happening right now. That it wasn't just the terrible things that had happened to Black people (mainly in America), but gross attitudes about indigenous people, jokes about other people of colour. Microaggressions. We were living in a racist soup and didn't even know.
Racism didn't end with the civil rights movement, but that's for sure the impression I got.
posted by freethefeet at 5:09 AM on May 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by BlackLeotardFront
This definitely was the vibe I got from my education. I wish, when we complained that "we get it, don't be racist" after reading Black like Me, Cry my Beloved Country, To Kill A Mockingbird- that we had been told that racism was still happening right now. That it wasn't just the terrible things that had happened to Black people (mainly in America), but gross attitudes about indigenous people, jokes about other people of colour. Microaggressions. We were living in a racist soup and didn't even know.
Racism didn't end with the civil rights movement, but that's for sure the impression I got.
posted by freethefeet at 5:09 AM on May 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
Today I learned that I'm the same age as Tom Cotton and we used the same US history textbook in high school. I went to high school with a whole bunch of people who did not turn out to be Tom Cotton. In fact, one of the great delights of social media has been rediscovering classmates from elementary school who have inexplicably grown up to be amazing, interesting people, many of whom are actively doing anti-racist work.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:03 AM on May 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 6:03 AM on May 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
> At the risk of opening up a stalkery derail: Michael Harriot was homeschooled??
I'm sure that many people who are homeschooled get a perfectly fine education, but if Harriot's work is any indication, I feel like his mom should be given some kind of teaching award.
Watching Harriot rise to national recognition has been super satisfying. I first encountered him in the Atlanta slam poetry scene (he'd drive in from Alabama to take part in them) and he was incandescent then. Any mention of his mom reminds of one of the first pieces I ever heard him deliver.
posted by Maaik at 8:42 AM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm sure that many people who are homeschooled get a perfectly fine education, but if Harriot's work is any indication, I feel like his mom should be given some kind of teaching award.
Watching Harriot rise to national recognition has been super satisfying. I first encountered him in the Atlanta slam poetry scene (he'd drive in from Alabama to take part in them) and he was incandescent then. Any mention of his mom reminds of one of the first pieces I ever heard him deliver.
posted by Maaik at 8:42 AM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I talked to someone who told me about the conversations they were having with minorities, which turned out to actually mean, they read books and articles written by minorities. And so on. People keep whitesplaining racism to me. What's funny is that, I love to talk about race, and about my experiences and thoughts on racism. But no one ever asks me anything. It's like, if you claim to care so much about racism, wouldn't you take the opportunity to ask a racial minority what they think?
That sounds like direct fallout from white folks picking up on messages that it shouldn't be on minorities to educate white folks about racism, it's exhausting and traumatic for the minorities, and the white folks need to do their own homework and educate themselves. Which for many white folks means reading books and articles written by minorities, because those are available for that purpose. It feels like a weird snake-eating-its-own tail kind of issue--white folks don't want to be seen as presumptuous (or as precipitating trauma) by starting conversations, so the conversations don't happen, nothing gets discussed, and racism gets reinforced.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:07 AM on May 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
That sounds like direct fallout from white folks picking up on messages that it shouldn't be on minorities to educate white folks about racism, it's exhausting and traumatic for the minorities, and the white folks need to do their own homework and educate themselves. Which for many white folks means reading books and articles written by minorities, because those are available for that purpose. It feels like a weird snake-eating-its-own tail kind of issue--white folks don't want to be seen as presumptuous (or as precipitating trauma) by starting conversations, so the conversations don't happen, nothing gets discussed, and racism gets reinforced.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:07 AM on May 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
That sounds like direct fallout from white folks picking up on messages that it shouldn't be on minorities to educate white folks about racism, it's exhausting and traumatic for the minorities, and the white folks need to do their own homework and educate themselves.
Could be, but there's also so many people who just don't like to ask questions. They want to be the person who teaches, not the person who learns.
posted by subdee at 9:33 AM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Could be, but there's also so many people who just don't like to ask questions. They want to be the person who teaches, not the person who learns.
posted by subdee at 9:33 AM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm USian, born in NYC in the early 1950s, but I went to French schools in France and in other countries until I was 18. I figured out at an early age that the history they taught in those schools was just one of numerous possible versions of history, that history was not just a bunch of neutral facts to memorize, that whoever chose which facts we were taught had an agenda.
posted by mareli at 3:55 PM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mareli at 3:55 PM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Why Confederate Lies Live On - "For some Americans, history isn't the story of what actually happened; it's the story they want to believe."
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I figured out at an early age that the history they taught in those schools was just one of numerous possible versions of history, that history was not just a bunch of neutral facts to memorize, that whoever chose which facts we were taught had an agenda.
You have reminded me of a couple of books which are both fascinating reads, and would be good at illustrating this exact point. They are both anthologies, but with a difference.
1. History Lessons is a collection of excerpts which collectively tell the story of American history, but the execerpts are taken from the history textbooks from other countries and how they present those events. So you have the Norwegian history textbooks' take on early Viking excursions to North America, the UK's take on the Revolutionary War, Canada's take on the War of 1812, France's take on the Louisiana Purchase, etc. The North Korean take on the Korean War is a trip.
2. History In The Making is similar - it's still an anthology of excerpts from history textbooks. But instead of other countries' takes on our history, it samples from different editions of US high school textbooks throughout our history. Meaning: the editors have selected a bunch of different events in US history, and then gathered different textbooks' accounts of that event - so for instance, for Washington at Valley Forge, you'd get the 1820 textbooks' account, and then maybe one from 1890, then one from 1915, then one from 1940, then from 1960, then 1990. And then for a section on Lincoln's assassination, you'd get an 1880 textbook's take, then a 1914, then 1930, then maybe 1960, and then 1990...you get the idea.
The "History in the Making" book is particularly interesting; the editors do a great job of pointing out what the current political climate was in each era, and how that may have affected the narrative. So for one event - the kickoff of the Mexican-American War - you go from it being a kind of matter-of-fact journalistic take in the 1850 textbook, when it was still recent memory; then something slightly more detailed in the 1870s, when people were still reeling from the Civil War; then something completely batshit racist in the 1890s when we were in the midst of the Spanish Civil War (I quote a part of it here). Then you see the early 20th-century textbooks start to admit the whole thing was a land grab on the US's part, and the later 20th-Century textbooks start to talk less and less about it to make room for other wars....and then by 1990, the editors say that US history textbooks kind of stopped talking about it altogether.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on May 14, 2021 [5 favorites]
You have reminded me of a couple of books which are both fascinating reads, and would be good at illustrating this exact point. They are both anthologies, but with a difference.
1. History Lessons is a collection of excerpts which collectively tell the story of American history, but the execerpts are taken from the history textbooks from other countries and how they present those events. So you have the Norwegian history textbooks' take on early Viking excursions to North America, the UK's take on the Revolutionary War, Canada's take on the War of 1812, France's take on the Louisiana Purchase, etc. The North Korean take on the Korean War is a trip.
2. History In The Making is similar - it's still an anthology of excerpts from history textbooks. But instead of other countries' takes on our history, it samples from different editions of US high school textbooks throughout our history. Meaning: the editors have selected a bunch of different events in US history, and then gathered different textbooks' accounts of that event - so for instance, for Washington at Valley Forge, you'd get the 1820 textbooks' account, and then maybe one from 1890, then one from 1915, then one from 1940, then from 1960, then 1990. And then for a section on Lincoln's assassination, you'd get an 1880 textbook's take, then a 1914, then 1930, then maybe 1960, and then 1990...you get the idea.
The "History in the Making" book is particularly interesting; the editors do a great job of pointing out what the current political climate was in each era, and how that may have affected the narrative. So for one event - the kickoff of the Mexican-American War - you go from it being a kind of matter-of-fact journalistic take in the 1850 textbook, when it was still recent memory; then something slightly more detailed in the 1870s, when people were still reeling from the Civil War; then something completely batshit racist in the 1890s when we were in the midst of the Spanish Civil War (I quote a part of it here). Then you see the early 20th-century textbooks start to admit the whole thing was a land grab on the US's part, and the later 20th-Century textbooks start to talk less and less about it to make room for other wars....and then by 1990, the editors say that US history textbooks kind of stopped talking about it altogether.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on May 14, 2021 [5 favorites]
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posted by TedW at 6:07 AM on May 10, 2021 [4 favorites]