After a recent review of its textbooks, the California Board of Education has elected to make some changes. Reason being, according to deputy superintendent Sue Stickel in a FoxNews story, to "be free of any type of stereotyping." Here we go again.
Our nation founded by the "Founding Fathers"? No, "The Framers." Is it a snowman? No, snowperson. Your grandfather isn't a "senior citizen"; he's an "older person."
It doesn't stop there. Kids can't learn about Mt. Rushmore because Native Americans might be offended. All references to the devil have been removed. Hot dogs, not considered nutritious, are being removed from pictures.
Adults trying to micromanage children is nothing new, but this kind of tampering with education goes too far, effectively painting a false picture of history and of life in general.
Has anyone determined that irreversible harm is done when children read that our founders were fathers? Instead of hiding that, why not show children how far women have come in America, now breaking into the heights of business and politics?
Glossing over less-than-perfect periods in history is lying; children lose the concept of a dynamic society such as ours. The reality of American life is that today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today.
To show a child the fact that people in history overcame hardship and prejudice can inspire far more good than distorting history to reflect someone's ideals.
"Well, then we'll just have to talk about the Trail of Tears, slavery and the LAPD," liberals say. That's fine. Confronting one's past is important so that mistakes are not repeated.
At the same time, stories of white American men dealing with hardship must not be eliminated or discredited.
Take the story of the men who survived the Bataan Death March in World War II. Twelve-thousand American soldiers, along with about 60,000 Philippine soldiers, fought off a fierce Japanese attack in December 1941 for several months, only surrendering when their food supplies (including the horses) ran out.
For the next four years they were marched all over the Philippines, denied food and water, eventually transported to Japan on aptly named "Hellships" to work as slaves for Japanese corporations. Fewer than 3,000 men survived until they were released on V-J Day.
It's a story of true courage and strength under pressure that needs to be in every American history book, but I would bet that few young Americans even know about it. Instead, they are taught how evil we are for dropping a couple of atomic bombs. Is that what is best for our kids? Or would it be better to teach them about what they did to us and how we now have forgiven them for it?
What will be written about Sept. 11 in future history books? Are they going to read about Todd Beamer? What about Somalia in 1993 (Black Hawk Down)? Are our kids going to learn how bravely the men fought and, in fact, completed their mission?
Those are the types of stories of courage that can teach a young boy or girl, white, black or polka-dotted, about dealing with hardships in life, and it could very well show a kid that getting bullied in school isn't the worst thing that can happen.
Write to Gordon at gpheck@bsu.edu
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