As a history teacher and as a de facto Kendo instructor, I need to comment on this article. Colorado has no business trying to force Respect for Authority on students by whitewashing American history to downplay and even omit instances of civil disobedience. The initiative-- a conservative idea-- smacks of historical revisionism and lets-ignore-uncomfortable-stuff. It has as an unspoken agenda-- the omission of the labor struggle in the US and the civil rights struggle, which were both unpatriotic from a conservative perspective. The stated intention here is to promote (quote) patriotism, respect for authority and free enterprise. The -unofficial- objective is to purge lefty historical precedents from the history books. Well, as a history teacher, I have to say, this is a stupendously bad idea. They transparently want to shackle history teachers to an ideological agenda. Fortunately, the students see this and across Colorado, high school students and even some teachers are protesting against this. Good for the students. And bravo to the courageous teachers who are speaking out. As a Kendo instructor, I teach respect for authority. Its part of what I do. It is part of the culture of Kendo. I think that is important. But I dont condone trying to encourage respect for authority by engaging in historical revisionism. No! Im all for respect for authority. But that does not mean changing history to suit our ideology, or keep students from being exposed to ideas we may or may not like. Its called, education, which, apparently, conservatives in Colorado are somewhat afraid of.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 23:13:10 +0000
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