They're Teaching History in New Mexico Without Rosa Parks or the Atomic Bomb
'They're' as in RW nut jobs who wouldn't know a history book from a matchbook.
This week in the laboratories of democracy.
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By Charles P. Pierce
Nov 9, 2017
Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done, and where they may call you doctor, or they may call you chief.
We begin this week in New Mexico. Once upon a time, Governor Susana Martinez was a rising star in the national Republican party. She had a compelling biography and she was a fine speaker who was given a prime slot at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Things have gone a bit sour for her since, and not just because the country elected a president* who would have her deported on sight.
Now, though, she and her administration seem to be grasping for what’s left of her conservative cred in embarrassing ways. From newmexicopolitics.com:
Students in high school U.S. History classes across New Mexico this year will not be tested on massive corporations and monopolies being forced to dismantle during the early 20th Century, the racial and ethnic conflict as people moved from farms to cities, or the bravery of Rosa Parks in fighting segregation in the South…
...I have suspicions that the events and topics eliminated from the U.S. History EOC are politically motivated. Events such as early 20th Century trust busting and the subsequent regulations on large corporations have been stricken. The racial and ethnic conflict from late 19th Century urbanization has been stricken.
The mobilization of the war industry during World War II that led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower warning of “the military industrial complex” has been stricken. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan has been stricken. The Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks has been stricken from the standards as well.
Regardless of ideology, I think we can all agree that teaching modern American history without mentioning the A-bomb or Rosa Parks is to leave an awful lot to the imagination. The textbook wars are really where the culture wars started, and where they’ve been smoldering the longest
'They're' as in RW nut jobs who wouldn't know a history book from a matchbook.
This week in the laboratories of democracy.
Getty
By Charles P. Pierce
Nov 9, 2017
Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done, and where they may call you doctor, or they may call you chief.
We begin this week in New Mexico. Once upon a time, Governor Susana Martinez was a rising star in the national Republican party. She had a compelling biography and she was a fine speaker who was given a prime slot at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Things have gone a bit sour for her since, and not just because the country elected a president* who would have her deported on sight.
Now, though, she and her administration seem to be grasping for what’s left of her conservative cred in embarrassing ways. From newmexicopolitics.com:
Students in high school U.S. History classes across New Mexico this year will not be tested on massive corporations and monopolies being forced to dismantle during the early 20th Century, the racial and ethnic conflict as people moved from farms to cities, or the bravery of Rosa Parks in fighting segregation in the South…
...I have suspicions that the events and topics eliminated from the U.S. History EOC are politically motivated. Events such as early 20th Century trust busting and the subsequent regulations on large corporations have been stricken. The racial and ethnic conflict from late 19th Century urbanization has been stricken.
The mobilization of the war industry during World War II that led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower warning of “the military industrial complex” has been stricken. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan has been stricken. The Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks has been stricken from the standards as well.
Regardless of ideology, I think we can all agree that teaching modern American history without mentioning the A-bomb or Rosa Parks is to leave an awful lot to the imagination. The textbook wars are really where the culture wars started, and where they’ve been smoldering the longest
