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Several years ago, maybe 30, I
remember something of a mini scandal involving American history text
books (published I think by Macmillan) that were filled with
inaccuracies. One taught school kids that MacArthur used the Atom
bomb on China during the Korean War. The episode caused a spate
of Johnny Carson-like jokes on talk shows, but I don't think
anybody saw it as a harbinger of wholesale rewriting of American
history, by "progressive" educators, but it was.
As often happens, I was looking for something else when I came across a paper written by a school boy named Zachary Elder, who opens with a quote from historian
Howard Zinn, a sure tip-off that another mind full of mush has been
hardened by socially conscious history. Here's a clip from the
lad's deliciously titled ''Inaccurate History: the problem, its effects, and possible solutions''.
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''Helen Keller’s life is one example of the
historical controversy left out of American history. The story most of
us know is that she overcame her deafness and blindness in a heroic fashion to
have a long career as a great humanitarian; she therefore teaches students the
virtues of hard work and perseverance.
However, the textbooks in high schools (and many in universities) choose
not to teach us that she is regarded as a great humanitarian because she spoke
on behalf of socialism and radical change in a period of staunch nationalism
and capitalist control. She came to
realize that social class was a controlling factor for opportunities, even in
the “land of the free.”
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Master of Deceit, by Dan Flynn, nicely summarizes Professor Zinn's efforts as a new age historian (''I wanted my writing of history and my teaching of history to be a part of social struggle ... .''), and in the process identifies the greater problem.
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''What accounts for the massive sales figures? A People’s History of the United States has been the beneficiary of fawning celebrities and zealous professors.''
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One now perhaps better understands the Left's ''hit'' order taken out on Newt Gingrich for his televised "Renewing American Civilization" course that taught ''old style'' American history.
I know what you're saying, ''But, Rodge, what can we do?'' There
might be other solutions, but I don't see anything that will work
better than this. If you find a Howard Zinn textbook on your kid's
desk, get some neighbors together, attach the teacher to several cinder
blocks, and before tossing him/her into a deep pond say, ''This hurts us
more than it does you, but it's for the chidren." Repeat about
50,000 times. It's for the Country too.
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