TBD on Ning
Not satisfied with U.S. history, some conservatives are rewriting it
By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — The right is rewriting history.
The most ballyhooed effort is under way in Texas, where conservatives have pushed the state school board to rewrite guidelines, downplaying Thomas Jefferson in one high school course, playing up such conservatives as Phyllis Schlafly and the Heritage Foundation and challenging the idea that the Founding Fathers wanted to separate church and state.
The effort reaches far beyond one state, however.
In articles and speeches, on radio and TV, conservatives are working to redefine major turning points and influential figures in American history, often to slam liberals, promote Republicans and reinforce their positions in today's politics.
The Jamestown settlers? Socialists. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton? Ill-informed professors made up all that bunk about him advocating a strong central government.
Theodore Roosevelt? Another socialist. Franklin D. Roosevelt? Not only did he not end the Great Depression, he also created it.
Joe McCarthy? Liberals lied about him. He was a hero.
Some conservatives say it's a long-overdue swing of the pendulum after years of liberal efforts to define history on their terms in classrooms and in popular culture.
"We are adding balance," Texas school board member Don McLeroy said. "History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left."
The effort in Texas and nationwide is controversial, however, even among many conservatives. McLeroy was defeated in a recent primary after he led the campaign for a more conservative version of history, a defeat that the National Review, a leading conservative organ, called "sensible."
While even some conservative intellectuals say that some of the revisionist history is simply wrong, at the core, the effort reflects the ever-changing view of history, which is always subject to revision thanks to new information or new ways of looking at things, and often is viewed through a political lens.
"History in the popular world is always a political football," said Alan Brinkley, a historian at Columbia University. "The right is unusually mobilized at the moment."
"Part of the tide of history is that it's contested terrain," said Fritz Fischer, a historian at the University of Northern Colorado and the chairman of the National Council for History Education. "We should always be arguing and questioning what happened in the past."
It's not just historians who contest history, however. It's also politicians and pundits.
The left has done it.
Fischer cited the case of controversial former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, whose essay claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the fruit of illegal U.S. policies became a cause celebre. Fischer said Churchill "ignored a lot of evidence and made some up to promulgate a particular political belief."
Now, it's the right.
"There's clearly a political impetus behind this that connects to the issues of today," Fischer said, such as labeling President Barack Obama a socialist. "But when history is ignored to do it, that can be dangerous."
Here are five recent examples of new conservative versions of history:
(Full article)
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91478/some-conservatives-rewr...
WASHINGTON — The right is rewriting history.
The most ballyhooed effort is under way in Texas, where conservatives have pushed the state school board to rewrite guidelines, downplaying Thomas Jefferson in one high school course, playing up such conservatives as Phyllis Schlafly and the Heritage Foundation and challenging the idea that the Founding Fathers wanted to separate church and state.
The effort reaches far beyond one state, however.
In articles and speeches, on radio and TV, conservatives are working to redefine major turning points and influential figures in American history, often to slam liberals, promote Republicans and reinforce their positions in today's politics.
The Jamestown settlers? Socialists. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton? Ill-informed professors made up all that bunk about him advocating a strong central government.
Theodore Roosevelt? Another socialist. Franklin D. Roosevelt? Not only did he not end the Great Depression, he also created it.
Joe McCarthy? Liberals lied about him. He was a hero.
Some conservatives say it's a long-overdue swing of the pendulum after years of liberal efforts to define history on their terms in classrooms and in popular culture.
"We are adding balance," Texas school board member Don McLeroy said. "History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left."
The effort in Texas and nationwide is controversial, however, even among many conservatives. McLeroy was defeated in a recent primary after he led the campaign for a more conservative version of history, a defeat that the National Review, a leading conservative organ, called "sensible."
While even some conservative intellectuals say that some of the revisionist history is simply wrong, at the core, the effort reflects the ever-changing view of history, which is always subject to revision thanks to new information or new ways of looking at things, and often is viewed through a political lens.
"History in the popular world is always a political football," said Alan Brinkley, a historian at Columbia University. "The right is unusually mobilized at the moment."
"Part of the tide of history is that it's contested terrain," said Fritz Fischer, a historian at the University of Northern Colorado and the chairman of the National Council for History Education. "We should always be arguing and questioning what happened in the past."
It's not just historians who contest history, however. It's also politicians and pundits.
The left has done it.
Fischer cited the case of controversial former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, whose essay claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the fruit of illegal U.S. policies became a cause celebre. Fischer said Churchill "ignored a lot of evidence and made some up to promulgate a particular political belief."
Now, it's the right.
"There's clearly a political impetus behind this that connects to the issues of today," Fischer said, such as labeling President Barack Obama a socialist. "But when history is ignored to do it, that can be dangerous."
Here are five recent examples of new conservative versions of history:
(Full article)
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91478/some-conservatives-rewr...
Tags: America, history, politics, revisionist
Views: 17
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Madhatterat60 on
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Sigh...we ARE talking Texas, after all. Hell, I say...let them secede
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Permalink Reply by Bull on
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The problem being they, Texas, are big enough to decide how textbooks will be written and no other state sets critira.The result being other states have no choice but to buy what Texas demanded.
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not many are THAT ignorant.
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Permalink Reply by John Turberville on
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I have always thought Texas should be made it's own sovereign country and NOT be part of the US. Let them seceed. I'm for it.
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Permalink Reply by caseyjo on
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They are not only rewriting US history, they put a new chapter in Darwins theory of Evolution, and they have Jesus riding dinosaurs.
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Permalink Reply by Vernon Windsor on
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Are you serious?
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http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/17/ray-comfort-and-charl...
http://creationmuseum.org/
There are many pics on the web of a religious coloring book for little children with Jesus riding A dinosaur, and of course the list goes on & on coming from people trying to disprove science. It's only getting worse, not better.........
But they sure do take advantage of the healing and luxuries brought forth by science... -
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Yipes.
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Ah...to paraphrase "...crackpots you will have with you always." I had an acquaintence who refused to allow her young (14) daughter access to any of the Harry Potter books for the same reason. I asked her if she REALLY believed that such a thing could bring evil into her house.
"You bet I do...."
To which I replied...."Then it's probably best you don't read them. If you believe the CAN effect you...they will."
These mad dogs always lie down with fleas and wonder why they're scratching. I have no problems as long as they keep this kind of horse shit bottled up in their own house. When they want to bring it into MY house...then we have a problem. -
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Well, all I have to say is I feel very sorry for the poor teletubbies who were straight one day and gay the next.
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LOL Yes, the sexual orientation of imaginary creatures is something that should concern us all.
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