Re: Hundreds of Colorado students protest history curriculum
If you were taught that America didn't conquer any land or become occupiers of any foreign government, then you were taught wrong. There's no easier way to put it. Why would you want to pass on this incorrect information to your children and your children's children?
Of course we occupied them right after the war, but my point was that we didn't take over Japan and make it the 51st state.
We had to occupy them for a while not only to make sure they couldn't threaten us or any of their neighbors, but we had to help the Japanese people who were starving and had always been treated like crap by their imperial government. We introduced long over due societal reforms, like establishing rights for women, freedom of speech through a free press, we established labor laws and labor standards, introduced education reform and we broke up the corporate monopolies that had always prevented the Japanese people from making a better lives for themselves.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but in the end, our 6 year presence their gave the Japanese people more freedom than they had ever known and set them on a path that in less than 30 years would see them become a world economic surper power... Something that every American should take pride in.
War is hell. In America, so many romanticize war, blurring the horror it causes on both sides. This is why we can fund the military so profusely, but can't and don't care to support the troops that come back ailing.
That has nothing to do with this discussion.
Why not get the entire debate? I'm not sure if I understand what's wrong with this perspective? It's the truth! Why would you want to suppress any of this?!
Because that's history. It's facts. We are suppose to be free thinkers, not blind followers. What you're proposing sounds like we should whitewash the crap and depict America as pure and holy. That's the last thing we need from our youth. We need to teach them to be critical thinkers of not only others but also themselves.
Let me put it to you this way... Do we take our 5 or 6 year old children to see slasher movies or rent XXX pornos for them to watch? Do we encourage 9, 10 and 11 year old girls to get on birth control and become sexually active? As adults, if we cheat on our taxes or lie to a stranger for our own personal benefit (which at one time or another most have done) do we tell them all about it or involve them in it? Do we tell kids the truth, that the many police officers can't be trusted because they are corrupt, dishonest, will arrest people for no reason, and some will even shoot people for no reason? Of course we don't because those things, and a whole list of others, can have a very negative effect on their mental development, their values, their moral outlook, and can create all kinds of social and psychological problems for them as adults.
Everyone knows that what we teach our kids can and will, directly effect what kind of an adult they will become and although you may not think so, that includes what we teach them about the country that they live in. The "whole debate" as you call it, the graphic blood and guts details of war, and the darker, more shameful chapters in our recent history are things for adults to talk about and discuss, not kids.
Because that's history. It's facts. We are suppose to be free thinkers, not blind followers.
Adults should be free thinkers, but kids have to be taught the things necessary to build a solid social and mental foundation, so they grow up to be respectful, healthy, law abiding citizens who are optimistic about the future and see things from a positive perspective. There's a reason why we don't teach our kids that life sucks, the government sucks, cops suck, the justice system sucks, work sucks, etc...
What you're proposing sounds like we should whitewash the crap and depict America as pure and holy. That's the last thing we need from our youth. We need to teach them to be critical thinkers of not only others but also themselves
If you go back and read my post again, you will see that I'm proposing nothing of the kind. I want history taught with balance and a stronger emphasis on the things that make America great, because it's important for our kids to grow up with a sense of pride in America.
Critical thinking is what they teach in college and for the record, teaching kids that Bush lied us to war and comparing him to Hitler isn't teaching them "critical thinking". It's teaching them to never trust the president, politicians, or the government, and that being American is nothing to be proud of.
I was raised mostly by my grandfather who on the whole, was not a very nice man... There was a long list of things in life and in the world that he hated, but he was a WWII veteran who not only emphasized the importance of being honest, but he taught me to love and respect the country, and to take pride in being an American... And you know what? I'm a very well informed, educated, open minded "critical thinker" that knows America's screw-ups as well as I do it's triumphs... it's victory's as well as it's mistakes... and it's good decisions as well as it's bad ones.
Unlike you self proclaimed "enlightened" ones, I don't feel that as a kid, I was lied to or deceived in any way because I wasn't taught about the enemies version of events in WWII, or heard the accusations of atrocities by American soldiers, or saw videos of doctors peeling the skin off of childrens backs in Japan, or wasn't given a first hand account of a person who's entire family was killed and their face was melted off from the A-bomb, who was treated like a leper, shunned by society and lived on the streets begging for food... Nope, not at all... The truth is, I'm damned glad I wasn't taught those things as a child, because I shutter to think how it would have effected my outlook, my perspective, and how I felt about being an American.
This may surprise you, but the people from my grandfathers generation... you know, the ones who were patriotic, loved the country and were proud to be American... they weren't stupid, didn't live their lives as fools and commanded their own destinies. They worked harder, sacrificed more and did so with a hell of a lot less than what we have today, without demanding that the government step in and help them... Maybe that's why those uninformed, unenlightened, patriotic saps will be forever known as the "Greatest generation".