Revisionist Right-Wing Agenda Causes Students to Protest Proposed History Curriculum

September 24, 2014 Posted by Staff

Hundreds of Denver high-school students stormed out of class on Tuesday in protest of a student board’s proposal to focus history education on topics that would encourage respect for authority, patriotism and citizenship.

According to the Denver Post, tensions have been building up for some time, mainly because of two issues: the proposed curriculum and the evaluation-based system for rewarding raises to educators. However, it was the new curriculum proposal that caused an unprecedented escalation. It would call for the promotion of topics that would highlight the “positive aspects” of the United States as well as its heritage, while avoiding material that could encourage or condone “civil disorder”, “social strife” or “disregard of the law”.

Two high schools closed on Friday in response to the proposed curriculum, as over 50 teachers either took personal days or called in sick. On the following Monday, students from six high schools began protests.

According to participants, their demonstration had been organized by word of mouth as well as social media, and involved students waving American flags and carrying signs that read “There is nothing more patriotic than protest.”

Countless students expressed their disapproval of the board’s proposal claiming that:

“I don’t think my education should be censored. We should be able to know what happened in our past,”

said Tori Leu, 17, from the Ralston Valley High School in Colo.

“Our entire history, things that changed America for the better, were acts of civil disobedience. The Declaration of Independence was an act of civil disobedience.”

Debbie Velarde, a junior at Wheat Ridge High school told reporters.

Last year, a conservative majority was apparently elected to the school board, which hired a new superintendent after clashes with the previous one. Julie Williams, part of the board’s conservative majority, is believed to have proposed the changes in the history curriculum.

The proposal hasn’t been voted on yet.

Julie Franke

No real clue about the full curriculum, but advocating for things like “respecting” the country we live in isn’t quite the war crime that the children seem to think. Truth should be told and history should be portrayed accurately. The truth is that compared to most every other nation historically, the USA has been an amazing success and done much good, even though obvious flaws such as slavery and segregation were part of this nation as they were in other nations as well. Not perfect, but a good history and civics curriculum should absolutely teach respect for the country. Anything else is inaccurate and self-indulgent dishonesty.
- Joshua Kaanaana
  
  Respect for the country should come organically, not by force and indoctrination.
  - TAP
    
    Organically? What are you NUTS? Who the hell taught you the process for learning, a hobbit? The only forced indoctrination is coming from the Left-Wing Revisionist so-called social justice history!!!!!!!!! Get it right you dumb GenX loser!
    - Shellie Anne Labell
      
      “Social history” may be revisionist, but it gives the little guy (like you and me) a chance to have our voices heard. We don’t need to idolize George Washington or Thomas Jefferson; it’s been done to death.
      
      Not to mention that studying history from a “bottom-up” point of view can be very refreshing after incessantly hearing how great the “Founding Fathers” were, completely ignoring their flaws while indiscriminately lauding their contributions that were only made possible by those working around them, of whom we rarely hear.
    - Sully
      
      Shellie makes a great point. We consistently idolize the founding fathers, but what you won’t hear in most history courses is how truly awful some of them were. And lying about that to make our History seem patriotic is still lying.
      - TAP
        
        another yawwwnnnnnnnnn
      - Sully
        
        Nice job refuting the facts.
    - Ronald”The Decider” Palin
      
      We pity you. But won’t miss you
- arendtian
  
  As a Cherokee I vehemently disagree with your statement. No society built on the blood of genocide is worthy of praise.
- Sully
  
  You should not attempt to make a history course “patriotic.” If you did, you would have to dance around things such as Vietnam War era atrocities, or Operation Paperclip. And that is lying about our history. And “disrespect for laws” and “Social disobedience” has actually played a huge and positive role in our history. Take Martin Luther King Jr. for instance. They engaged in “disrespect for laws” and “Social disobedience” in order to correct a huge injustice.
- Lee8
  
  We have and will continue to invade other countries for resources and political gain.
  If you equate respect of our government to a hands-off, anything goes attitude without questioning –
  then our democracy will be lost in short order. It’s called fascism. Look it up.
Storm

The forbidden path is usually well trodden. This conservative initiative may actually constitute a fresh breeze for a change during these rebellious times.
- Brian Lorraine
  
  1+1=3. (rubs lombotomy scar)
Cr

The GOP believe in censorship not freedom
atlmil

Revisionist is rewriting. This is what are going to be the focus of history classes – no rewrite. While the “right-wing” agenda is a great headline grabber, it is again misleading and misapplication of words very common in the media showing their own agenda. History, like news, should be unbiased facts and allow people to think and make their own conclusions. History is written by the victors, but to truly know history, you must look at all perspectives.
- D_Smith2020
  
  The liberal controlled public education system is a complete failure. Look at the latest Annenberg study. More than a quarter of them couldn’t name the three branches of government. Six percent of them couldn’t even point out where the U.S. was on a global map. Close to twenty percent of them didn’t even know the earth circles the sun! But they all feel entitled and know to use a condom when they stick a penis in their rectum. That’s about all they’re good for.
  - Sean Sandefer
    
    If the kids are that dumb, I’d rather they KNOW about safe sex so they’re not reproducing and making more idiot babies to burden the system.
  - Brandon Hart
    
    I looked up the study it and saw that it mentions 36% of Americans couldn’t name the three branches, but did not specify whether they had been educated in public schools, private schools, home schools, or even educated at all.
  - Philip Duarte
    
    if you are going to blame something blame the TX board of ed who rewrites most of the curriculum and they aren’t “liberal” like you imagine. Another issue could be that time is needed to learn and overall the system is testing more and teaching less as well as many more issues that we can only begin to improve upon.
  - Tiredofwhackos
    
    ?????WTF???
  - laugh_or_cry
    
    “I hope I die before I get old” or like you
  - arendtian
    
    White slavery in america is a trivial historical tidbit and not something every highschool graduate should know. It consisted mostly of people whose skin was maliciously died to make them look black or naturally darker white people who were mistaken for mulattos. White slavery was a product of racism against blacks – not proof that both races where discriminated against like some conservative loons would tell you.
    - spiderbucket
      
      Nice spin. Know any Irish ?
      - arendtian
        
        They were actually called “black” or “colored” and were also not chattel slaves in the sense that people generally mean when they say ‘slavery’ in America. They were not bought and sold in actions for example.
  - Sully
    
    Okay, I’ll buy the Harry Reid thing, but where are you calling out those other statistics? And what were the ages of the students?
    Furthermore, our SAT scores have not fallen – they have simply remained the same. We haven’t gotten worse, other countries have gotten better.
    Believe it or not, we actually do know quite a bit about how the Native Americans were decimated by disease – and killed by the Europeans. We know all about the atrocities of the slave trade, European, American, Middle Eastern, and otherwise. We know all about atrocities committed by Muslims. We also know about atrocities committed by Christians.
    Agreed, our education system does have problems, but it’s certainly better than no education system. It needs reform, not destruction.
  - Ronald”The Decider” Palin
    
    http://lcap.psych.ucla.edu/pdfs/amodio_natureneuroscience07.pdf
    
    You are WRONG!! In fact science says YOU are dumber than me. I can tell by your biased rant, the one which brushes off education as political indoctrination. That must have been your excuse for sucking so bad at school. We pity you, but won;t miss you.
D_Smith2020

It’s not revisionist. It’s reform. Liberal revisionism is the poison that replaced the cure. We rose to number one with what they don’t want and are rapidly deteriorating under what they do want. Truthfully, this reform is just a reset back to truth. But today’s brainwashed liberal students can’t handle the truth. They were literally programmed for year with a carefully filtered history and PC victimization/entitlement ideology. They like sexual immorality, drug and alcohol addiction, rebellion against legitimate authority, homosexual marriage (even though they no longer marry in any great number), and a false liberal revisionist curriculum. It’s tragic and the nation continues to rapidly deteriorate socially, economically, educationally, politically, culturally, morally, etc… Looking at this upcoming generation, it’s obvious things are going to get a LOT worse ultimately with massive sweeping social upheaval and more failed social experiments like the totalitarian Marxist state atheistic communism that wiped out about 150 million people last century and persecuted and appropriated the property of close to two billion more. Tragic.
- Sean Sandefer
  
  Would you like to throw in a Benghazi for good measure? I think that’s the only conservative bullet point you missed.
- Brian Harvill
  
  What is tragic is your obvious lack of education and your adherance to rightwing propaganda. You could certainly benefit from some remedial classes yourself in civics (equality under the law), sociology, anthropology, and history. Try getting your facts before trying to preach the gospel because you don’t have any understanding of the real world judging from your post.
  - TAP
    
    Tragically, you have no facts, only an opinion. Remember that.
    - Brian Harvill
      
      What is funny is that you are trying to denigrate me for posting while you are doing the exact same thing. And while it is true that I am “stuck”, there are plenty that will read the ideas expressed and take the arguments to other places. Also of note is that it looks as if my opinions are being plyed out on a real stage and that the protests against a false representation of the real world are being spread across the nation. Stuff like this dodging of reality only succeed when people turn a blind eye to it.
      
      As for facts…
      
      First there is the fact that history includes the times of protest and civil discord that the right is attempting to whitewash.
      
      Second there is the fact that the issue at stake isn’t left wing propaganda but has to do with the education that our young people receive. I would prefer that a person get the entire truth rather than a cowardly avoidance of reality that is not all roses and caviar. To do otherwise is to create a false sense of how things work in the world.
      
      There are always going to be those that stand for the truth, and there will always be others that attempt to avoid the issue by casting doubt, calling names, and by pretending that a stance for truth is pointless. If people gave in to rhetoric like yours, Jim Crow would still be a reality. Standing for the truth is ALWAYS a worthy undertaking.
      - TAP
        
        What? You said something? Was that a substitute for intelligence? Um no. You are a race baiter and an intolerant paid blogger.
      - Brian Harvill
        
        How funny, you must be thinking your pointless insults have some impact. First what is race baiting by actually representing history as it happens. Are you that ashamed of the psst? Are you that blind to not recognize that issues of dissent being expressed are what isvgreat about the nation, at least its part of our greatness. That America consistently has these periods where it faces itself and fights its way through the social quagmire to a deeper and stronger belief in man’s dignity.
        
        As for being paid, hardly. It would be nice to earn money for facing down ignorance such as yours. Alas, that isn’t the reality. In reality, I am a disabled American veteran who has fought for this nation and earned my right to have an opinion. So rather than personal insults, maybe you should educate yourself about what the history of the nation is and how this nation benefits from the times of struggle rather than pretending that America is one big Pollyanna experience.
- Paul Beighley
  
  What really scares me more than the upcoming social upheaval you are concerned about is your being a voter.
Brian Harvill

I would agree that there needs to be information about respect for our government, (something lacking in the GOP that only wants that respect for themselves). Yet when it comes to issues of history, the truth is always going to be preferable. As is quite evident in the posts of people like D Smith 2020, he obviously missed a lot of information and education concerning the foundation of the nation. Specifically the portions that deal with equality under the law.

The nation at present seems to be crumbling but this is mere illusion based on the propaganda of those who would hinder growth and rational change. This nation isn’t deteriorating on social or moral grounds, and as for education try to think about the switch made by conservatives in curriculum that ensures the youth aren’t given truth but a healthy dose of propaganda. The financial systems are suffering from human greed and a lack of overs ::) ght which comes from the GOPs ideas of treating corporations as if they were actually individual humans with thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

Time to eliminate the mythology of the rightwing ideologues and start teaching the truth. For example, the native populations were devimated because of three things…
1) lack of immunity from HUMAN disease…(not livestock).
2) European and christians that enslaved and sxhemed against the native peoples.
3) Christian attempts to eradicate all native culture and identity.

Start learning the truth instead of your thinly veiled ignorance D Smith 2020…
You could use some education yourself before trying to preach to the masses.
- Paul Beighley
  
  Unfortunately the folks who want to spin history to fit their own belief system also vote in large numbers because they actually care.
  - Brian Harvill
    
    Actually, since the passage of citizens united, money is more important than votes. Winning the popular vote doesn’t necessarily translate into political will or political power. Now its about buying an election and corporate whimsy.
Sol

Patriotism does need to be taught if the Country is just. Just like you don’t need to read the Bible to learn Morality.
rdbyrne

All history is revisionist.
zediculous

Sad … the ignorance of progressives and democrats …. they hate this country and all it stands for
- Brian Harvill
  
  More than sad is the ignorance and intransigence of the rightwing ideologues… For them, history is something to be ignored and the masses are to be ruled. Individuality is to be eliminated at all costs and police state tactics used to enforce compliance. Torture, domestic spying, and heavy censorship are the hallmarks and legacy of the rightwing for the last 30+ years.
  
  Guess its easier not having to think for yourself. Just do, think, and say what your told to do, think, and say…
  
  Your moniker is appropriate… ridiculous… I mean Zediculous.
  - zediculous
    
    Actually its the left wing fascists that try to control the histories and lexicon (the recent political correct language police is a quick example) in an attempt to move their extremist agenda forward. This is another example where when the words or examples used do not fit their ideology they scream and rant.
    - GilligansIphone
      
      You obviously don’t know the meaning of the word “fascist”.
    - Brian Harvill
      
      There isn’t screaming and ranting when that issue is whether we try to wwhitewash the times when America has not exactly lived up to its promise. According to the curriculum, the issues of the civil rights movement would be glossed over since it includes protest and cibil disobedience. Shouldn’t students learn about civil rights? Or maybe we should eliminate the history that surrounds the establishment of the National Park system, maybe you would prefer that the matter of protests against the draft and the police response at Kent State be ignored?
      
      This has nothing to do with the politically correct speech but everything to do with teaching the children the rrality
  - TAP
    
    Brian, brian, brian… I shake my head at the brainwashing you have been subject to. You have listened to the liars of the far left wing way too long.
    - Brian Harvill
      
      Sorry Tap… the only lying going on is on those that are ignoring the history of civil rights movements, the rise of Unions and the protests against child labor and horrible working conditions, ignores the issues of protests that led to the rise of America in the first place.
      
      I am arguing for the truth rather than a whitewashed version of American politics ans American society. Its not all roses and walks in the park…
      
      America has been fought over, fought with, and fought for.. ignoring this reality is shameful behavior but typical of the rightwing that ignores the ugliness of life for a pretense that everything is fine and never needs to be improving.
      - TAP
        
        YAWNNNNNNN old news.. move on…
- Ronald”The Decider” Palin
  
  http://lcap.psych.ucla.edu/pdfs/amodio_natureneuroscience07.pdf
  
  Study out of UCLA, published in nature. Conservatives are dumber than liberals. Go figure…
  
  http://66.135.55.40/DaveSource.com/Fringe/Fringe/Politics/Conservatism-and-cognitive-ability.pdf
  
  More…. The first sentence of the abstract says it all… HAHAHAHAHHAAAAA
  
  Obviously conservatives shouldn’t be allowed near schools, so….. FAIL
Munch Hausen

Proof why we don’t allow children to vote.

God forbid any school try to “promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority.”

Oh wait, that’s actually the primary role of school, isn’t it? (If not, it should be.)
- Shellie Anne Labell
  
  The primary roles of school are to a) teach students how to think, and b) teach them the basics of knowledge in various subjects so they can combine that knowledge with the ability to discriminate between what is sound information and what is bunk.
  
  This should be happening in every country which prides itself on having an educated population, so I’m not sure how patriotism is relevant to a basic education.
  - Munch Hausen
    
    Boy, aren’t you a dummy.
- Ronald”The Decider” Palin
  
  You old sad fool…. I’m sorry you think the way you do. It most make you feel very pathetic
  - Munch Hausen
    
    I think you meant “must.” And, no, I actually feel great each and every day. Enjoy your banality and inability to proofread.
NC_TAXPAYER_13

I am proud of these students!

Fact is that the Union of American States is a ‘direct result of civil disobedience to the Crown’. I
would agree that We as People need to have respect for our duly elected, appointed, and hired ‘public servants’ when and only when they are dissevering of our respect.

In my own opinion there are many persons holding offices of trust that We the People created
with our State and Federal Constitutions, and the Laws created under their authority that ‘are not’ dissevering any amount of respect from anyone, and thank my ‘creator’ that my forefathers were wise
enough to have my ‘unalienable right’ to say so ‘secured by our system of law’.

So many people seem to be somehow mislead into a belief that their ‘rights were created and granted to them via earthly (man made) legislatures’ which is simply not true.

“You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; right derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.” John Adams

I firmly believe that John Adams knew and understood the American system of jurisprudence well. The rights of individuals do not come from the will of any majority or public opinion. They have ‘always
existed’, will always exist, and cannot ‘rightfully, legally, or lawfully’ be abridged or denied.

In today’s America I feel it is common practice for our ‘elected, appointed, and hired’ public servants to trample all over these rights, and refuse to honor their Oaths to protect the rights of ‘individuals’ they know or should know are being violated.

I suspect that a lot of this confusion is a result of religious leaders. Many religious institutions today teach that the governments among men are empowered and ordained to take the actions they take,
be it right or wrong, it is justified in the end by the God they claim to be theirs. Many here in America today will teach their followers that the People in State and Federal Government are in the position of Caesar, and that their flocks must render onto Caesar that which is Caesars.

This teaching is not what the fundamental American Laws imply. Our system of Law places the People as Caesar, and we elect and hire ‘public servants’ to fill the offices We created and perform the
obligations of those offices for our benefit.
Sully

While I have no problem with someone feeling proud to be an American (land of the free, home of the brave and all that), revising our history to reflect patriotic values is simply wrong. America has, over the years done things that are, in my mind, inexcusable. For example, a history textbook should not try to justify things like operation Paperclip or the Vietnam war. However, if a textbook’s aim is to be patriotic, it would have to justify or dance around such things.
Making a history course patriotic would force us to lie about our own history.
Ronald”The Decider” Palin

http://lcap.psych.ucla.edu/pdfs/amodio_natureneuroscience07.pdf

Study out of UCLA, published in nature. Conservatives are dumber than liberals. Go figure…
Lee8

” …. topics that would highlight the “positive aspects” of the United States as well as its heritage, while avoiding material that could encourage or condone “civil disorder”, “social strife” or “disregard of the law”.

This is a long held scheme of the radical right to tap down the masses – us – when we start protesting against wages that don’t support our families to live a decent life. We would be indoctrinated that all corporations are good. Labor grumblings are bad and would upset the prescribed civil/social order.

Corporations and the corporate world would be treated as a godly venture – giving the masses product and a wage. So, DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM !!!
Don’t strike against them and DON’T REGULATE THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t complain about voter suppression because that would create social strife in your neighborhood !

Get with the 100% Koch-funded cirriculum. People like Storm will feel pleasant then.
Lee8

This Koch-funded cirriculum will not only rewrite history, it seeks to ultimately dumbdown the masses.
HemiHead66

The Koch controlled Republican party want a bunch of mindless drones that are trained to vote for them. Of course Conservatives love all of that drivel about Ronald Reagan and free market economics that ship millions of U.S. jobs overseas.
spiderbucket

Basically, just give the kids perspective that they won’t get from anywhere else. We are not the worst country on the planet as they are being told every day by the left. A lot of the kids have not been outside the country to know that there are far, far worse examples of racism and sexism and religious extremism in the world.