Sooners say “Later” to AP History
by Primo Encarnación
The bosslady Herownself has often told me that the only thing that keeps Texas from drifting into the Gulf is that Oklahoma sucks. Well, kids, Oklahoma is turning into a regular remora on the backside of the Bible Belt.
It seems that folks there have a real problem with history of the advanced placement kind. AP classes and tests in high school allow kids to get a head start on college and even earn college credits. But in the world of educational attainment, Oklahoma is FAR from OK, as one-quarter of its kids don’t graduate high school, while its 31% rate of resident college graduates ranks 46th out of the 50 states plus DC.
Nevertheless, those few people in Oklahoma who DO plan to move out soon would probably appreciate a leg up on that degree when they go to college.
Not so fast! say some in the Oklahoma State Pantload Club Legislature. Their Education Committee – so-called without a SHRED of irony or self-deprecation – has voted 11-4 to pass an “emergency” bill defunding AP American History because… why?
Because it’s mean to America.
America, as we all should have encoded into our DNA by now, is the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, and it’s disloyal, dishonorable, dishonest and disagreeable to say otherwise. If fact, it’s damn near heretical. Damn near? According to the Black Robe Regiment (they’ve never heard of you, either) we are “indoctrinating our youth at the exclusion of the Christian perspective.”
God, I hope so! But to Black Robe Regimentarian and Pastor Dan Fisher (R-Nutjobbia), that’s a bad thing. So his bill moves closer to becoming the law of his land and the land he belongs to ain’t grand.
You’d think with all those tornadoes and dust bowls and wind sweeping down the plain and such that they’d have had enough of low pressure areas. But, Noooooo!
Oklahoma just sucks harder.
If the Bible Belt is God’s Country, why does God keep smiting them with all those tornados?
1Google remora.
2First entry is from Wikipedia, for all your sucker fish info needs.
Next entry is guns: http://www.remoraholsterstore.com
Why do I somehow think this is not a coincidence?
How to make sure we repeat our mistakes….
3I had to find out, using the interweb world wide thing what the Black Robe Regiment was. I read that Glenn (Heil Hitler) Beck is involved with it. I get anally myopic about stuff GB says and does. And I’m against it.
4Alabama school systems did the same thing about AP courses. It seems to have originated at the county school board level. It caused a tsunami of indignation from the parents working at the Redstone Arsenal a/k/a Missile Defense Command. The first thing they snarled at the school system was: why are you trying so hard to keep my kid out of a good college? The school administrators and the board had never figured on such a response in general and that one in particular. They honestly don’t believe that the lack of AP courses in a kid’s high school CV is a problem. There response was financial: the extra AP courses could not be covered by the current budget so the regular courses would simply be bumped up to bridge the gap. Unfortunately, they do not understand that “inflated” is not equal to “improved!” Those kids lucky enough to have well educated parents are getting extra work at home to try to compensate being robbed, and thats exactly what it is!
5Yet another brick in the GOP wall of “Reality is whatever we say it is, and to hell with your facts.” History, incidence of voting fraud, climate science, evolution, reproductive biology, contents of the Bible, whatever it is, they KNOW and they won’t be told otherwise, no matter how much or how authoritative your evidence. Fanatics of any stripe are bloody dangerous and have no business being in charge of anything.
Ignorance can be forgiven and corrected, but there’s no excuse for people who are determined to be ignorant.
Actually, sounds to me like they’re afraid of students learning the truth.
6“Oklahoma Sucks Harder”. Makes a great bumper sticker.
7They tried that in Colorado back last fall, and the kids walked out of class for a couple weeks.
8Since the Repusive Party is so dumb, they want the rest of the world to be even dumber?
This is state sponsored authoritarianism at its worst. An amendment to the bill prescribes what historical documents may be taught. Truly we have Oklahoma Republicans here who insist that students be constrained to learning the party line. So much for liberty and freedom of thought. Stalin would have been proud.
9I clearly remember stories about jeebus hisownself and Ronnie Raygun at the Alamo loading ol’ Ticllikker for Davy Cricket hisownself. Raygun and jeebus each held Santa Clausana down so Jim Bowie could hack off his brisket for lunch one day. Yessiree,and John Wayne raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi after killing 27 million Japanese in just under two hours. ‘murrican history-the way god and wingnuts intended.
10Be kind….they may have thought “AP” stood for Asia-Pacific
11Democracy doesn’t work when so many citizens are illiterate jackasses and pride themselves on it.
12They are fighting a new style of civil war and winning. Keep ’em dumb and procreating and they will keep voting for the Koch brother candidates.
13I will take issue with one part of the reported story. The AP History teacher, apparently trying to make a point the anti-intellectuals might understand, said, “We let teachers select what parts to teach…obviously, if you are teaching about civil rights in the South, you’d have to teach the Declaration of Independence.”
Uh. No. You’d have to teach the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not the Declaration of Independence, which has nothing to do with our civil rights.
14The funny thing is that these same Republicans probably criticize Japanese history books’ softening Japan’s role in WW2.
15I can’t joke about this. As a former U.S. History teacher it just saddens me. It’s one thing to have an alternative interpretation of the events of the last few centuries. It’s another to create new events or deny that others happened.
16Sigh.
17@Scott
18Have you read an English translation How We Won the War, by Gen Vo, Giap? If you were sentient before spring, 1965, and paid attention until 1975, you’ll question if you and Gen Vo were involved in the same war. DRVN certainly had a very different view of that history.
It’s bad enough here in Oklahoma that we lead the nation in cuts in per student spending for the last 5 years. Then we get people like this in the legislature.
He’s not in my district, I didn’t vote for him, but obviously somebody elsewhere did.
We have a good country. I’m glad I live here, though I wish we could get some better people in office in this part of the country. But it wasn’t perfect in the past and isn’t now. Part of learning about the bad stuff is so we can make things better.
I guess he wants kids taught that the natives freely gave the Europeans the land, that women and blacks could always vote here, and there was no such thing as slavery. Probably erase the whole civil war from the history books.
19I wonder if it ever occurs to all those folk who brag about “American Exceptionalism” that exceptional is not always on the positive side.
Oklahoma is exceptionally bad at teaching history.
20Just had a recall about what my late husband told me about the high school history courses in Louisiana. The Civil War did not exist. Instead, it was the War of Northern Aggression. I thought he was kidding. Then I found out different. When he spent some time in Chicago as a young man, he often wondered what people were talking about regarding historical events. He really felt like odd man out. And I think that is what will happen with the Oklahoma kids who have no options but what they hear in school.
21Micr,
I can’t say I have. I haven’t taught U.S. History in a number of years. I’ve switched over to Special Education and English, but I certainly can’t imagine that they would have a different perspective of that war. Any good history teacher tries to teach their students that there are always multiple perspectives on any event or situation. It’s not so much that any single event did or didn’t happen, but that it’s IMPACT is certainly felt differently and understood differently.
22First, there is no need to educate slaves.
Second, the people of Oklahoma are already quite familiar with one of America’s greatest atrocities, The Trail Of Tears. That’s one they can’t hide by refusing to teach it. Many in Oklahoma learn about that from their parents and grandparents whose tribes suffered for generations at the hands of the white Christians..
They may be able to convince the poor dumb white boys, but the victims of the Trail Of Tears are still among them. That will not be forgotten.
23I think this is a national campaign. Some in the Georgia General Assembly also are attacking Common Core history.
Perhaps the goal is to abolish criticism of authority.
24See, this is what happens when we elect folks who couldn’t get into an AP class if there lives depended on it.
25What we need is an AP government class that must be passed in order to run for office……
Stupid is as stupid does.
The differences between there (a place), their (a possession) and they’re (they are) are sometimes lost in the translation of passionately felt ideals.
26Historical fact deniers, climate change deniers and truth in general deniers are merely throwing $hit out there in hopes that it will stick.
Unfortunately, they’re throwing it hard and often and their crap sticks there, and there, and there.
I believe cuts such as these are a direct artifact of the Koch Bros spending at every level of government to elect Know-Nothings. That, and your very own Master of Historical
Analysis David Barton and his books. Lets throw in Rush Limbaugh (Limpwad?) now writing history books for children.
Could all these things be related and part of a grand scheme to get people to home school their children? In this case, to save them from a truly bad “approved” curriculum.
27It may be that the Koch brothers of the nation are bent on reducing the value of America to enable them to buy it. Of course, at a reduced cost.
28They seem to think everything(one) else is for sale.
There are “events” and there are “perspectives”. The important thing is to distinguish between the two. These folks are trying to eliminate perspectives. It’s when we start eliminating events that we get in serious trouble. One is certainly entitled to view American history from a Christian perspective. I certainly wouldn’t view it that way, but whatever floats your boat. The problem is that when we become beholden to a particular perspective then we are more likely to discount or “forget” that certain events occurred because they don’t fit into that perspective. Manifest destiny and Christianity really don’t jive. So, let’s lop off the Trail of Tears and our general treatment of native Americans. Furthermore, let’s also throw out the internment camps because that doesn’t fit with our Christian heritage narrative.
The general distinction (which I know is asking a lot) is that while most people in the U.S. may have been Christians and may still be Christians, that Christianity didn’t necessarily shape the events that have put us on the course we are on. I know that this is asking people to use higher level thinking skills, but that’s what we are asked to do as teachers. So, the simple question remains, if we look back on the major events in our nation’s history, how often does mainstream Christian thoughts, ideals, and values play a positive role in the shaping of those events?
29Mark Schlemmer and Old Mayfly, I totally agree with you. Lots of things right now are national goals by the Koch brothers, from city government all the way up to national government. Now that they’ve taken over the USA they are working on Europe. Long and systematic plans and actions.
30Scott,
I am enjoying your analysis, but regarding your question, could you define “mainstream Christianity?” Northern Christianity certainly played a major role in the abolitionist movement, one could say a decisive role, given its populist origins in the first great awakening and the influence throughout the 19th century of English abolitionists / evangelicals like Wm Wilberforce.
Absent that singular instance, and acknowledgng that Southern preachers taught the opposite viewpoint, your general point is well taken.
31Good points.
32I’d agree with that Dachipster. My point was not to say that Christianity NEVER had a positive impact, but that it’s a lot rarer than people think. As for mainstream, I generally think of the major denominations. Any everyday fool can rent out a double wide, throw up a cross, and call themselves Christians. I don’t necessarily want to saddle Christians with their stain anymore than most Muslims want Al Queda or ISIS to be considered representative of their faith.
33Did you know that the speeches of Ronnie Raygun are part of the new curriculum? As we used to say, gag me with a spoon.
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