|
Gee, Steve, I was (uncontroversially) taught that the United States acquired the Philippines as a colony as a consequence of the Spanish- American War; that civil liberties were treated cavalierly during the Red Scare following the First World War; that Japanese- Americans were interned during WWII; and many other not so flattering facts about the United States, all of this in the late '60s and early '70s in conventional junior and senior high schools, so I don't know what you are talking about. When I was in high school I took Asian Studies and African Studies, admittedly as electives, but they were offered. My son has studied Japan (unfortunately, in a way that was not age appropriate), and Kenya (again, too young), has taken a pretty comprehensive world history course, and has spent endless time on Native Americans, along with his American History, all before his sophomore year in high- school. They have spent rather more time on "cultures" and "processes" than great men, again, often in a way that was not age appropriate, and they have heard about segregation, the Trail of Tears, and other things that are black marks against the country. My son is not enrolled in a progressive school, but a pretty middle of the road public school district in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Your remarks are way off the mark, in my experience... |
