It is Time to Prioritize US History or Raise a Generation that Hates America 

Many universities in the US no longer teach the country’s history that is key in fostering national unity and patriotism. It is funny how most university students do not identify with the Pledge of Allegiance, have no slightest idea of the country’s founding principles neither do patriotic songs make any sense. This generation is polluted by the Anti-Americanism that has spread far and wide. This has also led to rage and opposition to anything that is perceived as oppressive in any way. 

Universities are likely to turn away from any event or celebration organized in honour of the founding of the nation for what they would refer to as “inclusive” events. This explains why many university officials were among the very first people to oppose the calls for “patriotic education” in schools by President Trump.

The recent Gallup poll that was conducted in June revealed that the current generation could be ashamed of America. The data showed that 63% only of the adults in the US said they were “extremely proud” or they were “very proud” to be American. This happens to be patriotism level at its lowest ever since this question was asked in 2001. Among the members of this latest generation, the minority form patriots since only 4 out of 10 respondents said they were proud Americans and are aged between 18-34 years.

It is thus imperative that people be supplied with knowledge on the correct history of the land since one cannot love what he or she does not know. It is important to note that what has been making rounds in this generation is either missing or misleading history. Once this is corrected, the level of patriotism will rise steadily.

References

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/09/23/1619-project-american-history-education-trump-patriotic-column/5864265002/

Texas Teacher Remotely Takes Her Students On A Road Trip Through U.S. History

The coronavirus pandemic has not only affected lives at home for students but also their academic life. While most people see this as a challenge, Cathy Cluck, AP U.S. history teacher at Westlake High School, sees it as an opportunity.

When preparing her lessons this year, she was determined to teach in a way that she wouldn’t do on a normal school day. In an interview with NPR, she said, “just kind of had this idea: that I teach American history and what if I went to the places where American history happened?”

And true to her word, she did that. She came up with a 15-day road trip dubbed #greatamericanhistoryroadtrip, to take students to places that she teaches them about each year. These places included the Lincoln Memorial, and Gettysburg, Jamestown, among others. 

Each day she went live visiting these historical locations in a bid to bring her students closer to what she was teaching. Besides, she was embracing technology while observing coronavirus guidelines such as social distancing.

On August 24, she went live on Zoom from Williamsburg. And as expected, her students loved the new experience. “I don’t know how to explain; it just makes me more excited to learn,” one of the students said. However, due to travel restrictions, it did not go as planned so she made a few adjustments.

Currently, she preparing an in-person teaching version for students who’ll want to join the class later this month. And should the pandemic persist, she already has a plan for more virtual classes in the future.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/911828412/texas-history-teacher-hosts-virtual-lessons-while-on-historical-road-trip

Preserving African-American Historic Sites Could Amend the Existing Pains of Slavery and Segregation

Over time, one billion dollar-question has been in the minds of many Americans. Can amends be made for the existing atrocities of slavery and segregation against the Black Americans? Brent Leggs, a historian and preservationist, has come out to help in trying to respond to this question. He has discussed one step that will go a long way in helping to face the past. He proposes that all the African-American historic sites should be preserved, explaining the role of cultural preservation as a means of promoting and telling the full history of the nation. Brent is an executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund that is set as a social movement for equity, justice and reconciliation. The Action Fund is empowering entrepreneurs, activists and civic leaders that can champion for African American historic sites.

Brett is also a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard University and has authored Preserving African American Historic Places that has portrayed his passion in seeing the black culture being preserved as it is very important and necessary in writing the American history. His work has shown significant places and stories that reflect the American history of the many centuries ago about the black activism, its achievements and the community.

He has developed the Northeast American Historic Places Outreach Program over the past ten years and proposed its theme, which is, the Business of Preservation. The program aims to build a movement in the region comprising of preservation leaders that will save important landmarks in African American history. Through this, significant strides have been made as many sites have been earmarked for preservation by the American government.

References

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/10/889406805/brent-leggs-how-can-seeing-black-history-as-american-history-begin-to-make-amend

 The Southern History Aimed by the Latest Culture War in the US

During the ongoing weeks of protests in the US over the brutal killing of a black man under police custody in Minneapolis, there is a renewed culture war that is now pointed at the Confederacy Symbols. These include the eleven states in the American South that had the intentions of preserving slavery during a Civil War that had almost torn the whole country apart nearly 150 years ago.

The angry protestors took their rage to the statues including that of Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy president that was built at Richmond in Virginia. Another statue that was removed is Robert E. Lee’s, the general that was most honoured by the Confederacy. It was at Montgomery in Alabama. Many other Confederate statues and monuments were destroyed and vandalized.

Besides, important organizations have declared publicly banning of the Confederate flag at all their events. One of such organizations is the National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) that has banned the Confederate flag at all its events even though it has celebrated its southern origin for the past 72yeasrs since its inception. The reason they gave is that it ran contrary to their commitment to providing an all-inclusive and welcoming environment to all.

“Gone with The Wind” movie will no longer be streamed on Streaming service HBO Max as it is seen to propagate ethnic and racial prejudices. As a result of the ongoing protests, there is a possible bipartisan discussion in the American Senate to remove the Confederate names from ten military bases. This came as the marine corps and the US Navy each declared a ban on installation of the Confederate flags.

References

https://www.voanews.com/usa/race-america/latest-battles-us-culture-war-take-aim-southern-history

An Upcoming Magnificent Solar Project in The U.S. History

It is the projected 8th largest solar project in the whole world which is estimated to power more than 260,000 homes. The Trump Administration announced the approval for the proposal to construct and operate one of the largest solar projects in the United States history. David L. Bernhardt, the U.S. Secretary Interior, signed the Record of Decision for the Solar Partners XI, LLC, for the construction of a 690-MW photovoltaic solar electric generating facility and ancillary facilities which will be around 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The project is estimated o cost one billion dollars, and it is likely to be the eighth largest solar power facility in the whole world once completed. It is expected to generate enough power for more than 260,000 homes located in the Las Vegas area as well as potential energy markets within Southern California.

This project is geared toward getting America back to work and strengthening many communities through investment. The Trump Administration values domestic energy production as well as being considered great national security and achievement. This project is aimed to facilitate infrastructure investment, which in turn will bring in more job opportunities and economic activities like renewable energy increases. It is among the advances of the policy development by President Trump in promoting clean and safe development in the country through energy resources. It prioritizes infrastructure projects and streamlines the environmental process. Despite the current pandemic of coronavirus, this big solar project will be a great deal in reclaiming the economy to its original state and even much better than it is. It is a historic project in the entire U.S. history. 

Reference

Interior Approves Plan for the Largest Solar Project in U.S. History

America has suffered great loss before. Here’s how we may learn to cope with coronavirus death toll

We have gone through a lot in decades. During World War II at least 407,317 Americans died in a bid to champion global democracy. The dead are often honored in books, movies, and memorials. During Vietnam, at least 58,220 lives were lost in a battle that divided the nation.

And on September 11, 2001, terrorists killed 2,977 Americans. Strict surveillance measures were embraced as the military plunged into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have lasted the better part of two decades.

The USA has suffered numerous pandemics dating back many decades. For example, the 1918 Spanish Flu killed at least 675,000 Americans. Another 116,151 died during World War I. these pandemics brought a wave of societal changes not only in the USA but also around the globe.

And experts say that the COVID-19 won’t be any different. The final coronavirus effects will color how people will judge the American government’s response. This seems to be another World War II where the nation will unite to fight a normal enemy.

“If it starts to appear that this situation is badly bungled and leaders have failed us resulting in more deaths than necessary, the potential is greater for a national upheaval,” says Mark Atwood Lawrence, historian and Vietnam War scholar at the University of Texas, Austin.

Since the first coronavirus infection report in Seattle, at least 33,000 lives have been lost. While self-quarantine measures seem to slow the spread, the situation is only getting worse.  However, Douglas Brinkley author and historian at Houston Rice University, says that in as much as keeping the death toll at 60,000 it will leave a permanent scar since the number will be achieved in a few months compared to Vietnam’s war numbers achieved in 11 years.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/17/coronavirus-death-toll-vietnam-spanish-flu-loss/2985542001/

A New Film Set To Correct Slavery Education

Ana Paulina of Columbia University elucidates her experience in November 2019 in St John the Baptist Parish where hundreds of women and men, armed with machetes and pitchforks while chanting Freedom or Death made their way along a 26-mile route along with the River Parishes in Louisiana. The parish lies in the heartland of Louisiana’s sugar cane and oil industries.

It was a reenactment of what historians say was the most massive slave rebellion in the United States history, he 1811 German Coast Uprising. During the winter, along the east bank of the Mississippi River, Charles Deslondes, an enslaved man who had arrived at Louisiana from Haiti, led a group of around 30 enslaved people in an uprising at a plantation owned by Manuel Andry. They killed his son, Gilbert and set out to create a black state along the banks of the Mississippi. As the movement went on, the uprising rose to about 500 people headed for New Orleans.

At that time, a group of 100 armed bounty hunters placed the uprising down. Many rebels were subjected to an unusual public punishment which included torture and execution. Most of them were decapitated, their heads placed on spiked poles along the stretch of the Mississippi River, 60-miles in an attempt to frighten other enslaved people who dared to fight back.

In the reenactment that artist Dread Scott is turning into a documentary film that will be released in October 2020, the revolt ends in victory. As a scholar who reads the race and how historical events are represented and commemorated, Paulina sees Scott’s forthcoming film as a chance to correct a glaring issue with the way slavery is taught, or not taught at all in US schools. This is, the history of slavery in America is mostly excluded or interpreted in ways that bring humiliation to students and sympathize with slaveholders.

Reference

https://theconversation.com/slave-revolt-film-revisits-history-often-omitted-from-textbooks-127299