1. 10:56 28th Sep 2011

    Notes: 6

    Tags: Historyeducationracecivil rightskidstesting

    Many states have turned Dr. King’s life into a fable, said Mr. Bond, who now teaches at American University and the University of Virginia. He said his students knew that “there used to be segregation until Martin Luther King came along, that he marched and protested, that he was killed, and that then everything was all right.
    — 

    Sam Dillon

    (Reporting for the New York Times)

    THEN EVERYTHING WAS ALRIGHT.

    See also: why white Americans start with the assumption that we AREN’T racially-biased instead of the more historically-accurate assumption that WE ARE RACIALLY BIASED.

    Also of note:

    “Over the past decade, students have performed worse on federal history tests administered by the Department of Education than on tests in any other subject. On the history test last year, only 12 percent of high school seniors showed proficiency.”

    Doomed to repeat, but also, how can they possibly understand the meaning of current events without knowing the context out of which they come?

     
    1. lakarune posted this