Remember how, last week… before the Canadians became our enemies and we began diverting American resources toward the production of North Korean propaganda films… we were talking about how, in order to undo all of the damage that’s been done to the fabric our civil society over the past several years, we’d have to invest heavily in the teaching of civics and history for decades? Well, at the same time we were having that discussion, Republicans here in Michigan were apparently attempting to do the exact opposite, rewriting our state’s K-12 education standards in order to make it even more difficult for teachers to provide meaningful context about the situation we now find ourselves in.
According to an article published today by the Center for Michigan, this effort on the part of conservatives to rewrite Michigan’s social studies standards is being led by Republican State Senator, and gubernatorial candidate, Patrick Colbeck, who, as you might recall, demonstrated his ignorance of history not too long ago when he made the case that, “the KKK was founded as an anti-Republican organization not an anti-black organization.” [“It just so happened that the majority of Southern blacks were in fact Republican,” Colbeck has said at the time.]
Apparently Colbeck, joined by well-known conservatives representing far-right organizations like Citizens for Traditional Values, the Thomas More Law Center, and the Great Lakes Justice Center, have been aggressively attacking our state’s social studies standards these past several months, without the input of any Democratic legislators, let alone civil rights activists with subject area expertise. Among other things, the Center for Michigan is reporting that Colbeck’s group is pushing to remove from the standards any mention of gay rights, Roe v. Wade, climate change, and “core democratic values.” They are also, according to the report, stripping any mention of the KKK, and significantly downplaying the role of the NAACP during the civil rights era.
Here, to give you some sense of how extensive their edits thus far have been, is an excerpt from their most recent draft, which shows their suggested revisions.
And, here, from the article in Center for Michigan’s Bridge Magazine, are a few more examples of changes being proposed by Colbeck and his group of rightwing ideologues.
• The one reference in the current standards to the Ku Klux Klan is cut, with the KKK relegated to a single mention in a list of optional examples high school history teachers can consider using when teaching about social issues between 1890 and 1930.
• Five existing references to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have been cut, with a lone reference remaining in a section on the 1920s on its “legal strategy to attack segregation.”
• The two references to gays and lesbians in the current standards, in sections dealing with the fight for rights for minority groups, have been deleted.
• Both references in the current standards to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case legalizing abortion, are removed.
• A high school standard about the expansion of civil rights and liberties for minority groups cut references to individual groups, including immigrants, people with disabilities and gays and lesbians. The new proposal includes teaching “how the expansion of rights for some groups can be viewed as an infringement of rights and freedoms of others.” Colbeck told Bridge he added that phrase.
• References to climate change are cut in the proposed standards, with the impact of man on global warming limited to an optional example sixth-grade teachers can use when discussing climate in different parts of the planet. (The standards retain a more generic reference to teaching how “human actions modify the environment.”) In notes Colbeck sent to the state board, the former aerospace engineer argues that climate change is “not settled science.”
So, in short, they’re attempting to rewrite our history, not only suggesting that racism was not a problem in the United States, but erasing the very existence of marginalized groups in America.
Colbeck, you might be interested to know, took to Twitter today to respond to the Bridge Magazine article. Focusing specifically on his suggestion that references to the KKK be “scrubbed,” Colbeck laughably explained that it was done out of respect for Democrats, who, several generations ago, held the leadership positions in the racist organization now held by conservatives like himself.
[For what it’s worth, this ridiculous tweet of Colbeck’s has since been removed.]
The good news is, despite the work being done by Colbeck and others, Michigan’s social studies standards have yet to officially change. In fact, we’ve just entering into a public comment period, where we, as citizens, are able to weigh in. So, if you have the time, please reach out to your elected officials, or, better yet, attend one of the five upcoming Michigan Department of Education meetings on this subject. [I’ll list them in the comments section, but you’ll also find them by following the link to the Bridge Magazine article.] This can be stopped, but it’ll take an overwhelming effort on the part of those of us who still believe in the importance of truth and the value of relating honest, factual history to our children.
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Here are the five upcoming Michigan Department of Education meetings where these newly proposed standards will be discussed.
Cadillac, 6-8 p.m. June 13, at the General Education Building of Wexford-Missaukee Intermediate School District, 9905 E. 13th St.
Flint, 6-8 p.m. June 18, at the Erwin L. Davis Education Center of the Genesee Intermediate School District, 2413 W. Maple Ave.
Saginaw, 6-8 p.m. June 19, at Saginaw Intermediate School District, 3933 Barnard.
Waterford, 6-8 p.m. June 20, at Oakland Intermediate School District, 2111 Pontiac Lake Rd.
Sault Ste. Marie, 6-8 p.m. June 26, at Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District, 315 Armory Place.
The new proposal includes teaching “how the expansion of rights for some groups can be viewed as an infringement of rights and freedoms of others.”
Pretty much says it all.
I like that Colbeck tagged Dinesh D’Souza on that tweet in hopes that the recently pardoned ex-felon would come and help him out.
I am moving from teaching English to Social Studies in the fall- so much to think about. Thanks for writing and posting this.
It is so insane to me. As a classroom teacher with a conscience and who believes that knowledge of such things are key to an informed society, I will of course teach about these movements and decisions whether they are part of the standards or not.
A press release from the Michigan Dems:
State Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township), a former high school social studies teacher, railed against recently-released proposed revisions to Michigan’s social studies curriculum. The draft standards, which set expectations for what students must learn in K-12 public schools, were developed with input from Republican state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Colbeck.
“The proposed revisions to our statewide social studies standards are absolutely outrageous, and nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to push an ultra-conservative agenda in our schools,” Camilleri said. “It’s deeply concerning that a political candidate with no background in education would be allowed to co-opt a process that impacts millions of children in Michigan. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that he would try to rewrite history to match the deluded picture of the world he believes to be true.”
Colbeck’s proposed revisions to Michigan’s social studies standards include removing references to the NAACP, climate change, Roe v. Wade, and minority groups including immigrants, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people. They also change references to the phrase “core democratic values” by removing the word “democratic.” It has been reported that Colbeck invited other conservatives to join the committee responsible for overseeing the revision process, and that no Democratic legislators or activists were included.
“Our students deserve to learn a frank account of our nation’s complex history, including our successes and failures,” Camilleri said. “Our social studies classrooms are places where students can learn and better understand different beliefs and points of view in a safe environment. Politicizing this process and rewriting history to fit a partisan agenda only hurts our students by leaving them unprepared to understand and navigate the complicated world we live in. I sincerely hope that the committee members and officials at the Michigan Department of Education will closely consider public comments on these revisions and correct these colossal mistakes.”
I was horrified by a lesson in my child’s 5th grade class one year. It extolled the virtues of a slave rebellion in which women and children of slave owners were murdered with hatchets. It was 100% glowingly positive – nothing bad about it at all. I couldn’t believe the extent of the race-baiting and shaming in that lesson. It was truly shocking to see.
“I was horrified by a lesson in my child’s 5th grade class one year. It extolled the virtues of a slave rebellion in which women and children of slave owners were murdered with hatchets. It was 100% glowingly positive – nothing bad about it at all. I couldn’t believe the extent of the race-baiting and shaming in that lesson. It was truly shocking to see.”
Save the white slavers!
lol
Murder the women and children!
Derp
In addition to showing up at these meeting I suggest a well constructed letter be emailed to every pertinent office of the Michigan Department of Education and your local representatives. Here’s your link: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-83834—,00.html
They will get an earful from me.
IL’s high school forgot to spend time explaining the role of oppressive patriarchal forces during slavery, apparently.
Books for little kids aren’t quite as obvious but they don’t do a good job of telling it like it was. I have seen lots of books showing how excited the Pilgrims were to find people living in the “new world” and how they spoke the same language even! And how friendly everyone was! I really need to start writing children’s books, maybe a series called THE WAY IT REALLY WAS KIDS! with no bullshit. I just need someone who can draw.
“It extolled the virtues of a slave rebellion in which women and children of slave owners were murdered with hatchets. It was 100% glowingly positive – nothing bad about it at all.”
This part sounds about right. Hatchets are being sharpened again. Slow learners take note.
“IL’s high school forgot to spend time explaining the role of oppressive patriarchal forces during slavery, apparently.“
FF you really really don’t understand feminism. It’s not about paternalism, and protection, it’s about equal treatment. Including the risk of being killed or having to kill in time of war.
You aren’t at all intellectually prepared to turn this around on IL or anyone. You are short on concept. I don’t think that’s intentional just a lack of experience with systemic bias or interest in hearing about other’s.
Sounds right to mind-controlled NWO slaves. To sane people it is horrific. You are saying you want white women and children murdered today? This is getting worse than I thought.
HW— is violence ever justified in your mind?
Or war?
I’ve been very clear here that I’m not a pacifist. I’ve been clear on that issue since I was young, having grown up around them.
Sometimes women and children die in wars and rebellion. Most times. I think the space rebellions were justified. The tragic killing of women and children do not de-legitimize the slave rebellions in my mind. And I wouldn’t characterize killings during wartime as murder. I know many do.
That’s handy.
I bet they think their hands are clean if they do…
*slave rebellions
Jean. You might want to re-read what I said and think about it for a second.
FF, sadly nothing you write is worth reading the first time. but i know you don’t know.
Basic bitch: “Someone who is unflinchingly upholding of the status quo and stereotypes…without even realizing it. engages in typical, unoriginal behaviors, modes of dress, speech, and likes. tragically/laughably unaware of her utter lack of specialness and intrigue. believes herself to be unique, fly, amazing, and a complete catch, when really she is boring, painfully normal, and par. She believes her experiences to be crazy, wild, and different or somehow more special than everything that everybody else is doing, when really, almost everyone is doing or has done the exact same thing. She is typical and a dime a dozen.”
How is it not murder to bludgeon women and children to death with hatchets? I doubt they were a threat except that they were witnesses. Certainly they weren’t soldiers in war. That’s crazy. I don’t have a problem with evil slave owners themselves getting what they deserve but to slaughter the women and children is horrific. At the very least they shouldn’t speak of it as if it is a great thing.
HW, was it also murder when our white ancestors killed the British?
HW— I thought you said the text book was neutral and that’s why you took offense.
Did the text book go into great detail about what happened to women and children and their families Under slavery? Did they detail the 200+ year systemic genocide of native people, including countless women and children, that heralded the settling and founding of our nation?
Just wondering why it is that the coverage of space rebellions is what triggered your concern? Seems odd given what we know of US militarism and history.
FF I really don’t understand. Maybe explain your larger point. Lord knows I’ve done so at your request many times.
What to make of auto corrects inclination to change ‘slave’ to ‘space?’
The textbook didn’t go into enough detail about how economic forces were responsible for slavery, and how it was actually pretty common at the time, and how African tribes were mostly to blame, and how slave owners took better care of their slaves than they would have taken care of themselves, and how black people should thank slave owners for bringing their ancestors here.
KJC— was that Basic bitch definition intended to make a larger point?
Asking for a friend.
My friend KJC , is a “unique, fly and amazing” person in real life….I am convinced of it.
Anyway, where does your judgment fall down on the murdering of the plantation owner’s baby with a hatchet debate? I think the conversation needs your input because it is getting kinda stale.
“I thought you said the text book was neutral”
Why did you think that?
“HW, was it also murder when our white ancestors killed the British?”
Whose white ancestors do you mean when you say that? Like a lot of Americans personally I don’t have any Revolutionary War era ancestors.
I can say that as an adult, I was shocked to learn some history that was not presented to me in school. I am not sure what the answer is since so many would give false history or skew things their way. The victors write the history after all. I suspect that as the USA becomes more diverse, we will eventually see different standards in our history classes. White people in this country have a long history of evil actions (genocide, slavery, colonialism, jim crow, etc) and we are just going to have to teach that eventually.
The slave uprisings were justified because that is how horrible slavery was. Women and children were more or less considered property (albeit slightly less property than slaves themselves) and thus killing them was certainly something intended to damage the male slave owners. I think a unit could be constructed where the kids learn that atrocities lead to more atrocities. That would be valuable. It might make us question things like our current involvement in the killing of women and children in Yemen which HW apparently is ok with (is it only *white* women and children dying that bothers you, HW?)
“which HW apparently is ok with”
Why do you just bring up something out of the blue and claim I am ok with it? I don’t understand how can people think like that.
So because women and children were more or less property of slave owners it was ok to murder them because it hurt the slave owners. O-kay there. Got it.
You did say something good, Lynne.
“I think a unit could be constructed where the kids learn that atrocities lead to more atrocities. That would be valuable.”
The moral pitfalls of slaughtering women and children should be reckoned with if such a lesson is to be taught to 5th graders.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, killing women and children is always bad. Anytime anybody does it, they should be frowned upon.
killing men is bad too.
Not usually. Most men have it coming.
IRibert— that is sexism. Just for pointers.
“So because women and children were more or less property of slave owners it was ok to murder them because it hurt the slave owners. O-kay there. Got it.”
The practice is so heinous that it should not be out of the realm of reason to assume that anyone involved in the practice is fair game. A slave revolt is unlike traditional warfare, where it is assumed that women and children be spared because the actors of war are mainly conscripted men,, fighting under more or less and evenhanded set of rules.
While I don’t think that anyone should be killed, I think I would have to come out on the side of the slaves of all ages and sexes over wealthy slave owners, who were so morally flawed that they saw fit to buy and sell human beings. The age or gender does not seem to matter since all were complicit and slavers made a habit of exploiting women and children, both for labor and sex, and routinely broke up families for profit.
Really, it is fairly stupid to try to judge the actions of revolting slaves, given the brutality of the system they lived under, but Mr 420Kushlord, no enemy to racists, would of course, go out of his way to blame the victim.
Only a true fool would try to find anything at all wrong with a slave revolt. My view is that they were brave heroes. Children need to hear this history because they are often told that black people passively accepted slavery, when in fact, slave revolts were common and as violent as one would expect, given the brutality of slavery. Children are told that black people brought slavery upon themselves, at least that’s the fantasy peddled in the South….
“race-baiting” is the most overused term by bigots these days. Usually accusing Barack Obama of being the worst culprit. #exhausting #thanksobama
Yes.
Slave rebellions, like contemporary uprisings aka riots, are very upsetting to many white people. My theory for years is that the angry black man and uppity black woman and even the sexually promiscuous black man and woman tropes are all expressions of white anxiety about being held accountable for the atrocities committed against black Americans. They will be quick to condemnation and hyperbolic in their expressions of the damage and risk. What white people fear is accountability for systemic and cultural racism. That’s why they don’t want to talk about it, or want to pretend it’s in the distant past and especially why they want to hold Black Americans responsible for their own oppression. Fear and shame are at work. (As well as economic interest) Otherwise we would long ago have taken on the challenge of social justice as the critical charge necessary to make the American experiment successful in fulfilling its core principles.
It’s amazing to me that there have not been more uprisings. Maybe that’s indication of just How effective our ongoing, ever shifting multi-pronged oppression has been.
““race-baiting” is the most overused term by bigots these days.”
To teach children no moral qualms whatsoever about the murder of child descendants of slave-owners and in fact to present it as a happy occasion is plain ill. If you don’t see it as racially divisive and shaming i.e. race-baiting then that is how you see it but don’t try to say I am a bigot for using the term.
Why should I be held accountable for what other people did? That’s the subtle message isn’t it? That all white people should have to pay regardless of if their ancestors owned slaves or not. Does all this apply to the Turks who took white people as slaves? Should the Turks of today have to pay white slave descendants? How about the Jewish slave traders who actually brought Africans to the Americas in chains on their boats? How about the tribes who sold out other tribes to the slavers? Native American tribes who captured and tortured other tribespeople? It’s likely that some of my own ancestors were murdered by Native people in an unprovoked attack including women and children. History is complex and important to examine deeply in all its’ dimensions.
I made it clear here a long time ago; I’m super sexist. I’m also over the top racist and homophobic.
No matter how many times I’ve made that clear, people continue to treat the news like it’s the first time they’ve ever considered it.
Not only am I absolutely sexist, racist and homophobic, but I also have absolutely no intention of changing in the least bit.
I hope that settles it. I hate to keep being such a disappointment to you all.
Every key subject taught to high school students should be immediately followed by the required reading of the same subject matter from Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’. Wingnut’s heads would explode!
I am an acquaintance of Pat Colbeck. He has gone off the rails. Scary smart by the way. Batshit crazy these days, but very smart.
When I comment here on marmmaynard.com, I try to be respectful of Mark’s sensitivies. He being a white male, I feel I owe him that. However, outside of this blog I express my sexist, racist and homophobic attitudes very overtly and without the slightest restraint. I’m sure it would horrify all of you to witness. Some friends have described it as something akin to being trapped in a college sports locker room with a team of Adolph Hitlers. I’d say that’s understating it.
I set up a change.org petition for those who’d like to declare their opposition to the proposed changes:
https://www.change.org/p/urgent-say-no-to-far-right-rewrite-of-michigan-k-12-social-studies-standards
Of course there are other more effective ways to speak up, as you note in your column.
I wonder, what would a revolting Trump do? Approve or disapprove:
“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families,” Trump said.
“Why should I be held accountable for what other people did? ”
I pity your poor parents.
Earth to Mr Warlord: Racism is not historical; it’s contemporary and, yes, you with your line of thinking, help to perpetuate it. yes, you are responsible.
Beyond that please note your own intellectual inconsistency in insisting the suffering of the wives and children of white slave holders held up more closely to the light but that we not be asked to feel anything for the slaves themselves.
Slavery is historical, dummy. Not appreciating happy lessons on murdering slave owner children does not equal diminishing the suffering of slaves. Don’t try to destroy my point with a smear.
I haven’t said one racist thing ever but you do so how is it that you call me racist?
Jean and HW, if either of you are at Target today, could you pick up a bunch of those “Baby Daddy” Father’s Day cards?
I want to get Father’s Day cards for every dad I know, and apparently that is the only card out there that depicts a black man. I wanted to get as many as I can before they sell out. I’ll pay you back.
Slavery is historical but the benefits of slavery that white people in this country enjoy is not historical, it is completely contemporary. This is true of all white people including those whose ancestors didn’t own slaves. FWIW, because of the practice of white male slave owners raping slaves, a significant number of black people in America have slave owner DNA. It isn’t about who your ancestors were. It is about systems of oppression based on skin color. It is also about social and economic benefits and privilege that are a result of slavery and later forms of oppression.
You say you aren’t racist HW but how interesting that you have only objected to some unit about a slave rebellion where women and children were killed. Do you also object to units about Columbus coming to the Americas because they often portray that as a good thing even though it resulted in genocide. Do you consider units on the Mayflower to be a positive thing if they fail to mention that the main reason they were successful colonists is that diseases brought over by other white people killed off around 90% of the native population? Your selective outrage is telling.
I think the issue is the distrust (on all sides) in SS teachers abilities to handle certain topics. It sounds like HW ran into a situation where a 5th grade teacher was not handling the topic in a thorough and nuanced enough way in HW’s opinion. I have been cool with the handling of SS topics my children have been confronted with but I live in Community where I feel like my values are reflected generally. (I keep an eye on it though.) I don’t think it would be weird if someone was leary of the handling of Rowe versus Wade being taught to a child by a religious school in Howell, if that person was a secular liberal from Ypsi.
FF, the lesson was from a photocopied textbook that I had the impression was used widely in the Ann Arbor school district.
Lynne, what benefits do you think white people get today from historical American slavery? I have all kinds of thoughts on history. Some things I take for granted as being understood (genocide is bad; that kind of thing.)
Only a true moron would fail to recognize that the United States as a whole accumulated vast amounts of capital through the exploitation of African labor during the 18th and 19th centuries, capital which went exclusively to white Americans and gave successive generations of white americans by funding the systems that allow them to continue to succeed.
The United States would not be as wealthy today had it been required to compensate the labor necessary to build its vast agricultural economy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
You’re the moron. None of my ancestors had slaves. Pretty sure they didn’t benefit in any way. Just because SOME white families made money off slaves doesn’t mean everyone benefitted. If money made back then and passed down is all you’ve got then that is a sorry rationalization.
How exactly did they “give successive generations of white americans by funding the systems that allow them to continue to succeed.” And “They funded institutions that allow them to continue to succeed.” Plantation owners funded what exactly to allow white Americans that? What did you and I get from whatever they funded that is a benefit that black people don’t get?
So, in the century between the civil war and the civil rights act, there was nothing that white dudes got that others didn’t get? Educate me please, I was born in Canada.
How are 19th – 20th century inequities such as university admissions that did get changed funded by slavery profits?
My great-uncle was one of the white NAACP organizers during the Civil Rights Era. My family has spent three generations fighting for the rights of people who have been deliberately marginalized. This shit has to stop.
The “right” of these right wing radicals (there is nothing conservative about them) to rewrite/ignore history infringes on the rights of children to become informed citizens. Sorry if actually knowing the truth about our history is so scary to Republicans. They love the ignorant that they can manipulate to believe such BS as that Trump would make a good President & it’s ok that he kisses up to dictators & spits on our allies. Information & critical thinking are a threat to the right.
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[…] members. It’s also worth noting that this was not the only conservative group in the parade. Tim “there’s no such thing as racism” Colbeck had had a float with a few sad old men sitting in the shade of a Gasden flag. And there were, of […]
[…] members. It’s also worth noting that this was not the only conservative group in the parade. Patrick “there’s no such thing as racism” Colbeck had a float with a few sad old men sitting in the shade of a Gasden flag. And there were, of […]