Thread
I have been thinking a lot of educational gag orders. @PENamerica is a great resource. pen.org/issue/educational-censorship/
Almost forty years ago, I took an undergraduate history class on WWII with Professor Larry Gelfand, a well-respected teacher and scholar @uiowa. 1/
Almost forty years ago, I took an undergraduate history class on WWII with Professor Larry Gelfand, a well-respected teacher and scholar @uiowa. 1/
Gelfand was in the infantry during WWII and fought the Battle of Okinawa, a fierce battle that resulted in nearly 50,000 American casualties. During the class, we examined the United States’ wartime decisions, from whether to enter the war to whether to drop the atomic bomb. 2/
Up to this point, I had only been exposed to a one-dimensional view of the war, one in which the United State’s actions were largely unexamined. I remember Gelfand asking why the Battle of Okinawa was necessary if President Truman planned to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 3/
He didn’t posit an answer, he just left the question hanging in the air. I went home with all the hubris of a 19 year old and indignantly posed the question to my parents. They did not react well. My dad fought in WWII. My parents said I didn't understand the complexities. 4/
It was a powerful moment and one that spurred me to think more critically about US history and policies. Unfortunately, students in many states are now being denied that same powerful moment. Over the last two years, state legislatures have introduced hundreds of laws 5/
intended to prohibit or restrict what is taught in public schools, colleges, and universities. Most of the laws target discussions of race, sexual orientation, gender, and even American history. The bills' vague and sweeping language, such as South Carolina’s prohibition 6/
against discussing any topic that creates “discomfort, guilt or anguish” based on political belief, combined with the potential monetary penalties, place institutions and educators in an untenable position. 7/
When you add the divisive and sometimes violent rhetoric around these proposals, they effectively chill speech. But these bills do more than stall a student’s development or chill an educator’s speech; they undermine democracy. 8/
The founders believed that an educated public was essential to self-government. Thomas Jefferson opined that we must “educate and inform the whole mass of the people…they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” 9/
History provides evidence that autocratic governments seek to influence or, in some cases, prohibit citizens from obtaining an education. When Adolph Hitler came to power, he immediately made changes to the school curriculum, seeking to reduce resistance to fascist ideas. 10/
The German Student Union burned books deemed subversive or opposed to Nazi ideology. German citizens identified as Jewish were pushed out of public schools. Undermining education was a critical step in securing an obedient citizenry. 11/
Forty years ago, Professor Gelfand invited students to critically examine decisions made by the United States. He asked students to recognize the complexity of the moment and the political and moral compromises made. 12/
In some states today, students will not have the same freedom to scrutinize slavery, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the vestiges that linger today. The question is why? What is so scary about an critical analysis of our past so we can create a better future? 13/
The battle for democracy doesn’t start in Congress, the state legislatures, or even the voting booth; it starts in the classroom. Education is the linchpin of democracy. Attacks on education are attacks on democracy. They needed to be treated as such. End/
