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President Joe Biden revoked a recent Trump administration report that sought to promote “patriotic education” in schools, but which historians scoffed at and dismissed as political propaganda.
In an executive order signed Wednesday on his first day in office, Biden dissolved Donald Trump’s 1776 Presidential Commission and withdrew a report released on Monday. Trump formed the group in September to garner support from white voters and in response to the New York Times’ “Project 1619”, which highlights the lasting consequences of slavery in America.
In its report, which Trump hoped would be used in classrooms across the country, the commission glorifies the founders of the country, downplays America’s role in slavery, condemns the rise of progressive politics, and argues that the civil rights movement violated the “lofty ideals” espoused by the Founding Fathers.
The panel, which did not include any professional historians of the United States, complained about “false and trendy ideologies” which describe the history of the country as “oppression and victimization.” Instead, he called for redoubled efforts to foster “a courageous and honest love for our country”.
Historians have widely criticized the report, saying it offers a bogus and outdated version of American history that ignores decades of research.
“It’s an insult to the whole education business. Education is supposed to help young people learn to think critically, ”said David Blight, civil war historian at Yale University. “This report is a piece of right-wing propaganda.”
Trump officials have called the report “the definitive chronicle of America’s foundation,” but researchers say it ignores even the most basic rules of scholarship. It does not offer quotes, for example, or a list of its sources.
It also includes several passages copied directly from other writings by panel members, as one professor discovered after running the report through software used to detect plagiarism.
Matthew Spalding, executive director of the panel and vice-chairman of Tory Hillsdale College, denied any wrongdoing, saying panel members “contributed to our own work and to the writing, under our own names, of the 1776 report, which was an advisory report to the President. “
Spalding and other committee heads did not immediately respond to other criticisms leveled against the report.
In documents announcing Biden’s decree, administration officials said the panel “seeks to erase the history of racial injustice in America.”
The American Historical Association condemned the document, saying it glorified the founders while ignoring the histories and contributions of slaves, indigenous communities and women. In a statement also signed by 13 other academic groups, the organization says the report is aimed at “government indoctrination of American students.”
The strongest criticisms of the report were aimed at its presentation of slavery and race. The report attempts to undermine allegations of hypocrisy against the Founding Fathers who owned slaves even though they were in favor of equality. He also tries to soften America’s role in slavery and explain it as a product of the times.
“Many Americans work under the illusion that slavery was somehow an uniquely American evil,” the panel wrote in the 20-page report. “The unfortunate fact is that the institution of slavery has been more the rule than the exception throughout human history.”
Blight at Yale likened it to “a sixth or seventh grade approach to history – to make the kids feel good.” He added: “But it’s worse than that, because it comes out of a political propaganda agenda.”
The authors argue that the civil rights movement has been distorted to advance agendas promoting inequality and “group privilege.” He complains, for example, of affirmative action and other forms of “preferential treatment”.
Ibram X. Kendi, scholar and historian of racism at Boston University, called the report “a Trump administration’s last big lie. Big lies.”
“If we have generally received preferential treatment, then why do black people remain in the bottom, dying end of almost all racial disparity?” Kendi said on Twitter. “Whenever they answer this question, they express racist ideas about black inferiority while claiming that they are ‘not racist.’
Other researchers have pointed out what was left out. The report does not include anything from Native American history and its only reference to Indigenous peoples is a racial insult cited in the Declaration of Independence.
In a passage criticized by historians, the authors make a comparison between the progressive movement in America and the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, said the report aims to discredit contemporary public policies rooted in America’s progressive reform movement. He fears that even after Biden disbanded the commission, his report might end up in certain classes.
“Historians need to pay attention to curriculum conversations in localities and at the state level,” Grossman said. “The absurdities in this report will be used to legitimize similar absurdities.”
At a public committee meeting this month, some members hoped Biden would keep the committee alive. But others said they needed to push the report to state and local education officials.
“It will really be up to state governors and legislators, school board members, parents and higher education commissioners, even students, to take this load and move this work forward,” said Doug Hoelscher, a White House aide under Trump.
After the report was deleted from a White House website, some of its authors decided to make it available on conservative websites. In an opinion piece published by the Heritage Foundation, one of the commissioners, Mike Gonzalez, said members “intend to continue to meet and carry out the duties of our two-year term” .
The report ultimately calls for a change in teaching in American schools and universities, which the panel calls “hotbeds of anti-Americanism.” He denounces any teaching that breeds contempt for American ideals, blaming this kind of “destructive research” for the divisions of the nation and for “much of the violence in our cities.”
“To restore our society,” the report says, “academics must return to their calling of relentlessly seeking the truth and engaging in honest research that seeks to understand the world and America’s place in this country. . “
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