In San Francisco, Virus is Contained but Schools Are Still Closed

[RobertLC]

I also agree with Gene!

While I am only slightly familiar with specifics of the 1619 Project, I did read an excellent critique of the project by Phillip W. Magnuss. Magnuss writes, “At the same time, however, certain 1619 Project essayists infused … with a heavy stream of ideological advocacy. Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones announced this political intention openly, pairing progressive activism with the initiative’s stated educational purposes.”

I don’t know if teaching progressive activism can promote facts above all else. I think not. Activism usually takes over. I’m reminded of a quote that was first attributed to Bernard Baruch by the Associated Press in 1946 and has since been slightly modified and used by numerous people. The modern-day version goes something like this, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

It seems to me that the problem arises when activism fuses with facts. How do we know what are the real facts and what is someone’s opinion? Teaching a history curriculum that is heavy in progressive activism doesn’t seem to be the best way to expose students to actual and necessary facts. Perhaps it is more like teaching an ideology than teaching history.

Bob