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One of the strangest responses to the recent phony culture war flapdoodle is that schools should be limited to teaching basic skills -- reading and math, I suppose, and maybe shop and home economics. If public schools teach history, science, social studies and literature, students might learn something their parents don't want them to.

It seems to me there are really  two or three separate phenomena going on here. We need to keep them straight. 

The first is people who don't believe certain objective truths, of science or history. An example which the courts have already dealt with is evolution.  In 2004, the Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania required that "intelligent design" be taught as an alternative to evolution in 9th grade biology. Some parents sued. The court ruled that intelligent design is not science, and permanently enjoined the school board from requiring teachers to disparage the theory of evolution, or to present intelligent design as an alternative scientific theory. Creationism is also is incompatible with physics, geology and astronomy. 

 

To have a successful society, we need a scientifically literate populace, and that means that children need to learn how scientists think and what constitutes a scientific theory, and conclusion. Parents who object to this are simply ignorant, and wrong. They are not acting in the best interest of their children. So this one is easy.

 

There are also historical truths to which some people object. They don't want any discussion of slavery in the U.S., or they want to diminish its horrors. They don't want students to learn about racism and discrimination. They don't want any critical discussion of the dispossession and genocide of Native Americans, or U.S. imperialism, or economic inequality. They claim the Civil War wasn't really fought over the issue of slavery. Some deny the Nazi holocaust. While there are certainly factual disputes in history, these basic facts are indisputable. 

 

But it's not just denial of facts that comes into play here. We hear two other kinds of complaints. One is that it might make some children feel bad to learn about all this sad history. So be it. It made me feel bad when I was a kid, actually. But that's part of growing up. We need to understand and accept reality. Actually that was the stated reason why a woman in Virginia objected to her son being made to read Beloved -- it gave him nightmares. But of course that wasn't her real reason.

 

And that's the third category: that "patriotism" or some other ill defined value requires that we adjust our beliefs to its requirements. If we teach children historical truth, their pride in their nation or their (white) heritage may be diminished.  I see bumper stickers all the time saying "Proud to be an American," and I think, "What the hell are you talking about?" Let me tell you something: I'm not proud to be American, or white, or anything else that I didn't achieve. It's an accident of birth, it's just something that happened to you. It's nothing to be proud of. What should make you proud is learning, and growing, and putting your learning and your maturity to work to do good in the world. But to do good, you have to recognize the bad.

And that's what the public schools should be doing. Equipping our children with the truth, and the skills to make the most of it. The 12th Century is over.