The men depicted here are all teachers, or work in the educational establishment, and they all have an interest in history, particularly civil war history. But are academia and today's teachers really teaching? And are students learning?
Watching this video makes two things clear.
First, all the dire flogger predictions about the demise of Confederate heritage because of "how the war is remembered" is just so much hooey (and desperate wishful thinking on the part of floggers). How the war is remembered by these students is ... well, basically, it ain't remembered.
Second, this clearly illustrates that for certain history teachers, it's not really about history; it's about ideology. It's about history as tool of control, as in "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." Controlling the future means manipulating what kids learn in school. It means not teaching history but indoctrinating with ideology.
But are they even doing that successfully? Apparently not. That's why they are so enraged at those doing a better job of getting to people and actually educating them about the past. Like the Virginia Flaggers.
You know the old saying.
Those who can, do...
Those who can't ....
Disclaimer: I'm not taking a dig at all teachers with this post. There are some fine, dedicated teachers in this country, mostly in primary and secondary education, though they are fighting a (likely) losing battle against PC, Common Core and the like. So my diatribe against teachers doesn't include all of them, just as Whiny Butt's diatribe against Boomers doesn't include them all (so he sez).
ReplyDeleteThey don't teach, they indoctrinate. If you can, read John Taylor Gatto's books. Especially; Dumbing Us Down.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, most people don't really pay too much attention during history class, unless they already have an inclination toward the subject. I've always been interested in history, especially my people's history, so I was always on the tip of my chair, asking questions, answering the teacher, bringing up other aspects that relate to the topic and what not.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I think most people don't really understand what happened during the war or what it was really about, especially so for Northern and Western schools where the only thing they really learn is "The South seceded because of slavery, and the North won, giving slaves their freedom." That's what sticks in to most people's minds, and they don't question it. I feel sorry for them. Luckily for us here in the South, we are taught a more in depth history of our past.
That's for sure, Logan. I never heard the Northern version of events until much later. When I did, It just sounded like a lame excuse for aggressive self interest. Still does. The biggest thing, though, that sticks out, is the basic assumption that North=America=North, and the rest just don't count, much less exist.
DeleteAs Dr. Clyde Wilson points out, it was the South which was America before it was all rewritten. New England was a backwater, self absorbed and condescending.
DeleteI think they all know true history -- enough to avoid telling the truth.
ReplyDelete"We know what America is today, and has been in the last century. And we can look at what America was in the generation of the founders, and we can read their vision for it. And we can see the wrenching turn in the nation's destiny that stands between us and them.
ReplyDeleteYou can love your homeland and still lament the place it might have been. Is 20th century America -- with its Babbittry, its rotten bureaucracies and its destructive disregard for natural resources and human lives -- really the best we could have done? Or did we take an unbalanced, headlong tumble into modernity because the Northeast, child of industrial capitalism and Puritan morality, became "America" by grinding an economic and political rival under its heel?"
Douglas Harper, "The Cost of Union"
http://www.etymonline.com/cw/intro.htm
"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach," is from George Bernard Shaw's "Man and Superman," which just proves that even a Fabian Socialist can be right about some things, just as a blind pig finds an acorn now and then....
ReplyDeleteConnie,
ReplyDeleteNow you have gone and done it. You forgot to put Jimmy Dick's ugly face on the wall of ignorant teachers. That being the case in usual Dick fashion he insults.
http://studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/veterans-day-2014/#comments
"Looks like the usual hate from Connie along with her back pedaling. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt is it? I visited her blog today and was immediately repelled with her usual ignorance, especially the part about teachers.
Hey, wannabe teacher types that believe in the lost cause myth. When you earn your master’s degrees and actually become teachers then you may have some credibility. Until then keep on whining. Learning takes patience and work, virtues which you do not possess. Of course you lost causers also lack honesty and integrity along with other virtues. I guess I will just keep teaching while you keep whining.'
Now then since Dick reads your blog, I have a question for Dick. Dick if you are so knowledgeable about the WBTS and teachers, why didn't you take the time to write a civil factual response to Connie's article(s)? I am sure she would post such a response.
George Purvis