Standards for teaching history in Virginia public schools must be changed at least every seven years. With the last overhaul occurring in 2015, the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) has received input for the new standards over the last year.
That means the new standards began to be developed under former Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat. Northam sought input for the new standards from a variety of groups including experts on indigenous, African American, Asian American, and Hispanic history, among other cultures.
Unfortunately, it appears Northam neglected to consult an expert in American history.
For that reason, the VBOE has delayed public hearings on the new standards — at least until they can get some of the kinks worked out.
“We’re on our way to having the best standards in the nation, and I don’t want any of us to settle for anything less,” Balow said.
For instance, Balow criticized the draft standards for the use of the word “succession” instead of “secession” and further referenced the removal of the “Father of our Country” title for George Washington and “Father of the Constitution” title for James Madison. The Department of Education has said that was an “inadvertent” error.
Yeah, right. “Inadvertent” my foot. It was a deliberate slap at Washington and Madison because they were slaveholders. To erase history because the people who made it upset you or your delicate sensibilities is ignorant and shortchanges the children you’re supposedly trying to teach.
“As a parent I am shocked by the nonsense of even a thought of the removal of the nomenclature, ‘George Washington, the Father of our Country,’ and ‘James Madison, the Father of our Constitution.’ I am grateful for the five new Virginia Board of Education members who put the brakes on the aim to ram through these destructive ‘updates’ to the Virginia State history curriculum,” Elizabeth McCauley of the Virginia Mavens said.
Governor Glen Youngkin was elected by a wave of disgust at what woke teachers were doing in the classroom.
I believe we should tell our history accurately, the good and the bad,” Youngkin said.
“And part of the history we’re going to tell is that our Founding Fathers, including George Washington and James Madison, and let’s not forget about Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and the others, played an extraordinary role in the founding of our nation,” Youngkin continued.
The governor said that his administration will “reinforce” the role the Founding Fathers played in the creation of America and that Virginia will tell the history of America “accurately and completely.”
You can’t separate the Founders’ philosophy of government from their role in the most stupendous undertaking in the history of the West: creating out of whole cloth a country where none existed before. Criticize them for their shortsightedness and selfishness in keeping people in bondage. But looking at these white men through the prism of 21st-century attitudes toward race is ridiculous and has nothing to do with scholarship. It has to do with politics — nothing more.
Each person’s life must be examined in its totality to be judged. That’s the way the lord does it. Why can’t we?
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