I may not be a history major, but I have a special passion for United States history.
In high school, Advanced Placement classes were the bane of my existence. AP U.S. history (also affectionately known as APUSH) was that shining ray of hope in the midst of AP statistics, AP biology, AP psychology and whatever other classes I was forcing myself to take to prepare for college.
So when I read that the House Committee of Common Education of Oklahoma voted to remove APUSH from the AP curriculum, I was appalled.
The bill in question originated with Rep. Dan Fisher, a Republican, who claimed the course did not teach the idea of “American exceptionalism,” with the Republican National Committee also saying the course shows a “consistently negative view of American history.”
With a vote of 11-4, with all Republicans voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against it, the bill passed.
As those numbers make obvious, this is not a bill motivated by what is best for our country, but rather what is deemed appropriate by a single political party that is well known for conservative and exceptionalist views of our country.
I took APUSH, and there were undoubtedly sections of the course that emphasized American exceptionalism, especially when focusing on the Industrial Revolution, the Founding Fathers and the U.S. involvement in the World Wars.
To the dismay of this bill’s proponents, I also learned about the mistakes of our presidents, our military failures and the crimes our country has committed against its own citizens.
Still, I didn’t come away from the course any less patriotic than I had been before my enrollment. In fact, I was more passionate about my country than ever before.
When I visited family in South Carolina after taking the course, I specifically sought out the headstone of one of my favorite historical figures — John C. Calhoun — and took pictures to send to my fellow APUSH classmates, who were just as excited about my discovery as I was.
Every single student in that class was excited about the material, and our classroom was filled with active discussions about U.S. policies and meaningful events. Almost all of the students from my class kept that passion beyond high school, with some even pursuing degrees in history or political science.
So to Fisher and the Republican National Committee, I would like to ask this: “How dare you?”
How dare you put your political agenda first? How dare you attempt to rob students — your children — of a well-rounded and fair education about the country they live in? How dare you turn your back on the chance to build a brighter future by learning from the past?
Censorship of our country’s history is a gross injustice and the removal of APUSH from the standard AP curriculum would be a great disservice to the educational success of our nation’s youth.
APUSH is not a propaganda class. It’s a history class. And, unlike politics, history is honest.
