Re: [DL] Civil War Banned from Knox County Schools

[Harry Canyon <harrycanyon@mac.com>]

> On 1/7/03 5:33 PM, "Jason Young" <jason_d_young@yahoo.com> wrote:

> --- Joey Fanning <wraith530@comcast.net> wrote:
>> It turns out that the year after I get out of my county's school system,
>> they bought new U.S. history textbooks.  They had no information on the
>> Civil War.  In addition, I've learned from my friends still attending
>> that in place of civil war history, they're teaching 9/11 stuff.
>> Correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't everyone over the age of 7 know
>> what happened?  My sister didn't even know what colors the different
>> sides wore!  Now I must teach civil war history to all my friends.  Has
>> anyone else been experiencing this?  I'm sure that the civil war is
>> something that we're supposed to forget about in this time of abnormally
>> high patriotism, but isn't one of the most important reasons to learn
>> history to learn from the mistakes of the past?  The worst part is, I
>> live in the south.
> 
> There has not been nor will there ever be a time when we should forget the
> Civil War. Patriotism does not preclude respecting our history. You can't
> respect it if you don't know it.
> 
> What is the name of the publisher and author of that text, if you have it?
> Also, what county is this in, if you don't mind my asking?

Knox County?  What state?  (I can think of two states with a Know county,
but I'm guessing Tennessee?)

Another issue is learning who chooses/approves text books for the district.
Just economics, but the publishers will keep selling what people are buying.
I would so love to be on the board that decides such things.

I forget the author's name, but "Lies My Teacher Told Me" examines 12 high
school history text books and their various omissions and errors.

Come to think of it, I don't think I learned much about history until I was
out of school and sought it out on my own.

Derek