Check this out if you live in the United States...
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on March 29, 2015, 11:56 a.m. by CapnMooMoo
Link to the petition against U.S. Bill 1380, which bans funding on AP U.S. History in Oklahoma.
I don't want to be that guy that posts petition links, but this bill is utterly stupid.
My immediate thought was that they're just super patriotic and can't stand that students are taught the shortcomings and failures in America's history. Honestly wouldn't be the first time textbooks and classes were censored to cut out anything bad about their country of origin. Like how textbooks were altered to make it seem like the sole focus of the Civil War was state's rights. I don't think I've ever seen a US history textbook that details the huge amount of propaganda used by the founding fathers either.
March 29, 2015 12:05 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #5
Yeah, that's silly. I'm taking APUSH this year, and it's a class I feel (despite a more STEM background) that everyone should be able to take.
March 29, 2015 12:06 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #6
Welp, I could not care less, because I study World History every year :)
But a) it's total BS and b) why are we talking about this here of all places??
March 29, 2015 12:09 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #7
Mtg people tend to be a smarter group (eeeeeh generally)
Personally i would like to have facts in my text books and was sorely disappointed finding out after highschool how much truth they are willing to bend in the educational system.
March 29, 2015 12:14 p.m.
Took 4 AP classes and they prepared me extremely well for college. Banning anyone from taking these classes shows they really don't have the students' interest in mind at all.
America spends a huge amount more on Education and yet we still trail behind other nations when it comes to performance. Probably because of shit like this.
March 29, 2015 12:22 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #9
Blame the schools. They are terrible at budgeting in my experience though to be fair i grew up in a semi rutal area with a tiny school with not that much finding at the time. We barely offered ap courses at all
March 29, 2015 12:26 p.m.
zyphermage says... #10
Eh history in public schools are full of half truths or avoids specific parts of shady history, maybe that was just my experience.
March 29, 2015 12:42 p.m.
This is the dumbest thing ever. America isn't perfect; we've made horrible, horrible mistakes before and we don't have the best history with humanitarianism OR even true democracy. We've led natives on thousand mile marches on foot without caring. We held millions of people in slavery for over 100 years and even passed a law that allowed free black men and women to be made into slaves. We castrated those we considered undesirable in the name of eugenics. We led people on wild goose chases for communists and anarchists simply because we felt threatened by them. Neglecting America's history is a horrible thing, because we will only end up doing it again. As a history buff, I can say that this is only going to be harmful in the end.
March 29, 2015 12:44 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #14
FAMOUSWATERMELON was there a typo? I don't understand
March 29, 2015 12:56 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #15
What's next? We'll only be taught how to multiply and not divide? Differentiate but not integrate?
Jokes aside, this is ridiculous. For someone who's interested in the subject, there's Google. For someone who's really interested in the subject, they'll learn about it in college. Removing this one class will only set students behind in their education, and if it becomes a trend, then our education system is much worse than previously thought.
March 29, 2015 1 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #16
No, not at all, just when you mentioned "Mtg people tend to be a smarter group (eeeeeh generally)", things pop into my mind.
March 29, 2015 1 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #17
I don't know, I get the feeling that our history classes present a moderate viewpoint, and we've touched on basically everything that JA14732 pointed out. It helps that my history teacher spent 10ish years hanging out with people who saw Saddam Hussein as a freedom fighter.
March 29, 2015 1:04 p.m.
I mean, I'm in 8th grade for gods sake, and we have more bending of the facts than you would believe. Half the stuff that we're taught didn't occur even halfway like our teacher says.
March 29, 2015 1:11 p.m.
Vamp, think of someone who might not be the smartest crayon in the box whose initials are IM. Also this is a really, really stupid idea.
March 29, 2015 1:23 p.m.
Really, Glistener? That's surprising to hear. Did he live in the Middle East for an extended period of time?
March 29, 2015 1:24 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #21
He taught in Saudi Arabia for that period of time. He's also lived in Slovakia for a while. Pretty damn smart fellow.
IndepenentMeta, do you think that this legislation is worthwhile? What are your thoughts?
March 29, 2015 1:27 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #22
What the actual fuck is this. Really, government? Really?
March 29, 2015 1:33 p.m.
Impressive. I'm jealous, I would have loved to have been able to ask him questions about his experiences living there.
March 29, 2015 1:40 p.m.
CapnMooMoo says... #24
I live in Texas, so I've gotten force fed the "Civil war was for States' Rights'" lesson so many times, and even in AP United States History this year we were told that it was 50% of it. The real stupidity is that the Collegeboard's curriculum is made to be fiddled with by each individual teacher, and the people who wrote this bill don't understand that. If you live in a conservative state, you will be told conservative ideas even in AP classes, so trying to get rid of them is academic.
That's why I don't get the bill.
It's stupid I'm taught lies, but at least let me get college credit for it.
March 29, 2015 3:56 p.m.
CapnMooMoo says... #25
They're speculating to propose the bill in Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Colorado too, by the way.
March 29, 2015 3:57 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #26
Thankfully our school does US History as a two-year course, so you learn both opinions on pretty much everything.
March 29, 2015 3:58 p.m.
CapnMooMoo says... #27
That's interesting. So when do you take the AP test for it? After the 2nd year?
March 29, 2015 4:01 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #28
Yeah. I've got mine in a couple months. Gotta start studying...
March 29, 2015 4:04 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #29
See, the thing is, US history accounts for maybe 5% of world history. Just maaaaybe. It would be more logical for world history to be taught as a class and not an AP class in the first place, but to take it off completely is just plain stupid. It makes no sense whatsoever.
March 29, 2015 4:04 p.m.
Vergil_Redgrail says... #30
My school doesn't even offer AP courses, just their own form of Honors courses, in which most aren't very different, if at all, from the general classes. Most of my History teachers would point out when something was wrong, censored, or left out of the book anyway.
March 29, 2015 4:16 p.m.
CapnMooMoo, in all honesty the main reason the Civil War WAS fought was over the rights of a state to secede from the US. However, the main reason that we got to war was because of slavery. So, I'd say it's more 75/25 slavery/secession. So your Texas curriculum isn't wrong, but it isn't right. So long as you do some research, you'll be fine.
March 29, 2015 4:23 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #32
Vergil_Redgrail sounds very much like my highschool.
I do realize however that a country, we are rather young and new in the grand scheme of the world though that's actually why i think as Americas we should be teaching our youth about the success and failures of the past and how to further learn how to apply that to the world as we know it today. That would also require and unbiased look on history and that is VERY hard to come by
March 29, 2015 4:59 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #33
What the fuck is this?
As a History Major, as a student and as an aspiring academic this is utterly appalling. They want to ban history because of its content? Did I read that right? This is blatant unequivocal censorship.And it is enraging. For all the mockery that the Humanities receives, History is actually a fundamentally important subject. Not because "those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it" (that's nonsense), but because History (and English) teach important skills. Notably critical thinking and the analysis of information. Only lawmakers could revel in ignorance.
Don't think that's important? Consider the internet. Much of what we see on the internet is via the medium of text. Being unable to analyze and understand what you are reading is problematic, especially since the internet is such a key component in Western society. This is bloody infuriating.
March 29, 2015 5:23 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #34
CanadianShinobi not sure if you've noticed but censorship has been a really big part of western society these last few years
March 29, 2015 5:29 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #36
Censorship has always existed and will always exist to some degree. However, I would agree that, to a certain extent, censorship in America and Canada has become increasingly visible over the past decade or so. However, such a discussion would also devolve into the fact that we are beginning to see the emergence of consequences from the ending of the Cold War.
March 29, 2015 5:57 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #38
To spend the money on something else that fits their interest I'd bet
VampireArmy says... #2
I am saddened for our educational system. Deeply saddened
March 29, 2015 noon