Trump's "Real Education"
“We are going to have real education in America,” says President Donald J. Trump in his official reelection platform.
Yet, what exactly is real education? Trump’s plan for education includes “defending the American tradition and Western civilization, protecting free speech, eliminating wasteful administrative positions that drive up costs incredibly, removing all Marxist diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats…” amongst other policies. His promises to lower the cost of education and create a more pragmatic system wherein colleges are better equipped with career services are admittedly exciting, if not ambitious. However, these improvements are overshadowed by his concerning stance on education itself.
Perhaps still recognizing the deficit of Republican voters in higher education, the Republican party’s official 2024 platform delves deeper into their means of correcting U.S. education. The Republican party threatens to defund schools who participate in “political indoctrination,” likely referring to the reading of books such as The Family Book, which posits that “Some families have two moms or two dads.” Perhaps President Trump has a different interpretation of the meaning of “protecting free speech.” Aside from their proposed blockade on so-called political indoctrination, Republicans ironically promise to reinstate the 1776 Commission, established in November 2020 by President Trump. This Commission effectively aimed to censor American history, altering teaching methods to produce a more patriotic generation of young Americans.
The 1776 Commission, in addition to their dystopian mission to generate a more patriotic youth, questionably quoted Federalist 2 in their 1776 Report. The quotation of founding father John Jay seems odd considering the quote itself was so erroneous that the authors of the report themselves felt the need to correct Jay. The quote essentially describes the American people as homogenous, united by the same language, religion, and ancestry. If there were ever a quote to explain what America wasn’t, even during its founding, Jay’s quote would be perfect. The authors of the report attempt to justify the inclusion by emphasizing the unity of America over their principles, however, the fact of its inclusion is baffling. Why include a quote that fails to define America and proclaim it as one of the most crucial pillars of our nation’s identity?
The problem espoused by Trump’s proposed education reforms is epitomized by that simple quote. It distorts the facts of history for a convenient and blatantly political message. The authors cherry-pick, encouraging you to ignore how unworldly the statement is, and focus on a fraction of what was actually written. The meaning behind the statement is obscured by the author’s words, like a knife hidden behind one’s back.
Regardless of your political affiliation, raising a new generation of Americans on half-truths and sly reasoning will only polarize our country further. There will be those who only learn from school, and those who have the luxury to go beyond in their studies. The educational disparity will increase, and with it, the split between the two sides of America’s political spectrum. This disparity is already evidenced by the aforementioned partisan divide between those in higher education and those not. Teaching some students America has always been a champion for equal rights and others those equal rights originally only applied to well-off white men manufactures a divide.
Furthermore, creating patriotism off of misinformation is creating ignorance. Forcing students to study history as if it is a one-dimensional fable will do nothing but degrade critical thinking skills. The beauty of U.S. history, as it is now studied in standardized classes like AP United States history, is that there are a multitude of interpretations. History is not black and white, or a paint by numbers worksheet. It is a complex web, and it is crucial for students to be able to unwind it. Students need to learn about both the sins of the founding fathers and their creation of a strong new nation. Their interpretation of events shouldn’t be left up to a select committee to determine.
Whether the slave-owning men who created the pillars of our nation were good or evil is up to every American to decide for themselves. “Real education” should not be dictated by any agenda, and that’s the facts.
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