As the United States further descends into outright fascism from its current position in late state capitalism is looking to take another step as Donald Trump has indicated his intention to create a commission to promote “patriotic education” and a “pro-American” curriculum. This is a response to schools looking to steer lessons in the direction of a more detailed rundown of systemic racism in the United States whether it be slavery, Jim Crow laws, the segregation in the early to mid 20th century, and so on, something Donald Trump and his brand of white supremacy want no part of.
Trump in the meantime has decried left-wing movements that have become more prominent this summer after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the state. The President has in turn used the protests and outcry for equal justice for minorities as a political tactic to essentially rally his white base that the left is trying to destroy “their history”.
NPR:
“Teaching this horrible doctrine to our children is a form of child abuse, the truest sense,” Trump said. “For many years now, the radicals have mistaken Americans’ silence for weakness. They’re wrong. There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children. And patriotic moms and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country.”
The federal government does not have jurisdiction over school curriculum.
Trump decried “a radical movement” working against telling a more flattering version of U.S. history as Democrats’ efforts to smear the country for political gain.]
The president’s remarks reflect a growing outcry among Republicans against recent moves to tell a more evenhanded version of the nation’s history, including its early foundational reliance on slave labor and the longtime disenfranchisement of and systemic racism against racial minorities.
Trump and the GOP’s attempt at revisionism or just outright censorship of critical points in American history can be seen in their critical response to The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project,” which goes into great detail on the horrors of the New World slave trade when Africans were bought and sold to American shores. A vital and incredibly unfortunate aspect of the rise of the eventual rise of the United States.
Trump said Thursday that, “Critical race theory, the 1619 Project, and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together. It will destroy our country”.
Instead, and in seemingly direct competition to the 1619 Project, Trump wanted schools to put more of a focus on “the legacy of 1776,” when the United States and it’s wealthy landowners fought and eventually gained its independence from British rule. Furthermore the commission to attempt to oversee this would according to Trump be called the 1776 Commission which more than likely is no coincidence.
Nonetheless, it’s probably important to point out that the federal government has no power over school curriculum. Concern, however, would have to extend to Trump-friendly state governments who very much have an influence on what is taught within their own public schools.
“Trump Youth”
Trump’s announcement of the 1776 Commission sparked rightful criticism across social media as users started to refer to the President’s attempts at indoctrination of children with gross American propaganda as “Trump Youth”.
“Since people are (correctly) equating Trump’s new executive order with Hitler’s Youth, here is an interesting factoid,” wrote American author and film producer, Tariq Nasheed. “Hitler’s Youth was actually inspired by the Boy Scouts…Because the Boy Scouts was founded by white supremacist Robert Baden-Powell”.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it“
I don’t think there’s any more relevant time to bring up George Santayana’s famous quote that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” But perhaps that’s exactly what Trump and the rest of his GOP sycophants, supporters, and collaborators of color want while corporate democrats and “useful idiots” stand idly by and let it happen.