Lessons in History for Legislators: Pass or Fail
Indocrination or Education?
My 8th-grade history teacher, Mabel Pritchard, was "old school". She required her students to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution, and to meet with her to recite it. It was a terrifying assignment:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. --Preamble to the United States Constitution
It didn't transform all of us into first-class citizens, but I still remember a good chunk of it. However, when she retired in the mid-1970s, it's likely that the next 8th-grade history teacher retired this assignment in rote learning.
The assignment came to mind as I read about the proposed Iowa legislation, HF2544, requiring the study of similar original documents of history. It also incorporates an over-the-top detailed curriculum, a prescription to promote the "study of and devotion to the United States' exceptional and praiseworthy history," as well as a directive to learn about "admirable Americans".
Shouldn't education aim to help students develop critical thinking skills so they can reach their own conclusions about which Americans are admirable? This sounds more like indoctrination.
Parallels to the Past
I've never subscribed to the history is "dead" school of thought. One of my favorite quotes is "The past is never dead. It's not even past" (William Faulkner). It's not surprising that HF2544 also requires the study of World War II; isn't this part of history textbooks?
History comes alive and gains its greatest relevance when students make an historical connection to their lives today. My father-in-law was a World War II veteran who served in Europe, and survived two life-threatening injuries. He seldom talked about his war experiences, but he read many World War II books. Recently, I was sorting through a stack of his books while listening to the radio, and I heard these top-of-the-hour headline stories:
· the failure of the U.S. House to bring an aid package for Ukraine to the floor for a vote
· the assassination of imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny by Vladimir Putin
· the growing partisan hostility toward NATO, and the U.S. leadership role on the world stage
These stories, combined with Tucker Carlson's February 9 interview of Vladmir Putin, underscore the reality that the past is never past. Instead, as Shakespeare wrote, "What's past is prologue." I didn't watch the entire two-hour live interview but in the first segment Putin lectured in the language of Hitler as he blamed Poland for World War II. He mentioned Poland more than 30 times. Just as Hitler had pointed a finger at Poland for his invasion, Putin laid the blame for Russia's invasion squarely on Ukraine. 'We were protecting our people, ourselves our homeland and our future," he stated.
On the Ground in Poland
These current events also made me reflect on my 2017 trip to Poland. Surely some House members have visited there or studied the lead-up to World War II? When Germany invaded Bohemia and Moravia in October 1938, Americans watched, urging our government to stay out of the war. U.S. leaders also stood by while Poland was overrun in 1939, followed by France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in 1940. After the War, and 37 years of domination by the Soviet Union, Lech Walesa led Poland to break away in 1989. I still recall the incredible excitement.
When I visited Poland, it was apparent that its wonderful people still felt the weight of the history of Nazi death camps and Soviet Union oppression. But they had new concerns following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Although it was considered a violation of international law, and sanctions were imposed, Russia got away with its land grab.
In 2015 the election of the Conservative Law and Justice party in Poland resulted in the formation of a right-wing government. Two years later, during our visit, our Polish hosts and guides spoke in hushed tones of their fears for democracy. The government moved to control the Polish judiciary, and cracked down on the free press in 2021. After eight years, Poland's democracy was teetering on the brink of extinction last fall, when a new liberal party was elected by a groundswell of voters. Democracy prevailed, but Poland still is working to regain the rights and protections it nearly lost.
Democracy vs. Autocracy
Today in this country, as the war between Ukraine and Russia reaches the two-year mark, a vocal minority of U.S. House members and Speaker Mike Johnson still refuse to pass an aid package for Ukraine. Instead of helping an Eastern European democracy fight off an unlawful invasion, they argue we need to keep our money at home, and use it to protect our southern border. However, it's a red herring to say the U.S. gains no benefit from supporting Ukraine. Two-thirds of the package ($40 billion) would go to U.S. munitions factories. It's more likely they're again taking their marching orders from former president Trump who expresses open contempt for NATO, and veiled admiration for Putin. After voting to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, the House adjourned for a 12-day recess until February 28. The U.S. Senate passed a funding bill for Ukraine on February 13, and Iowa's two senators, Grassley and Ernst broke with their party to support it.
How many Ukrainians have been killed since bipartisan legislation including the most significant border policy reform in decades was blocked from a House vote earlier this month? One week ago, Ukrainians withdrew from the city of Avdiivka, as Russia claimed victory. Earlier this week, Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, announced its plans to build an underground school so that its children can resume their education safely. The history of Ukraine is being written, and someday these students will learn the role the U.S. played in determining their future.
But our U.S. history also is in its first draft. Do Iowa's U.S. representatives, Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Nunn, and Feenstra ever reflect on how history will judge them for:
· Stalling on Ukraine aid while brave Ukrainians soldiers and innocent women and children were killed
· Reneging on bipartisan legislation they had demanded to solve our southern border problems
· Downplaying and denying the significance of the January 6 insurrection
· Cowering in silence while Donald Trump, who has 91 indictments, called the shots for them
Or, do they assume, like our Iowa legislators, that their own legacy will be preserved by passing legislation requiring a re-write of their role in history as "exceptional and praiseworthy"?
Mrs. Pritchard dedicated a unit of our 8th-grade year to study Iowa's rich history. HF 2544, based on model legislation from the conservative National Association of Scholars and the America First Policy Institute, would prioritize "the history of Iowans and their involvement in important events in history". It calls for a half-unit of U.S. government instruction related to voting statutes and procedures, registration, paper ballots and voting systems and the absentee ballots. What will history record about our state leaders, and their involvement in important events, such as the effort to undermine voting rights? Will it reflect the unflinching reality that they're on the wrong side of history?
Under HF2544, one unit of civics "should not include any requirements related to political activism, service learning, civic engagement, action civics, or any cognate activity". Unfortunately, this may disqualify any mention of the unsung Iowan citizens in DeWitt, Sioux County, and Jefferson, who are opening their homes and hearts to resettle Ukrainian refugees.
As I sift through my father-in-law's World War II books, I know it's not only school students who need to spend more time studying our history. With a total of 10,000 U.S. troops stationed on the border of our NATO partner Poland, maybe our legislators also need a refresher course. Or, maybe the German philosopher Georg Hegel was right when he wrote, “The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”
I’m delighted to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Thank you for reading, and for your support!
Extremely important messages here. Most of Europe and Eastern Asia clearly wonders whether the US has any backbone or integrity. Most African nations gave up on us long ago ( or perhaps always knew better). We cannot survive as Fortress America. The only congratulation I have ever sent to Sen Ernst was for her support of the most recent Ukraine funding. So sad that our Senators are so late in, for once, opposing The Isolationist/Insurrectionist hard-line.
Yes, Cheryl, following up. The Republican party's big mouthpiece recently called for Putin to attack those European nations who don't pony up enough for defense. This is traitorous rhetoric. If you or I were to express such sentiments, we would be raked over the coals. But the Republicans in Iowa are silent. It is frightening, appalling. They seem to want China to attack Taiwan, and Russia to prevail in Ukraine. Incredible! Sorry if I'm acting a bit deranged and angry, but we could have this idiot as a President in a short ten months.