When entering college, you think of how important it is to remember what you learned in your algebra and senior year English classes. However, you likely didn’t add anything about World War II or the Gettysburg Address into that memory bank. America tends to overlook the importance of its history and people are growing up uninformed.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 18 percent of eighth-graders in the U.S. were proficient in American history in 2014. This means less than a quarter of U.S. eighth-graders have completely grasped the already watered-down version of the country’s history. It’s no wonder people are becoming adults with little-to-no knowledge about the fundamentals of American life that are regularly discussed.
American history is more than just a log of how the country was built. The thoughts and opinions we have today are a reflection of the generations before us, and ideas that are important today, like women’s rights and racism, have been learned over time. We couldn’t have advanced in the ways we have without past experiences. However, time and time again, people are giving their opinions on what occurs today with no recognition of what has occurred for years in our country.
People can’t make coherent statements on these subjects without at least general knowledge of what has happened in the past. Unfortunately, so many schools across the country are still choosing to pass by with these bare-minimum teachings. There was a major uproar in 2015 when states such as Oklahoma and Georgia tried to ban the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. history course because they felt it distorted important historical events. Many people know AP courses are designed to give high school students college credit by providing them with a more rigorous teaching of a subject. Banning them almost equates to saying they don’t want students to be informed.
The best way to reform the system is by setting a standard where schools are teaching more specifics. People need to move away from seeing American history only as a recollection of specific dates that tie into certain events. Many may know of a certain historical event, yet have no information on the subject.
People often show their ignorance when trying to recall accurate facts about slavery and the Civil War. Some don’t know that even though Abraham Lincoln didn’t agree with slavery, he also believed that black people didn’t deserve the same rights as white people. Abolishment of slavery is taught so broadly that Abraham Lincoln seems like much more of a hero than he truly is, taking away credibility from those who use him as an argument against racism.
Yale history professor David Blight once said, “History’s job isn’t to make people feel happy about themselves or their culture. That’s why we have religion, churches and community organizations.” America needs to get over trying to hide their history and accept it for the good, the bad and the ugly.
Chantelle Baker is a 20-year-old communication studies senior from Waipahu, Hawaii.