The new curriculum seems well designed to cause students to see America as a deeply oppressive society with very little to recommend it, and to see themselves (if they are non-white) as victims who are owed favors and reparations.
Even assuming that students emerge from D.C.’s public schools with the proficiencies needed to succeed in life (a big assumption), the attitudes instilled by the social studies curriculum will conspire against their success.
Successful people rarely believe they are owed anything by anyone. They almost always believe they can get ahead through diligence and will not be thwarted by “the man” — a reality supported by the American experience, including the modern African-American experience, but seemingly erased from the new social studies curriculum.
Thus, the new curriculum doesn’t just present a grossly distorted view of the world. It presents a view that’s self-defeating to hold.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member