Inoculate children from propaganda

Maybe you've followed Donald Trump's crusade against the 1619 Project from the NY Times and the curriculum based on it.

Because the guy's trying very hard to become Kim Jong Un, he naturally followed up with the (creatively named, so you can tell he's being a jerk) 1776 Commission. If you don't feel like being infected by his speech, here's the pull quote:

Our mission is to defend the legacy of America's founding, the virtue of America's heroes, and the nobility of the American character. We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms, and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country. We want our sons and daughters to know that they are the citizens of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.

To grow up in America is to live in a land where anything is possible, where anyone can rise, and where any dream can come true — all because of the immortal principles our nation's founders inscribed nearly two and a half centuries ago.

(A quick overview of "patriotic education." A soupcon for you: A popular jr. high "patriotic education" textbook begins: "Who, knowing the facts of our history, can doubt that the U.S has been a thought in the mind of God from all eternity?”) 

Whether you think America is exceptional or not, the underlying message is that facts about America that detract from the image we imagine for ourselves should be expunged. 

There is no pure identity of any group of people over time. History is messy. Are we exceptionally socially mobile and awesome? Or are we monstrous slavers? Who else are we?

Any history text will have a POV on these matters. Trying to reduce all of the messiness of history to a school year or two necessitates focusing on some set of ideas and facts over others. 

This is the magic of the library. Every book you read has a POV, a way of looking at the facts, a frame that reduces the full picture to something more digestible. It's only with an array of books and media (and first-hand information where pertinent) that we can begin to see richer colors, new frames, and fresh perspectives. 

But that only happens when we choose to include fresh books (and other media) in our lives. And, with some experience of multiple viewpoints, we can begin to see what is not said, what is left out, when we read. There is no reading for completeness. But by engaging with multiple viewpoints, we can learn to ask interesting and insightful questions. And we can understand what is happening when someone tells us to ignore all but the official viewpoint. 

I've focused here on books, because books are, now, cheap to write and distribute, and easy to keep on your shelf. But it's worth noting that art and music and theater and dance are also ways that people tell stories. These forms may not teach your child about the Crimean war (though it happens that 19th century Western arts were quite engaged with political movements!), but they can provide a context unfound in history books. But that's a matter for another day.