America is at a Crossroads

Make no mistake about it: Our country is at a crossroads.  It is hard to find one area of life that the COVID pandemic has not reached. I cannot speak for the whole country, but here in Michigan it has been an ever present risk/reward debate since the middle of March. We saw what we thought was the worst of the pandemic in April as deaths and cases climbed in the state and we were one of the leading states in both categories. We hunkered down, sacrificed, and we “flattened the curve” then becoming a role model to other states as by Memorial Day and into early June case counts and deaths were way down. We saw a summer where with precautions, life was relatively normal. Then, we started to shift towards fall and we all watched with angst as the case counts crept up each and every day. Now, we are sitting here in November until a temporary 3 week pause in the state of Michigan closing certain establishments and activities to help curb the spread of the virus.

Sifting through social media comments, news stories, or other sources demonstrate immediately what a fractured moment in history we are experiencing right now. Many Michiganders welcomed the news of tighter restrictions in order to do our part to help not overwhelm the healthcare system and slow the spread. Others immediately cried “government overreach” and “tyranny” and within a day, actual elected officials in Michigan called for Governor Whitmer’s impeachment because of tightened restrictions for public health. In the polarized world of 2020 this seemed par the course for what we’ve been experiencing. Online, there is a failed US House candidate openly telling businesses to not follow the new restrictions. Telling businesses that if they are hit with a fine to not pay it. To not enforce the mask mandate. There’s a lot of talk of freedom and Liberty and infringement. There’s a lot of talk in general. Everyone thinks they're an expert. Everyone thinks they know what freedom means. One commenter to the Detroit Free Press even told people to go read The Federalist Papers, which is funny because I don't remember Madison or Hamilton arguing about a pandemic. 

All of that whirlwind and information and misinformation has placed us at a crossroads as a country. What we do next matters greatly. How we approach the next few weeks matters. It’s not an issue of Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal. It’s a matter of what it means to be American and to live in a country that is in and of itself an experiment in freedom, liberty, and democratic government. We have twisted the notion of freedom and liberty so much that we've lost the sense of collective belonging and attachment to our fellow Americans. 

Governor Whitmer asked us in Michigan to take 3 weeks to make a difference and battle back against this virus. Other states are taking similar measures. Now, I know we have been going at this since March. We were under stay at home orders for April and much of May. I understand that. I understand we’re tired, annoyed, we want to get on with our normal lives. But this isn’t about us anymore. When thousands of people are dying each day across this country, we can’t complain about a disruption to our lives like not being able to eat in a restaurant. Believe me, I know the sacrifice and fatigue. We unexpectedly lost my dad to a heart attack in February. This will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without him. Trust me, I want to be with my family. I want to hold my mom and tell her it’ll all be ok. But that would be reckless of me. She’s in her late 60s, I can’t risk losing another parent. You want sacrifice? Try having that conversation with your grieving mother that she can’t see you or her grandkids for the first big holiday since dad's passing. 

My personal needs aside, people are questioning why we can’t get this right. Why as a country can we not move on past COVID? After all,. aren’t we the smartest, wealthiest, most educated country in the world? Aren’t all the worlds greatest minds here? For those of us that have studied American history could have predicted this response as a country. We don’t like to be told what to do as Americans. It runs counter to who we are and what we’ve been told. Think back to your elementary school history class and the lessons from the Revolution. We needed to be our own free and independent country because Britain and the King wanted to control us, right?! 

After the Revolution, we created our first form of government intentionally weak and powerless because we were afraid it might become too tyrannical. We replaced that with a Constitution, you know the one that everyone is using to claim masks violate their rights but they’ve never actually read any of it?, yeah that one. In that document, we inherently have the concept of federalism and shared power by the local states and the federal government—again so a powerful national government couldn’t tell us what to do. That idea morphed into States Rights which was used to defend the institution of slavery for generations, because again, why should anyone be able to tell us we can’t own people? We fought a Civil War over that which cost the lives of nearly 700,000 Americans, all because one side wanted to keep another bondage and didn’t want to be told they couldn’t—it’s as simple as that. 

It’s not just in national events, the sense of individualism in American history and character. We are a nation of risk takers. A nation where people sailed across the ocean to begin new lives in a new world. Whether we are descendants of the original colonists, or recent immigrants, we came here because our chances were better. Whether it was moving West and establishing a homestead on the frontier, or the idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and the rags to riches story, those ideas are central to what American identity is, or at least what we’ve been taught. We’re the nation of Cowboys and Pioneers, Roughnecks, and so forth. It’s about me, how can I succeed and make myself better? How can I improve my life and that of my family? It’s the American dream to achieve—as we’ve been told all of our lives. Oh, you’re not successful? Then maybe you didn’t work hard enough, or you’re just not smart enough. We’ve all heard that before. 

Individualism runs deep in America. We love our personal freedoms and the idea of limited government. We love the ability to do as we please and have the freedom to make choices that we think are best for us and for our families. We love the inherent rebel spirit of America where we have freedom and the rest of the world has less of it than us, right? That is all well and good and no one is arguing to take rights away or limiting your freedom to be the leader of your own life. But, what this pandemic is showing us is that Americans are taking the idea of individual freedom and manipulating to fit their needs all while undermining the greater public health crisis. 

This sense of individualism has also lead to an inflated sense of what freedom and liberty means. Many think freedom is the ability to do whatever you want with out government interference. True. But, what happens when that freedom negatively impacts others? What happens when your pursuit of freedom inhibits my ability to do so? Sure, you can decide whether wearing a mask is effective or not and if you're going to follow the rules, but what happens when you start a chain of virus spread that impacts me, or my family, or someone else that you may not even know? What if they get infected because you were expressing your rights? Why does their freedom and their rights mean less than yours? That’s the crux of the argument we are now at in this pandemic. Many people are screaming for freedom from government overreach because they want to go eat, shop, see a movie, etc all without a mask on. It’s a conspiracy, it’s a hoax, it causes breathing problems, it’s my right not to. Freedom! See this is what makes COVID a much bigger problem in America. We don’t have a sense of community and what it really means to work as a community to defeat something. Think about it, look at your subdivision, how hard do you work to either have a lot with neighbors far away? A big privacy fence? Do you even know your neighbors? Extrapolate that out to your city, town, township. Do you know more than a handful of people? See, it’s hard to sacrifice for people you don’t know when you’re focused on you. In that moment we fall back on what we know, freedom. We focus on ourselves and our own rights and many make the decision that wearing a mask just isn't worth it and it's easy to discard the impact when you don't see it. That’s the essential reason we as a country are struggling so hard to put COVID behind us: we aren’t willing to strike a balance between personal freedom and community. Many think that personal responsibility (masking up, social distancing, etc) are an attack on personal freedoms rather than an aid to help their community. That’s the problem. That’s the battle we are fighting. 

This isn't about government overreach, no matter what anyone tells you. Being asked to follow public health recommendations is not about taking away your freedoms, let's be honest. The same people who won't wear a mask will gladly follow other government actions to help public health, such as getting vaccinated as children, vaccinating their own children and so on. They don't cry foul when the government collects their taxes every year, or a sales tax on the purchase they just made at the store. They don't cry government overreach when they have to pay for registration and license plate tabs for their vehicles, or pass a milage for their local school district, police department, or fire department. What we are really experiencing here is a twisting of the notion of individualism and freedom to fit their argument. According to the Brookings Institution, 40% of Americans won't wear a mask because they believe it is their right not to. I have yet to be shown where in our rights and freedoms it says that, but I digress...

Generations before us have had their defining moment to step up and sacrifice for the greater good. Countless times Americans have answered the call before. Millions of men signed up to fight on distant fields in World War I. When that wasn’t enough millions more went to fight evil in Europe in World War II, never asking what would happen to their freedoms while they went. Suffragists, civil rights activists, all risked their lives and well being for actual freedom and a greater cause. All we are talking about Is wearing a mask. A piece of cloth that covers your nose and mouth. That’s it. Nothing more. And to stay away from people outside of your household. That’s all. So with all due respect, put the talk of freedom aside and step up for your community. Sure, I may never get COVID, but I am more than willing to help stop the spread for my fellow Americans who don’t have the choice  I do it for all those that don’t have the privilege to stay home. Who have to work because if they don’t they can’t make rent, or pay the bills. Or those that can’t afford to get sick because of underlying conditions—like my own wife. I do it for all those kids that I teach, to show them that sometimes contributing to the greater good is more important than yourself. I do it to show people that their freedom matters to me just as much as my own. Any freedom loving American would feel the same way, right? If you really love that freedom you talk about, you'd want everyone to have it, not just you. 

This is a defining moment for our country. Will we put aside the rugged sense of individualism and embrace the greater good of the community? Will we stop all the talk of freedom and tyranny and wear a mask so we can put this thing behind us? And for all those who post quotes of the Founders talking about giving up freedom, just stop. Health experts are asking you to wear a mask. And, if we do that, in a few months you can take that mask off and bask in all that star-spangled freedom again! 

It’s time that we as a nation do what we have collectively shunned for so long—embrace your neighbor and step up. Put aside the individualism and embrace the greater good. Sacrifice for a short time so that more of us Americans can be around to enjoy the freedoms we have sacrificed for, for many years to come. 

This One's For Dad: Go For What You Want (and an announcement!)

 I would not be alone if I said that 2020 is a horrible year. But for my family it has been exceptionally bad. In February we unexpectedly lost my dad to a heart attack at the age of 63. The sudden loss shook us all to the core. Two weeks later my wife laid in an emergency room bed--the same emergency room where we lost dad--and then spent three days in the ICU with multiple organ failure due to complications from a preexisting condition. Then COVID hit. While I was in the ICU with my wife news came that Michigan schools were shut down and would move online. We lost dad, almost my wife, and schools shut down. And this was March 12, 2020. 

In March we had no idea what the remainder of 2020 would have in store. We had no idea we'd be shut down and put under Safer At Home Orders. That every grocery store visit would be curbside pickup. That we'd have to make mask wearing a part of daily routine. But, with all that being said, my family has had our health through all of this. Sure we've had our ups and downs. I had to telehealth my doctor and admit that I was not doing well and the stress was having physical manifestations. I had to open up and talk about the loss of my dad (something I am still struggling with). 

With all of this still going on, I had some professional setbacks in my education career. A couple of job opportunities to advance my career opened and I eagerly applied and began preparing, only to not be selected for the jobs. Loss, heartbreak, pandemic, anxiety, and now rejection. What else could 2020 have in store?

Then, a couple of weeks ago I opened my email to find that I had been named the Michigan History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. I was floored. I picked up the phone and out of instinct, I dialed Dad's number. A couple of rings in I realized what I was doing and hung up the phone, sunk to the floor and lost it for a number of minutes. After about ten minutes passed I was able to pick myself up and dial my wife who was at work and I could barely get out the news. Here I was sharing news of the biggest honor of my educational career and I was a mess. Dad was the first person I dialed for a reason: this award was all dad. Dad was always the first to hear of good news. The one I went to for advice. The one I called when I had a bad day. So Dad was going to be the one to share this news. But it's more than that. This honor was a culmination of Dad's purpose and work with me as his son. 

Dad always taught me to value myself and advocate for myself. He would laugh when he said if you're not willing to advocate for yourself why would anyone else? If you don't believe in yourself why should anyone? He was a hard worker who never failed to provide for his family. Through all of that though, he always taught us to go for what we want. Donn't be afraid if we really believe in something--just do it. He was that way when I told him I wanted to go into education. Dad was a designer to General Motors and his dad worked in the auto industry as did his sister and many other extended family members. He was fully supportive when I said the auto industry had no appeal for me. Dad pushed me to be the best teacher I could be and would constantly ask about my students, lessons, and other news of school. 

A few years ago I began transforming the way I teach. I was horrible before. I wanted to teach history better for my students as they deserved it. So I took Dad's advice and went for it. I read books, articles, emailed professors and historians and radically changed the structure and content of my 8th grade US History curriculum. So when that hard work was honored as Michigan History Teacher of the Year, it had Dad's fingerprints all over it. 

That being said, I am going to use this honor to go for it even more. I want to help people. Dad helped people. He always put others before him. So I am going to follow suit. I want to help teachers do better. History teachers need to do better. We all can do better. So, I am going to go for it. I am pleased to announce that coming very soon I will be launching a Podcast titled "The Teaching Better History Podcast."

The goal of this podcast is not to be a soapbox for me to act like I am better than anyone. But, rather a forum for me to share my experiences and transformation in the classroom and successes and failures I have had with that. In the coming weeks I will launching and releasing a few episodes to begin before making it an open forum for any history teacher that wants to talk about their experiences of teaching better. In this way, we can transform history education and transform the way students learn history. All honoring Dad's legacy of "going for it." If you're interested in participating, please let me know!

Fixing History

I will first lead this post off by saying that I never make political posts in any way. I pride myself in keeping my personal views of politics separate from the teaching side of things and I objectively look at both Republicans and Democrats to try to seek the truth in every issue. I don’t pick sides, I don’t pick winners and losers in the current political climate, and I never try to push my personal views, or even hints of my personal views onto my students. Rather, I teach them to think about their own views. I teach them how to critically make decisions and think for themselves and arrive at their own conclusions based on their own morals, values, or world view. So this post in no way meant to bash the President personally or make any kind of statement politically. Merely I am trying to set the record straight like I try to do for my students each day. 

Last night, July 3, 2020, President Trump gave a speech at a rally in front of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. I will spare you all the history of Mount Rushmore and the controversy surrounding the land that it is built on (you can do your own research there and see). In part of the speech the President told the “true stories” of the four Presidents immortalized on the monument. In many ways, what he said was either wrong, or misleading. In class each and every day I try to get my students to see the whole picture. Look at a problem in history from every angle-not just one viewpoint. The speech on American history last night left a lot of that out. In our current climate as a country, change is sweeping the country. Now more than ever it is important to look to history with a critical eye and realize those in our nation’s past did great things but also had flaws, much like ourselves. Would you go through your entire life only telling people the great things you did and never pause to reflect, and learn from, mistakes you’ve made? So in this post I am going to edit the President’s speech. I am going to attempt to fix it, or at least say what should have been said if we’re telling the “true stories” of American history:

First, let’s begin with the transcript of President Trump. Mind you this is part of a larger speech. But pasted here is word for word what President Trump said last night: 

“Our people have a great memory. They will never forget the destruction of statues and monuments to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionists and many others. The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets and cities that are run by liberal Democrats in every case is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism, and other cultural institutions. Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies, all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition. This movement is openly attacking the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore. They defiled the memory of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Today we will set history and history’s record straight.

Before these figures were immortalized in stone, they were American giants in full flesh and blood, gallant men, whose intrepid deeds unleashed the greatest leap of human advancement the world has ever known. Tonight I will tell you and most importantly the youth of our nation the true stories of these great, great men. From head to toe George Washington represented the strength, grace, and dignity of the American people. From a small volunteer force of citizen farmers, he created the Continental Army out of nothing and rallied them to stand against the most powerful military on earth. Through eight long years, through the brutal winter at Valley Forge, through setback after setback on the field of battle, he led those patriots to ultimate triumph. When the army had dwindled to a few thousand men at Christmas of 1776, when defeat seemed absolutely certain, he took what remained of his forces on a daring nighttime crossing of the Delaware River. They marched through nine miles of frigid darkness, many without boots on their feet, leaving a trail of blood in the snow. In the morning, they seized victory at Trenton after forcing the surrender of the most powerful empire on the planet at Yorktown, General Washington did not claim power but simply returned to Mount Vernon as a private citizen.

When called upon again, he presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected our first president. When he stepped down after two terms, his former adversary, King George called him the greatest man of the age. He remains first in our hearts to this day, for as long as Americans love this land, we will honor and cherish the father of our country, George Washington. He will never be removed, abolished, and most of all, he will never be forgotten. Thomas Jefferson, the great Thomas Jefferson, was 33 years old when he traveled north to Pennsylvania and brilliantly authored one of the greatest treasures of human history, the Declaration of Independence. He also drafted Virginia’s constitution and conceived and wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a model for our cherished First Amendment. After serving as the first Secretary of State, and then Vice President, he was elected to the presidency. He ordered American warriors to crush Barbary pirates. He doubled the size of our nation with the Louisiana Purchase and he sent the famous explorers Lewis and Clark into the west on a daring expedition to the Pacific Ocean. He was an architect, an inventor, a diplomat, a scholar, the founder of one of the world’s great universities and an ardent defender of liberty. Americans will forever admire the author of American freedom, Thomas Jefferson, and he too will never, ever be abandoned by us.“

Again, that was just a section of the speech. Now like I said before, I don’t make political posts. So this is not an indictment on him as a person, as a President, and in no way meant to show support or a lack of support. I am merely presenting a critical view of the information presented to the American public. I teach kids for a living. I teach the youth of our nation, and since President Trump said he was doing the same thing last night I figured I would add some of my own notes to his speech, so that we all have the complete picture of these historical figures. So below is his words, with my additions/modifications: 

Our people have a great memory. They will never forget the destruction of statues and monuments to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionists and many others. (Maybe, but history isn’t about monuments. I can read history all i want and never need to see a monument. Monuments immortalize a person at their best and don’t account for flaws)The violent mayhem  protests we have seen in the streets and cities that are run by liberal Democrats in every case is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias misinformation in education, journalism, and other cultural institutions. Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes but that were villains (I don't know where this is happening. If anything kids are far too often taught that America is great and people like Washing and Jefferson never did anything wrong). The radical view of American history is a web of perspectives, lies, all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, where every motive is examinedtwisted, every fact is distorted presented and every flaw is acknowledged magnified until the history is purged and the record is all brought to light and we are left to make our determinations. disfigured beyond all recognition. This movement is openly attacking questioning/evaluating the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore. They defiled  examinethe memory of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Today we will set history and history’s record straight.

Before these figures were immortalized in stone, they were Americans giants in full flesh and blood, gallant men, whose intrepid deeds unleashed the greatest leap of human advancement the world has ever known (a bit of grandstanding here, but I will allow it). Tonight I will tell you and most importantly the youth of our nation the true stories of these great, great men. From head to toe George Washington represented the strength, grace, and dignity of the American people. From a small volunteer force of citizen farmers, he created the Continental Army out of nothing and rallied them to stand against the most powerful military on earth. Through eight long years, through the brutal winter at Valley Forge (Valley Forge is often overblown--see Ray Raphael's "Founding Myths" for more), through setback after setback on the field of battle, he led those patriots to ultimate triumph. When the army had dwindled to a few thousand men at Christmas of 1776, when defeat seemed absolutely certain, he took what remained of his forces on a daring nighttime crossing of the Delaware River. They marched through nine miles of frigid darkness, many without boots on their feet, leaving a trail of blood in the snow (again see Raphael's book here...)In the morning, they seized victory at Trenton after forcing the surrender of the most powerful empire on the planet at Yorktown (actually the war went on for almost 2 more years), General Washington did not claim power but simply returned to his plantation, Mount Vernon, as a private citizen.

When called upon again, he presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected our first president. When he stepped down after two terms, his former adversary, King George called him the greatest man of the age. He remains first in our hearts to this day, for as long as Americans love this land, we will honor and cherish the father of our country, George Washington. He will never be removed, abolished, and most of all, he will never be forgotten. But, in our current state of affairs, we must also be reminded of George Washington the slave owner. Washington who owned over 300 people in his life time and never freed one of them. We cannot fully understand how far we've come as a country if we ignore this truth. 

Thomas Jefferson, the great Thomas Jefferson, was 33 years old when he left behind his plantation, and those enslaved there, and traveled north to Pennsylvania and brilliantly authored one of the greatest treasures of human history, the Declaration of Independence. He also drafted Virginia’s constitution and conceived and wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a model for our cherished First Amendment. After serving as the first Secretary of State, and then Vice President, he was elected to the presidency. He ordered American warriors to crush Barbary pirates. He doubled the size of our nation with the Louisiana Purchase and he sent the famous explorers Lewis and Clark into the west on a daring expedition to the Pacific Ocean. He was an architect, an inventor, a diplomat, a scholar, the founder of one of the world’s great universities and an ardent defender of liberty. Americans will forever admire the author of American freedom, Thomas Jefferson, and he too will never, ever be abandoned by us.“ But again, we must fully evaluation the Thomas Jefferson who owned over 600 people in the course of his lifetime. The Jefferson who had children with one of those enslaved people. The Jefferson who also authored the important work, Notes of the State of Virginia, that furthered racial prejudices and engrained racial differences in "science."

_____

Now this is not the best edit ever, but it's a start. It's the beginning of a more complete conversation. I did this post not to hate on our past, in fact quite the opposite. Picture it this way--if you love someone you love all of them right? You come to grips with past mistakes, troubles they had, errors they made, and you celebrate the good they do. The same should be true for looking at our past: we can love this country and bring into questions the flaws and it does not make us any less patriotic. Only when we are willing to examine the past critically, and fully, can we really move forward as a nation and finally come to grips with our past. In the song, " A Better South" the band American Aquarium sings that "to the right side of history we're always late." As a country we need to accept our past as a way to move forward.