Advanced Placement history courses are rigorous
educational opportunities available for high school students who can earn
college level credits for taking them. They are certified by the College Board,
a private organization, which also oversees their final examinations. Local
school districts are not required to teach Advanced Placement courses, however
most college and university admissions offices tend to favor student
applications that include successfully passing such courses in high school.
This all seems pretty good to me, but a statist Oklahoma
lawmaker wants Advanced
Placement courses banned in his state because he thinks they omit emphasizing what
he calls “American exceptionalism.” House
bill 1380, introduced by Republican State Rep. Dan Fisher, cuts off funding for
the courses because, in his opinion, they focus on "what is bad about
America."
A Tulsa Oklahoma newspaper editorial opines that the
courses allow smart high school students to study at a college level, and that
the history courses teach the "full range of American history: the good,
the bad and the exceptional… It's not a secret left-wing plot to inculcate
American youth with seditious ideas, just a hard class for bright kids."
I have some news for Rep. Fisher: There is a lot of history
about America that is plenty bad indeed, and for which all Americans should be rightfully
ashamed. But history is history; facts are facts; and students should be taught
the good, the bad and the ugly about the United States of America. There are
plenty of good facts about American history for which Americans should be
proud. No proper history course should gloss over the bad stuff and teach only
the good.
History is not about opinions. There is plenty of
room in high school curriculum's to teach about opinions outside of history
courses. Why not let the bright students take the courses and then come to
their own conclusions about whether America is exceptional.
American exceptionalism
is an opinion; not a fact.
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