Readers

Approximately one quarter of US adults have not read a book in the last year, 1 in 3 men, and 1 in 5 women.  For people with a high school education or less, 44% have not read a book in the last year.  By contrast, only 8% of college graduates haven't read a book in the last year.  People who earn under $30K per year are about a third as likely to have read a book as someone who earns more than $75K a year.  Reading corelates with success.

Many people cease reading once they are not obligated to do so in school.  That means we have a narrow window in which to provide reading material to a large chunk of students.  Do we offer them books that paint the country in a negative light, a positive light, or a neutral light?  I'm for positive.  Why have someone graduate high school viewing their country as an imperialistic, racist, colonial power?  I could provide a curriculum - all true - that exposed all the worst of the United States and have every student who didn't take it upon themselves to read other accounts to hate America and wish for its destruction.  Such students would be bad citizens.  Why do that?  On the other hand, I could also assemble a curriculum that would paint America as the greatest and most selfless country that has ever existing, a shining beacon of freedom for the world.  Again, all of it true.  Students who went through this curriculum would be proud of their country but ignorant of its flaws.  They would be patriotic citizens who might parrot Decatur: "...our country, right or wrong!"  I could also compose a curriculum that would provide both the good and the bad, which would be the best choice.  However, there's a lot to read for that final version and elementary and secondary civics courses are poor place for them.  This is the format I would choose for those who want to know, who will checkout books on history and read from David McCullough and Stephen Ambrose to William Appleman Williams and Howard Zinn.

Considering that nearly half of high school graduates will read very little once they are released from their brief stint of scholarship, what kind of citizens do you want wandering the streets?  Those who go on to college will read vastly more.  Those interested in knowing more about their country will have all the resources they want.  No need to worry about them, high school was just a primer.  I would choose the pro-American curriculum.

As it happens, that does not appear to be the one selected.  Considering how many young people have mostly negative views of their country, it sure seems as though the anti-American curriculum has been chosen.  From the 1619 Project to the tearing down of statues of historical figures, the United States is swarming with people more interested in tearing it down.  There are few enough people defending the country that politicians think it safer to cave to the demands of anti-American youth.