In San Francisco some idiots toppled a statue of U. S. Grant. Grant, a poor farmer, freed the one slave he owned rather than sell him to make money. He was the most important general in defeating the Confederacy. He was the President who favored the right of ex-slaves to vote. He was the president who sent Federal troops into the South to defend ex-slaves against violence and intimidation.
A big problem is that when we only emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, we forget history, civics, and literature. Many high schools, including those in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, no longer teach civics. It isn’t on the state test.
As a consequence, students graduate not knowing about separation of powers, limits on the presidency, checks and balances, or the difference between federal and state powers. They don’t know American history. They don’t understand the issues in the Civil War, or the New Deal, or the Civil Rights movement.
There is a reason why there are so many Trump supporters. There is a reason that people fall prey to conspiracy theories or can’t tell truth from bullshit.
There is more to life than STEM. The humanities and the social sciences teach people to think rationally and ethically. That seems to have gone missing in America.
Now I understand why I am so street smart. I had civics, American History when I was in High School.
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