Did you ever learn that dinosaurs roamed the earth while men farmed?

How about the idea that, even pre-Civil War, most Black and White Southerners lived together in harmony?

Or that trying to save endangered animals is a “radical social agenda”?

These are just a sampling of the oddities currently taught in some American classrooms. A few of these ideas, namely that Noah brought along baby dinosaurs in his Ark, may seem extreme, but others are meant to promote... patriotism. 

As a nation, we lack a standardized, national curriculum. Thus, College Board and its AP classes are as close as we get. That’s why it’s so worrisome that critics successfully implemented an AP US History framework that focuses on a romanticized American exceptionalism as opposed to a more balanced and nuanced version.

Many conservatives were critical of the 2014 College Board framework for AP US History. They argued that it was detrimental to focus overmuch on how minorities have been affected over the course of American history, that there was too much emphasis on race and gender issues like slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and the Trail of Tears. Instead of arguing that studying such events gives us a necessary context for our current tensions, right wing conservatives successfully campaigned against this “leftist” propaganda that minimized American exceptionalism and achievements. 

Ben Carson, the once-Republican presidential candidate, even suggested that students would be ready “to join ISIS” after taking such a course.

In 2015, after a year of defending its curriculum, College Board finally caved. They toned down the language and mentions of racial tension throughout US History so that the newest framework says:

“By supplying American Indian allies with deadlier weapons and alcohol, and by rewarding Indian military actions, Europeans helped increase the intensity and destructiveness of Indian warfare”

Was changed to 

“The introduction of guns, other weapons, and alcohol stimulated cultural and demographic changes in some Native American societies.”

Such language deliberately softens horrific occurrences and gives us a less than accurate picture of our own history.

Like marriage, we can’t always showcase the most perfect sides of ourselves. We must trust students with the truth and teach them that our nation (and our founders) were great, despite their failings. They were human, multifaceted, and complex. 

Andrew Jackson, the man who ordered the trail of death that killed as many as 4,000 native Americans, adopted 3 children, at least 1 Native American. I felt no shame learning that, instead, it deepened my understanding of the man.

The school curriculum shouldn’t focus on presenting student’s with a set view of history, instead, we should be presented with all the pertinent facts so we can develop a more genuine love and understanding for our country.