Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal begins with Thomas Kelly’s appearance on the “Take Back Our Schools” podcast, which is hosted by Andrew Gutmann and Beth Feeley. Kelly, the Jack Miller Center’s Vice President of Civics Initiatives, discusses the most recent – and disappointing – NAEP scores for eighth grade students in history and civics. Kelly also talks about the difference between traditional civics education and “action civics,” a more controversial reimagining of teaching civics in the classroom that has been recently gaining adherents. At the New Criterion, James Piereson looks at the New York Times’s 1619 Project in light of the “unadulterated rhetoric of the 1960s extremists” of the New Left. “The central themes in The 1619 Project,” Piereson finds, “were plainly identified fifty years ago by” Students for a Democratic Society, a group of New Left radicals. “It is not a stretch to suggest that the key authors of the Times’s project lifted their presuppositions from the New Left.” Piereson argues that one likely source for The 1619 Project was “a manifesto published in 1974 by the leaders of the Weatherman Faction” of the SDS, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, “former terrorists, now retired university professors.” Like The 1619 Project, the SDS manifesto too argued “that slavery was the cornerstone of American history, and the original model for American capitalism in that it was based on the buying and selling of human beings for profit.” Americans need to be aware of the foundational premises of The 1619 Project so that they can fight back against it and defeat it, Piereson concludes. Essential Reading James Piereson, New Criterion Many Americans are having a hard time coming to grips with the bizarre transformation that has come... In the News Juliana Horowitz, Pew John Halpin, Liberal Patriot No Labels, RealClearPolicy Gary Porter, Constituting America Eric Bradner, CNN Chester Finn, Fordham Institute Andrew Langer, Constuting America Editorial Board, Christian Science Monitor Christina Samuels, Caroline Preston, et al., Hechinger Report Bradford Littlejohn, Public Discourse Julie Carr Smyth & Samantha Hendrickson, Associated Press James Stoner, Law & Liberty Samuel J. Abrams, AEI Samuel Boehlke, The Federalist Joerg Knipprath, Constituting America American Idea Dr. John Moser discusses the use of the atomic bombs in World War 2 with noted author... Take Back Our Schools JMC's Vice President of Civics Initiatives, Thomas Kelly, recently appeared on the Take Back Our Schools podcast... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories It's Friday, August 11, the day of the week when I pass along quotations intended to be inspiring or elucidating. ... It's Tuesday, August 8, a date which in the years 1968, 1973, and 1974 demarcated the rise and fall of ... Good morning, it's Friday, August 4, the day of the week when I pass along quotations intended to be inspiring ... |