Don't say Gay, CRT or That Founding Fathers Were Less Than Perfect
by John Lawrence
As Ken Burns pointed out in his excellent documentary on Benjamin Franklin, not only was Franklin a slave owner, but also he fathered an illegitimate son, William. Geez, a slave owner and a philanderer! Do we want this taught to our kids in school? I say why not. It's better than filling their heads with nonsense, bullshit and fairy tales. The truth is that European settlers stole land from the Indians, and then brought in African slaves to work it while they sat on their asses and got rich. Benjamin Franklin is held up as a paragon of American achievement which he was in many ways. As a scientist he made a contribution to the theory of electricity and saved many church spires with his invention of the lightning rod. He also almost single-handedly saved the American revolution as a diplomat who got France to support it financially and militarily. Without France's support the fledgling United States of America would have assuredly remained British colonies. By the way Franklin's son William became the British Governor of the colony of New Jersey. Franklin himself was a loyal British subject until the Declaration of Independence at which time he decided to be an American.
So Republican reactionaries don't want unsavory facts about our Founding Fathers taught in school in addition to unsavory facts about sex. They don't want anything taught,especially the truth, if it makes their children feel uncomfortable. The fact is that not all people are heterosexuals, the Founding Fathers owned slaves, Indian's land was stolen from them and the Founding Fathers, some of them anyway, were philanderers who fathered illegitimate children. William, by the way, also fathered an illegitimate son, whom Franklin, to his credit, accepted into his household. After the Declaration, Franklin and his son William, who remained a loyal Brit, became estranged. William was captured and imprisoned by the American patriots.
Time reported:
"Opponents of CRT now invoke it as a catchall term for any discussion of systemic racism. All of a sudden, this once obscure bit of pedagogy is the hottest topic in conservative politics. In recent weeks, Republican governors in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas have signed bills designed to restrict the way history is taught or ban the use of CRT. In a legally binding opinion, Montana’s attorney general called critical race theory and antiracism training “discriminatory” and illegal “in many instances.” On June 10, the Florida board of education approved a rule that instruction “may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.” At least 25 states have proposed or taken actions designed to restrict how teachers discuss racism and sexism, according to Education Week. One group in Nevada is calling for teachers to wear body cameras; under a bill that was proposed in Arizona, teachers could have been fined $5,000 for teaching students to feel “guilt” over their race."
So American history can't be portrayed in school as anything "other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence." Glory, glory. What noble people these slave owners, Indian land stealers and philanderers were! Not to mention the Mexican American war.
History.com reported:
"The invasion of Mexico was one of the first U.S. conflicts to spawn a widespread anti-war movement. Political opponents labeled “Mr. Polk’s War” a shameless land grab, while abolitionists viewed it was a scheme to add more slave states to the Union. Among the more notable critics was freshman Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln, who took to the House floor in 1847 and introduced a series of resolutions demanding to know the location of the “spot of soil” where the war’s first skirmish took place."
Well, in fact American history is full of lies and bullshit about war including the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Perhaps grade school children shouldn't have to be faced with the facts of life unsavory as they may be, but at some point, say high school, American citizens should be required to read "The Untold History of the United States," by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick or "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn or both.
