Yeah, it’s interesting that the curriculum starts by portraying the American revolution as a just and righteous war, with ragtag bands of freedom fighters going up against a brutal and overwhelmingly powerful oppressor… And then as soon as the revolution is concluded, the messaging takes a hard turn to “but also violence is never okay and peaceful protest is the only acceptable way to instigate change!”
In the chapters about the civil rights era, Malcom X and the Black Panthers were barely mentioned in a footnote. And only really as a “oh also not all people were peaceful, and that violence only hurt the protestors’ message” warning.
And the sad part is that the propaganda works. Every time some politically-charged violence happens, you inevitably have people in the comments chanting about how violence is never the answer, and peaceful protest is the only acceptable way to change things.
Yeah, it’s interesting that the curriculum starts by portraying the American revolution as a just and righteous war, with ragtag bands of freedom fighters going up against a brutal and overwhelmingly powerful oppressor… And then as soon as the revolution is concluded, the messaging takes a hard turn to “but also violence is never okay and peaceful protest is the only acceptable way to instigate change!”
In the chapters about the civil rights era, Malcom X and the Black Panthers were barely mentioned in a footnote. And only really as a “oh also not all people were peaceful, and that violence only hurt the protestors’ message” warning.
And the sad part is that the propaganda works. Every time some politically-charged violence happens, you inevitably have people in the comments chanting about how violence is never the answer, and peaceful protest is the only acceptable way to change things.