LET’S JUST FORGET AMERICAN HISTORY seems to be the message being sent to the students and parents of Darnestown Elementary School located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
In a letter dated October 11, the Principal, Mr. Mark Craemer, as a well as two of the Co-Presidents of the PTA, signed off on a letter that was sent to the parents offering a rationale as to why the 5th Grade Class would no longer be able to conduct and participate in a school tradition called “Colonial Day.”
We are told in the letter that “A key intent behind Colonial Day was to provide a celebration alongside a curricular component for the fifth-grade class. Yet many DES families have voiced concerns about a school event that portrays Maryland’s colonial history without reference to the same history being oppressive to a great number of people. It is important for any historical event or activity at school to tell the stories of all people. That said, it is not developmentally appropriate to share dark and unjust facts of colonialization and enslavement in such a setting with elementary students. As a result, DES will not be participating in Colonial Day.”
Let’s unpack what is happening here and see if we can reach a different conclusion other than the one reached by Mr. Craemer and the PTA. It would seem that if American Colonial History was well understood by the leaders of this school, then they would not have a difficult time finding truthful and positive ways to explain to their students how this country developed into a Republic that established a system of governance that has lasted almost 250 years. For the sake of this discussion, we will assume that, at a minimum, Mr. Craemer was required to take American History courses through his training to become an educator --- but maybe he didn’t.
Maybe the subject of the history of this country was so dastardly that even his college professors could not find a way to explain it and much like he is now imposing on this 5th Grade Class --- they too were deprived of a better understanding of who we are and how we got to 2022.
Let’s take a brief review of the colonial history of Maryland and how it all fits into the context of the nation. Maryland.gov tells us that: George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, applied to Charles I for a royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland. After Calvert died in April 1632, the charter for "Maryland Colony" was granted to his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The colony was named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Led by Leonard Calvert, Cecil Calvert's younger brother, the first settlers departed from Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, on November 22, 1633 aboard two small ships, the Ark and the Dove.
Their landing on March 25, 1634 at St. Clement's Island in southern Maryland, is commemorated by the state each year on that date as Maryland Day. So, just to clear – the State of Maryland can celebrate the founding of the Colony of Maryland every year … but it is too traumatic for the 5th Grade in Darnestown Elementary … really?
Note the year 1632, a place in time, when most of the “civilized” world including those nations considered the most advanced in the western world, England and France, practiced the institution of slavery. It was the social moray of the time. It was morally wrong then and it is morally wrong now, but that is not how governments and the people who served them saw it in 1632. The students in the 5th grade should be able to be taught this as a part of Maryland’s history and in the context of our national history in a responsible manner. The alternative is not to teach it at all and that is completely irresponsible on the part of our educators and grossly shortchanges our children.
This history can only be “oppressive” in 2022 if you believe that you are being oppressed. That you are forced to live on a plantation and toil in the fields from sunup to sundown under the watchful eye and whip of the overseer. That was part of Maryland’s colonial experience, and it was morally wrong, but it happened, and we should not shy away from recognizing it – teaching it – and making sure that it is understood that, in 2022, no citizen or even non-citizen of the United States, is oppressed in this manner. To put a finer point on it … The New York Times tells us how “Williamsburg” approaches the living history of colonial Virginia and its slave population … “During the 18th century, half of Williamsburg’s population was black. The lives of the enslaved and free people in this Virginia capital are presented in re-enactments and programs by Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of African American Interpretation and Presentations, founded in 1988.” Black craftsmen and guides are now familiar figures, as are interpreters playing the roles of slaves.”
We can go on, but we can all see what is happening at Darnestown Elementary School. Instead of taking the “high road” and developing a curriculum that incorporates a history of Maryland that has worked to “form a more perfect union”, the educators have chosen the easy way out --- History is “scary and oppressive” and therefore, we can no longer provide our student body the opportunity to better understand that history.
Recall what Mark Craemer’s letter said: “Various aspects of colonial life were represented, but others were omitted. In particular, perspectives of the indigenous societies of North America as well as enslaved people from the African continent and the Caribbean were not addressed.” They were not addressed in the past because educators chose not to address them --- these aspects of life and perspectives have been part of the facts since 1632 … some 390 years … and Mr. Craemer and his colleagues have chosen to “ignore” them rather than educate our children.
Yes, it was dark --- yes, it was unjust --- and yes, we as a new nation saw the problem and that fact is reflected through our own words … “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, …” And furthermore, the nation’s commitment to these truths is also in evidence through our deeds … President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." ALL OF IT is worth teaching our students --- warts and all.
If the educators of these very same children believe that 1st, 2d and 3d graders can absorb and understand “The 2021–2022 Guidelines for Student GENDER IDENTITY in Montgomery County Public Schools”:
· AGENDER
· CISGENDER
· GENDER EXPRESSION
· GENDER FLUID
· GENDER IDENTITY
· GENDER NONCONFORMING
· INTERSEX
· LGBTQ
· NON-BINARY
· SEX ASSIGNED AT BIRTH
· SEXUAL ORIENTATION
· TRANSGENDER
· TRANSITION
· X MARKER
Then … how do they arrive at a conclusion that 5th graders cannot understand Maryland’s history?
Educators, who think they can teach gender theory in 2022 and who think that their students are more concerned with it than with real academics such as history, can surely find a way to present Maryland colonial history in a way that can be understood by all the members of the 5th grade class … by being inclusive of all within the context of the times. Our students deserve nothing less.
I would say that most went in with good intentions… some were swayed to the dark side in college but most are forced into compliance by the systems that have hired them MCPS being sure to focus on equity, CRT and gender roles more then some … want to keep your job … conform or walk! Thanks for your thought on this important matter
My thought on this is: Has teaching become so unregulated and easy to do that it has attracted the radicals or did most go in with positive intentions and then were swayed to the dark side in college and graduate school and teaching seminars? It used to be when I saw a dude with long pink hair , tattoos and piercings that he must be in a band, or IT, or the circus.....now it's ahh, must be a teacher.