Lynne V. Cheney - Politics in the Schoolroom

The article talks about how 40 years ago classrooms were filled with white male teachers teaching white male students. The civil rights movement changed all of that, creating a more broad educational program everywhere. Now, education includes a "more ethnically and racially diverse group of students as well as their ideas, experiences, and perspectives." Cheney doesn't believe that "classroom innovations that feature multicultural or feminist perspectives" are a necessary "diversion from more important academic concerns." She disagrees that this integration of a diverse culture is necessary, because it may distract from concentration. She thinks that the classrooms should concentrate on teaching important aspects of subjects, and that they should teach the version that doesn't hide anything. Cheney speaks about how kids are taught the positive aspects of Christopher Colombus. She believes that kids should know that he wasn't really the founder of America, but more a man who stole it. She feels that the government has control of what we learn and what we become. The media is able to distort this information, and make things look better than they are. She forces the idea to question the media and the so called "facts" that they state. She feels that the "truth" may be sugar coated, and that people should know the real facts. Her problem with what the government teaches is that it is not truthfull. One example of a misrepresentation of a subject is the slave trades. She talks about how they mention the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but not the slave trade conducted by African kings or Arab traders that happened after the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This is just one subject that back up her opinion. Kids are being taught a small portion of the truth. I agree with Cheney, because she proves a good point. People should know everything, not just a small sugar-coated version of a subject. Maybe kids don't want to hear it or don't understand that things may be worse than they thought, but it is necessary for them to understand the evils in the world. Informing people the entire truth may be the answer to preparation for the future. Cheney's point is valid and usefull. If the everyone knew the entire truth, they would be able to get farther in life.