Discussion for article #226892
"According to Kurtz, the College Board’s redesign of the exam is linked to an “attack on American exceptionalism” "
American exceptionalism is a relatively new concept. So new that exceptionalism triggers spell check.
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The kooks come out at night.
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Probably because the new exam omits very important events in the history of the white man in America.
Things like God’s divine intervention in providing white folk nautical maps and an official property deed to the new world.
Things like the native 'Murcans dying from diseases cause they chose to not worship the lord on Sundays. How could they have not known that the week had seven days and that the seventh was the lord’s day? Shame shame!
And slavery? Why them negras was waiting in long lines to come here and be slaves! It’s true!!
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Wonder if the Conservatives know of the etymology of “American Exceptionalism” and the fact that the first recorded use of the phrase is credited to the American Communist Party in the 1920s.
From wiki (this one is footnoted, so I will accept it)
Although the concept of American exceptionalism dates to the 1830s the term was first used in the 1920s. The phrase “American exceptionalism” originates from the American Communist Party. The term comes from an English translation of a condemnation made in 1929 by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin criticizing Communist supporters of Jay Lovestone for the heretical belief that America was independent of the Marxist laws of history “thanks to its natural resources, industrial capacity, and absence of rigid class distinctions”.[7][11] Early examples of the term’s usage include a declaration made at the 1930 American Communist convention proclaiming that “the storm of the economic crisis in the United States blew down the house of cards of American exceptionalism”.[12]
The phrase fell into obscurity for half a century, until it was popularized by American newspapers in the 1980s to describe America’s cultural and political uniqueness.[12] The phrase became an issue of contention between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign, with Republicans attacking Obama for allegedly not believing in it.[13]
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How dumb does the Right want America to be?
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So the libruls are trying to tell us Jesus didn’t deliver His Constitution to 'Murika while riding on the back of a dinosaur?
Sheesh, we are doomed as a nation.
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Is there an essay question on the test where you have to calculate how many revolutions per second a National Review editors eyeballs are spinning counterclockwise?
Cause if so they might have a point.
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…conclave of historians with a left-wing foreign policy agenda…
Clearly preferrable to a klavern of historians with a right-wing foreign policy agenda.
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Dumb enough to keep voting for them.
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American exceptionalism?
There was a country in Asia that for a thousand years had been warlike and violent. With the coming 2500 years ago of a powerful set of beliefs that formed the core of a new way of thinking…a new religion if you will, that country changed. They took the weapons of war and made them tools for agriculture and other kinds of constructive work. They became profoundly non-violent.
The country is Tibet and the religion is Buddhism. I would call that exceptional…
Yes America is the lone super power. We are big 'n strong. We do everything in a big way. And I am proud to be an American. But we aren’t perfect. As a country we have made profound mistakes. We should acknowledge that when our history is taught in school.
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In an open letter last week, the authors wrote that much of the criticism has resulted from “a misunderstanding of U.S. history.”
Misunderstanding? Oh, brother. More like a deliberate attempt by those tasked with the job to make it fit their image of the country. (Oh yeah, like those who painstakingly recorded events in the bible.) With the way history continues to be “revised” in this country, I’m more than amused that conservatives are crying foul.
Don’t let them get away with it. This country has done some horrible things. As long as we whitewash that, we’ll continue to whitewash future acts, especially war and discrimination and…
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It’s just a really fancy way of them saying “We don’t like schools teaching actual history and not the warped imagined past we’ve been weaving together all these years”. These people would have Jesus Christ and Ronald Reagan canonized as co-authors of the Constitution if they had their full way.
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BTW, those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Of course, it’s profitable for some to make sure that happens.
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Grasshopper, in this life…
Be what you’ve experienced, not what you’ve been told.
And ask always…“Is it true?”
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If the AP committee does anything other than ignore these complaints I’ll be very disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for confronting the charges or having a public dialogue about it, but if they change anything to appease these idiots, I’ll blame them, not the right wingers talking nonsense.
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This is the sad little publication founded by the racist clown William F. Buckley who wrote the “negro” is inferior to the white man. Why should anyone listen to these people about the teaching of history. Also, they think Jonah Goldberg is the cool, funny one.
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I don’t think they should ignore these complaints. They should provide a sensible rebuttal. Aside from vague claims of “bias” and the injection of the buzz phrase “American exceptionalism”, just what is the National Review objecting to?
Bullsh*t shouldn’t be allowed to go unchallenged.
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Did you read the second sentence I wrote?
It is well known that historical facts have a liberal bias. So the critics are correct - the use of facts and analysis instead of “exceptionalism” is clearly a left-wing conspiracy.
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