A Way Out of the History Wars
1 Big Thing: We Broadly Agree on U.S. History
What’s New: A report from More in Common draws upon innovative survey research to defuse and debunk contentious debates over American history.
Key Finding: “For the vast majority of Americans, the differences in how we perceive and want our national story taught are far narrower than a few high-profile polemics might suggest.”
Why it matters: Feuds over critical race theory, the New York Time’s 1619 project, Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission, “woke” vs. “anti-woke” curricula, etc. accelerate polarization and undermine education. If we are fighting over false premises, we can and should move on.
Go deeper – read the report: “Defusing The History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America’s National Story.”
(Full disclosure: I am on the board of More in Common and believe in the importance of its mission: “to address the underlying drivers of fracturing and polarization, and build more united, resilient and inclusive societies.”)
2. Mind the Perception Gaps
More in Common found massive differences “between what Americans believe their political opponents think and what they actually think” when it comes to teaching our nation’s history.
By the numbers:
Democrats estimate only 32% of Republicans agree that, “It’s important that every American student learn about slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation.” In fact, 83% of Republicans do.
Democrats estimate only 30% of Republicans agree that, “Schools should teach both our shared national history and the history of specific groups such as Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans.” Actually, 72% of Republicans do.
For their part, Republicans estimate only 45% of Democrats agree that, “All students should learn about how the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution advance freedom and equality.” In fact, 92% of Democrats do.
Republicans estimate that only 43% of Democrats agree that, “Teachers should not be allowed to let their political beliefs shape how they teach American history.” Actually, 83% of Democrats do.
We’re stuck in a doom loop: Partisan blindspots lead us to presume those we disagree with hold extreme views. We disdain and further distance ourselves from them, worsening our perception gaps.
3) Conflict Entrepreneurs Thrive By Dividing Us
The big idea: Amanda Ripley, in High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, notes the critical role played by “conflict entrepreneurs'' in instigating destructive feuds. They sow divisions to boost their power, prestige, influence, or wealth.
Inflaming the history wars: conflict entrepreneurs on the right and the left alike use disputes over U.S. history to advance their interests. Indeed, they feed off of each other’s distortions and skewed interpretations. They seek to confuse and fracture our consensus.
Check yourself: What politicians, cable networks, newspapers, commentators, professors, or think tankers have increased their power by stoking conflicts over history? Not just those on “the other side” that you might not like, but among those you follow and tend to agree with?
Given widespread perception gaps, odds are many of us have come under the sway of conflict entrepreneurs in the history wars. If you can’t identify anyone who has egged you on–perhaps even a colleague, family member, or friend–maybe you need to think twice!
4) We Still Have Real Differences
To be sure, plenty of Americans disagree on how to understand and teach our national history. But More in Common found these differences are much more likely to be driven by our ideology than our race.
The sharpest disagreements come between “Progressive Activists,” the 8% of Americans at the left edge of our political spectrum, and “Devoted Conservatives,” 6% of Americans on the right edge.
These groups are more apt to be informed about and energized by politics than the two-thirds of Americans in what More in Common calls the “Exhausted Majority.”
By the numbers:
97% of Progressive Activists agree that “The United States needs to more publicly acknowledge the wrongs of earlier generations to be accountable for the harm they caused,” while only 9% of Devoted Conservatives do.
Conversely, 94% of Devoted Conservatives agree that “Lingering too much on past atrocities prevents us from moving forward,” while only 11% of Progressive Activists do.
5) The real risk: not biased schools, but bad ones
My thought bubble as I read More in Common’s report: We face real challenges in transcending the history wars. However, this difficulty pales in comparison with that of raising the bar and closing gaps in the teaching and learning of history and civics in our public schools.
Public education already faces stiff headwinds, from steep learning losses due to COVID, especially for the students most at risk, to flat pay, short staffing, and low morale for teachers.
Most states are flunking history and civics. In 2021, the Fordham Institute assessed “The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History.” Standards “spell out the content and skills [states] want their public schools to teach and their students to learn.”
Only five states were “exemplary” in civics and U.S. history: Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia.
30+ states were “mediocre” or “inadequate” in one or both subjects.
Why it matters: Exemplary standards don’t teach themselves, but they are essential starting points for excellent teaching and learning.
We have a good roadmap. The Educating for American Democracy Initiative (EAD) reflects the collective wisdom, practical experience, and viewpoint diversity of 300 local, state, and national educators. They developed and are now implementing a framework that teachers, schools, districts, and states can adapt and use to achieve “excellence in history and civics for all learners.”
Instead of glossing over inevitable tensions arising from political and pedagogical differences, the EAD framework surfaces and helps educators and students grapple with them:
”We are all responsible for cultivating in ourselves and the young the reflective patriotism needed to navigate the dangerous shoals we now face as we chart a course between cynicism and nostalgia.”
The bottom line: More in Common’s “Defusing the History Wars” can and should help clear the underbrush hampering efforts to bolster history and civic education. If we can move beyond these false and manufactured divisions, we can get back to the real hard work before us: teaching and learning in history and civics as if our country depends on it. Make no mistake—it does.
