Folsom Cordova board accused of trying to ‘sanitize’ history with Confederate flag response

In 2017, a group of supporters packed a Folsom Cordova Unified School District board meeting in California to stand up for a longtime Sutter Middle School teacher. The teacher had displayed a Confederate flag as part of a Civil War history lesson and was pressured into retiring as a result. Speakers accused the board of trying to “sanitize” history and of punishing a teacher for doing the job of teaching history.

Teaching History With Real Objects

Good history teachers have always used real objects, maps, photographs and flags to help students understand the past. You cannot teach the Civil War without talking about the flags both armies carried. Soldiers fought and died to protect them, and capturing an enemy flag was one of the greatest honors a soldier could earn. Showing students what those flags looked like is no more an endorsement than showing them a picture of a battlefield.

The Danger of Sanitizing the Past

The supporters at the meeting argued that removing uncomfortable symbols from the classroom does students a disservice. History is full of difficult chapters, and young people learn the most when they can see the real artifacts and decide for themselves what they mean. A history lesson without the symbols of the time is like a science class without experiments.

Many parents also worried about the message it sent to other teachers. If a veteran educator could be pushed out for using a flag in a lesson, other teachers might avoid teaching the subject honestly at all.

Standing Up for Teachers

The turnout at the Folsom Cordova meeting showed that many people, even in California, believe in teaching history fully and honestly. They came not to defend any political view, but to defend a teacher and the principle that students should learn the whole story.

Read more in 8 Facts About the Confederate Flag You Didn’t Know, and browse our Confederate flag collection.

Source: Sacramento Bee: Folsom Cordova board accused of trying to ‘sanitize’ history with Confederate flag response

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