Revolutions in the Capitol and Classroom by Christine Vaccaro
Image by Christine Vaccaro
Of all the heinous videos from last week’s Capitol siege, it is this relatively benign one I find my mind replaying:
Soon after battering their way into the building, we see the perpetrators calmly file through Statuary Hall, dwarfed by the watchful gaze of marble giants. They are armed with colonistic entitlement and who knows what else, ready to plunder our democratic principles and harm those entrusted with upholding them. In the moments before these horrors unfold, there they are: an orderly procession between velvet ropes, selfie sticks aloft, like some kind of ghastly, pre-apocalyptic tour group.
What did they understand about the history they were poised to desecrate? Did they recognize any of the Americans honored in statue, or know which branch of government they had just invaded? Were they aware that the Capitol was rebuilt by slaves following its 1814 burning by the British Army? The answers, in many cases, were likely no. But who needs civics when all it takes is a flag-cape to announce your devout patriotism?
The word patriot derives from the same root as patriarchal, meaning of the father. And these so-called patriotically “proud boys” are just that: developmentally arrested adult males, pathetically seeking the approval of their tough-love father figure, Donald Trump. Their worship so blinds them to this man’s poison that they are willing to take lives in defense of the misunderstood American ideals he has blithely polluted. His toxic masculinity affirms their own dwindling power in a world ever more arcing towards diversity and inclusion. But his political emasculation is theirs, too, and as these individuals tantrum their way through the patriarchy’s death throes, they will no doubt demonstrate even more aggressive and riotous behavior.
I was particularly struck by the man self-identifying as the QAnon Shaman. An aspiring actor living with his mother, he arrived at the Capitol ready for his social media close-up. Bare-chested, tribally tattooed and festooned in animal hide and Halloween costume war paint, he appeared unironic in his attempt to invoke the authentic warriorship of our disavowed Native American roots. The unrecognized honor and amends owed to these indigenous cultures remain lurking shards in our nation’s collective unconscious -- even, apparently, among those who would fight for the dominance of the White Man.
It is easy to blame the repugnant actions of those at the Capitol as the product of ignorance, and base instincts ignited by demagoguery and dubious news sources. But these are symptoms, not the underlying disease. Fake news did not start in cable television studios; it began in history books. The media simply capitalized, seizing on the DNA of our nation’s origin story that has been replicating in record, monuments, and classrooms for over two centuries.
Our country is broken, and if we aspire to be truly united States, we must address the root cause: how we tell our story. It is imperative that the point of view shifts from those who claimed victory to those whose lives endured the consequences.The education system is the obvious place to launch this rewrite -- and given the fledgling overhaul brought on by pandemic teaching, this is the time. At this critical crossroads, complex and inclusive history and contemporary study in K-12 public education must become the norm and not the exception.
For 245 years we have failed to fully reckon with the conditions that birthed our nation: privileged white males creating a sacrosanct document that actively excluded the rights of women and people of color -- and with it, the permission to white-out their lives and stories. Traditional American history normalizes dehumanization. This has codified a cultural pattern of overlooking the transgressions of men in power, culminating in the election (and near-election) of a man whose record, for many, is unthinkably grotesque.
Too many have been taught history with impunity, allowing generations to reenact the sins of their forebearers. We know ingrained disregard for people of color and women has created systemic racism, misogyny and anti-indigenous sentiment. But it has also fostered the conditions for a simplistic, carefree and unexamined experience as an American citizen -- particularly for those most in the likeness of the Founders. Raising complex people and events onto figurative and literal pedestals has encouraged a one-dimensional, pristine narrative. The result is unquestioned and unequivocal patriotism that is the precursor to the raging fundamentalism that metastasized these past four years, and exploded last week.
With a narrative largely absent of collective experiences, “rugged individualism” has tyrannized the American archetype. When our identity is one of self-determination, supremacy and autonomy, is it any wonder we have failed so miserably in the group effort required to face down a pandemic? In a society where being American is so conflated with personal liberty that wearing a mask to protect your neighbor is politicized to the point of deadly farce?
The Trump presidency has cleaved the American timeline, and it appears Part 1 will close out in the same revolutionary spirit in which our nation began. The Capitol siege and the Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo uprisings are the consequences of our history’s first volume. If we are to have any hope in healing the deep fissures of this nation, they must become the starting points of our second.
What if from this point on, American History curriculum began with Standing Rock and not Columbus? History unspooled in flashback would follow threads back through time, and trace how they came to be. Once-silenced voices would become the narrators, and the chronicle would not just be a retelling of victories, but an inquiry of cautionary tales, integrity and newfound heroes.
In our classrooms, this would have profound ramifications. Besides being a more accurate historical record, it would enable authentic and meaningful social-emotional learning -- not just the buzzword treatment -- by spanning disciplines, and incorporating diverse cultural, socio-economic and community experiences. As a 9th grader pointed out to me the other day, he is “tired of living through historical events”. Anchoring history in today not only offers students a more visceral comprehension of events past, it honors their personal, day-to-day experience in our tumultuous present.
For years, education and social justice activists have been promoting these ideas. But we are at a tipping point, and as the gatekeepers of tomorrow, it is time for all hands on deck. Now it is incumbent upon each of us educators to first process how this ethos has contributed to the divisive ideology we are living through, and then prevent it from ever again taking a foothold in our society.
This generation and the ones that follow will need a holistic understanding of what has brought us to the present, as well as the creativity, emotional insight and critical thinking required to innovate a society that has not yet risen from the ashes. Our job is to ensure that the future front line has the tools needed to sift through the genuine pieces of what defines us as a nation, so they may bring forth the best of them into fresh, dynamic and inclusive manifestations.