Plans to restore 1776 Commission recall efforts to revise Virginia's K-12 history standards
Plans to restore 1776 Commission recall efforts to revise Virginias K-12 history standards
BY: NATHANIEL CLINE - NOVEMBER 15, 2024 5:32 AM
As Virginians prepare for the beginning of President-elect Donald Trumps second term, Republicans, according to the partys 2024 platform, plan to reinstate the Presidents Advisory 1776 Commission, an initiative created by Trump in 2020 to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776.
The commissions creation came after the publication of a series of essays in The New York Times dubbed the 1619 Project, whose namesake reflects the first year enslaved Africans were brought to the shores of what would become the United States.
At the same time, national debate was brewing about how history concerning slavery and Black Americans contributions to the country was taught, a discussion that manifested in Virginia after Gov. Glenn Youngkins administration authorized a rewrite of Virginia history and social science education standards that critics said lacked important context but included bias.
The 1776 Commissions background
Trump has not mentioned plans for the commission since his re-election over Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, despite his partys affirmation of their intent to reinstate it. The former president created the commission during his previous term via an executive order issued on Nov. 2, 2020.
It came after the Trump administration and some conservatives accused the 1619 Project and critical race theory college courses of teaching students to hate their own country. ,,, This radicalized view of American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues, twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed and history disfigured, the order reads. Failing to identify, challenge, and correct this distorted perspective could fray and ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and culture together.
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