“We will achieve a just and prosperous society only when our schools ensure that everyone commands enough shared knowledge to communicate effectively with everyone else.” — E.D. Hirsch, Jr., The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them
President Barack Obama spoke to two different groups of Americans today. One group understood the deep historical significance of the words in his inaugural address and grasped fully the moment in history to which they were bearing witness. A second group, no doubt moved and caught up in the excitement of seeing an African-American take the oath of office, saw merely an historic “first.” And that’s a shame.
“It’s an amazing event for our students who are under 18 and haven’t fully formed their consciousness,” one school administrator told the Los Angeles Times. ”They see Obama and say, ‘This is a president who looks like me, I can be president.’” It’s a true and earnest observation that has been made many times in the last few months. But as uplifting as that sentiment is, it’s bittersweet to consider that many students–indeed, many Americans–lack a full appreciation of the moment and their new President’s inaugural address. President Obama’s speech was rich in historical, literary, and biblical references, lending meaning, resonance and emotional weight to his words. Yet these allusions were almost certainly unfamiliar to many of those watching.
To have endured an education where history was a second-tier subject was to be left to wonder today: Who were these people Obama mentioned, who “toiled for us in sweatshops and settled the West?” Who were these people who “endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth?” If you were not taught our nation’s rich history, then the President’s description of those who “packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life” may have failed to move you. If you do not know what happened at Concord, Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sahn, then the sacrifices of those who “fought and died for us” in those places is lost upon you. As uncomfortable as it is to consider, if our children are ignorant of that history then at least some measure of that sacrifice was, alas, in vain.
President Obama’s inaugural address placed us — all of us — in the flow of history. With its references to the “rights of man,” our “common defense,” ideals that “light the world,” and a generation that “faced down communism and fascism,” the address was surely met with either nods or blank stares. If our children do not know the events and phrases to which Obama referred, they cannot fully appreciate the significance of this moment or even what this President is asking of them. How is it possible for them to be “the keepers of this legacy” — why should they value it and seek to keep it at all? — unless they understand the thing they are being asked to keep? Obama’s most poignant observation was that “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” How many of his younger listeners fully appreciate the price that has been paid to make this moment possible? How many of our children, instead of seeing mere novelty, comprehend fully and viscerally the improbable closing of a historical loop they have just witnessed? A black man took the oath of office with his hand on a bible belonging to the President who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. He turned to deliver his inaugural address facing the site where another great American dreamed out loud of the day when his children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. He then delivered his inaugural address to millions of Americans who had rendered that very judgement.
It in no way diminishes the significance of this day to observe with a touch of sadness that too many of our nation’s children — especially those who look with pride at this President who looks like them — were able to appreciate this day only on a superficial level. Too many can appreciate the symbolism of the moment, but no more. Some saw history. Others, poorer by far, saw a symbolic ”first.”
President Obama called upon us today to enter a “new era of responsibility.” It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. For educators, perhaps the noblest duty that we might accept ”not grudgingly but seize gladly” is to ensure that in the very near future our nation’s children are able to judge this President not by the color of his skin, or even the content of his character, but by the full weight of his words.
This is the most poignant, beautifully articulated reaction to today’s event. If we want to achieve the full measure of our nation’s creation, we need to achieve cultural literacy.
Beautifully considered, and beautifully written. Bravo.
Talk about an open and shut case for Core Knowledge becoming THE guide for national standards! Don’t know how tall you are Robert, but this was a slam dunk. A very convincing piece.
Lack of knowledge also denies future citizens the wherewithal to be critical of improperly or cavalierly made historical references. Mr. Obama flew from Washington back to Illinois in order to get on the “Lincoln” train for his symbolic entry into Washington. Abraham Lincoln made the journey in the dark of night, in secret, because of the threat of assasins. Mr. Obama’s trip was intentionally made in the light of day to gain for himself the widest possible public relations impact. Surely the historical parallels are slim or manufactured. Is not Mr. Obama the cynic in this case, since he does know the history and has misused it? Students need to know their history well enough to both appreciate and be critical of our new president so that they can do more than swoon in recognition of his historical allusions and references.
I agree with Anna. In addition, Obama’s speech was filled with phrases and buzzwords that indicate his socialist stance. Today’s American children are being groomed to accept and crave socialistic ideology through the public school system. I was really saddened that half the country was celebrating this man because they are in step with his politics AND because his skin is black. The things the author above referred to are largely lost on conservatives not because we don’t see the history and references, but because his presidency represents the evidence that half of Americans really don’t know or care that Obama and his administration will be firmly altering our unique system of government. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the American Creed. Now THERE are some content areas Americans of all ages don’t understand.
It is sad that we feel compelled to take one fine day and psychoanalyze it to death. What ever happened to Carpe Diem? The present is all we know and many of those millions watching Obama take oath were rejoicing in the moment. Why do we have to conjure up Jim Crow, Fredrick Douglas, Normandy ,Antetiem, etc when we were all living that day for what it was -newness. If mankind worries continuosly about what was or what will be,it will always be unhappy. I found this article to be one of unrealistic expectations.
I can appreciate the analysis. I would caution us in assuming that our children or people are not that intelligent to have noticed. We are all impacted in subtle ways and not all of that experience can be deciphered in a particular moment.
One cannot deny that “Hope” was palpable. Will government be different? Perhaps and some of this will be good. But we all must believe that it is a government by the people and created for the people. I am not worried that there will not be enough critics or cynics- they abound in this age. I am more concerned about how cynicism shapes us rather than our individual and collective resolve to exhibit our best moral character.
I do hope that this administration has the guts to address broad educational changes which puts every state on the same path to national standards with real accountability. This incessant testing is detrimental to learning.
This is one of the best reflections of the Inaugural Address I have read. It absolutely mirrors the reactions of many school-age children and teenagers I have spoken with since the Address. Our youth do not fully understand the full import of the words because many elementary, middle and high schools do not adequately teach world or American history, so our youth see symbolism but do not understand the content of the powerful message. This is a deficiency that I hope will be addressed by a president and new administration who clearly respect and appreciate the importance and value of a citizenry who is literate and comprised of critical thinkers. It is unfortunate that some would characterize such attributes as “socialist ideology.” Instead, I see it as the finest example of leadership that America can produce.
Magda Cruz – I also want a citizenry who is literate and full of critical thinkers. What I don’t want is the political/social indoctrination that has taken place in tandem. It is possible to teach children to have these valuable skills without also feeding them the philosophy of the left. Sadly, with this administration, the leftist ideology claims victory. I don’t see a place for conservative thought at the table, and I don’t see any evidence locally or at the federal level that children will be exposed to conservative thought in any way. I HAVE seen/heard a lot of negative commentary about conservatism in the classroom – even at the elementary level. If that’s not indoctrination of a nation’s citizenry over time I don’t know what is.
Who were these people who “endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth?” African Americans are probably the one group of people who understand this sentence to the fullest degree. I am just thankful that when an African American mother says to her child “In America you can be anything you want to be,” it is now a certainty and not just a wish. I hope President Obama will be a role model and a mentor to a sector which has not always had exemplary examples. I pray that he can bring a divided nation together and that he will be protected during his presidency.
It can be argued that a generation of students missed the historical, literal, and biblical references entirely in President Obama’s address. This disheartening fact is just one more reason the new administration must shine the spotlight on social injustices and inequalities in education, which perpetuates the status quo. Poor and ignorant children aren’t that way because they want or chose to be…is it not our responsibility to educate all children…thus we must point the finger at ourselves not left or right as Jill insists on doing. Who will advocate for the children…those who have no voice, no spokesperson? I will.
In Mr. Obama address was his hope. That many, many people of all ages and colors and nations and religions missed the references is disheartening. But we know we have an education problem so is it a true shock? To abuse a figure of speech – we have plowed our furrow too high to see over. We have a system that is too liberal to met conservative values because we had a system that was too conservative to met liberal concerns.
Some think division makes us weak. This is not true. It enlightens us and brings all manner of different context to the conversation. Textures and facts, interpretations and ideologies, dichotomies and agreements. Without a rich selection of voices we will become the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Greek Empire — gone to the dust of history.
Tis true…we as a people must prepare to make a change in the way things are handled…in order to be the difference in the way we live and survive – God’s speed….Mr. President!
There were three miracles on Jan 20th,2009 . First was the weather. Beautiful blue sky, bright sun and a major contrast to the recent weather of ice and snow. Second, millions of bodies of all shapes ,sizes, nationalities, religious beliefs, and race huddle together in very cold air in complete peace. The warmth they generated was so great that many started to remove heavy winter clothing. Thirdly, nothing bad happened. Were not these the things to remember about that day rather than what wasn’t or should have been?