Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to the lead article in Saturday’s (January 22) paper that touts Governor Youngkin’s banning of Critical Race Theory from being taught in Virginia’s schools K-12. A friend of mine commented that if Youngkin had also banned cane sugar from diet soft drinks, it would have about the same net effect. This is because the whole “CRT thing” is an inflammatory non-issue cooked up out of thin blue air for political purposes and yes, it made a difference; Gov. Youngkin might not have been elected without it.
But as to what we want our children to learn and know, I personally believe that the best way to prepare for the future is to understand the past. Intentionally omitting aspects of history from our children’s education so they can form a “positive” (but ignorant) view of their country makes no sense to me. In this world, how will we find our way into the future when we don’t know where we’ve been, or even where we are now? The real world is a messy and complicated place, and pretending it isn’t is only a mistake.
On a separate but related note, even as we say we want our children to have a positive view of our country, many Americans are telling us we can’t trust our own democracy, that in our America, presidential elections are “stolen.” I find this badmouthing of my country deeply unpatriotic.
Steve Metzler, Proud American Citizen
Alleghany County