Questioning History
by Bill Wilson

While taking a breather last month from his relentless pursuit of a family vendetta, President Bush endorsed "We the People," a National Endowment for the Humanities initiative aimed at reversing America's poor recollection of its own history. "We the People" is a combination of grant opportunities, document access and, most prominently, national events spotlighting "individuals whose heroism has helped to protect America."

Taking center stage in this program is a yearly "Heroes of History" lecture series, in which selected academics will present an American of superior valor to the general public. To highlight this event in the classroom, an essay contest will be held for high school juniors, with the winner reading her or his paper at the annual hero speech.

It is not news that historical knowledge among the general public is on the wane, and this isn't the first time the NEH has made this point. A barrage of studies, NEH reports included, have time and again concluded that most Americans are no longer competent to comment with authority on their nation's past. "We the People" emphasizes a recent Columbia Law School survey which claims 69 percent of voting age Americans can not distinguish the US Constitution from the Marxist dogma "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." This may give hope to embattled supporters of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but for the Republican-appointed NEH leadership, this is a particularly galling statistic.

William Bennett and Lynne Cheney's consecutive terms as NEH chair during the Reagan-Bush years ushered in a decidedly conservative ideology to the endowment, which its current executives have reignited after the lull of the Clinton years. Both dried up funding for projects that took critical aim at American society and history. Both would later call for the dissolution of the National Endowment of the Arts and even the NEH itself.

Viewed in light of his first major project as NEH chair, Bruce Cole has done little to distinguish himself from the Bennett-Cheney legacy, and at first glance "We the People" is a smooth transition from the aggressively conservative reports filed during the Cheney years. Cheney had Cole appointed to the board in 1991 by George Bush Sr. and she was Cole's mentor until she was replaced in 1993.

But several signs also indicate Cole may be less political than his outspoken predecessors; he certainly is more qualified for the post than Cheney was. Cole is a former professor of fine arts at Indiana University, and he is an expert on the Italian Renaissance, with several books in print. Cheney rode political connections to the post she used as a platform for political posture. And with a lecture series and an essay contest, Cole has added an interactive dimension to the "We the People" program that lacks the thinly masked ideological tirades of the Cheney years.

Nevertheless, outside of the politics, the educational merit of "We the People's" values-through-American history agenda is questionable. Undeniably, the Sept. 11 attacks and America's — some would have you believe ongoing — War on Terror have heavily influenced the direction of "We the People." As Cole himself said, "In defending our homeland we must fight to protect the democratic ideals and principles of freedom on which our nation was founded."

A democracy's continued health and vitality requires a broad understanding of history. Yet focusing history through the lens of a singular event or ideology can greatly diminish the breadth and diversity of its comprehension. The archetypal hero, in light of the World Trade Center attack, can serve as a role model for young people. But this self-sacrificing, historically blanched patriot is also narrowly defined, and of little use in coming to a better understanding of the country. Remembering America through such individuals will not yield the full complement of background knowledge and skills necessary to build the well-rounded citizens of a participatory democracy.

The NEH should be the first to the point that ideological history is limited in value. Bennett spent a good part of his NEH days battling what he saw as the unobjective scholarship of the left, especially in his crusade against political correctness on college campuses. But such efforts lose legitimacy when they simply are cover for replacing one ideology for another.

And so while the ideological axes grind away, many American students are still not challenged to critically engage in the world of ideas. Focus at the classroom level on defenders of homeland might not be beneficial: Remembering the cherry tree that the honest George Washington may simply yield an American Pantheon, full of virtue and devoid of analytical reasoning. Hero worship is a step in the opposite direction from critical thinking. Heroes do not provoke the inconveniences of conflict and debate, and myth is more easily digested than historical complexity. When teachers are given the choice between developing their students' analytical skills or rehashing flat narratives, sadly some will choose unambiguous storytelling.

The social studies chairwoman at an Arkansas middle school where I was once employed greeted me the first day of in-service with one question: Had I seen The Patriot. I had, and I foolishly ventured my honest assessment of the film: that it was emotionally manipulative and cavalier with its historical content. I should have turned mid-stream when a slow-motion grimace drew her lips into an unpleasant pucker. She was shocked and disgusted. For her, the film was the Revolutionary War, and that was exactly how she planned to present it when she played the video for her classes.

"Heroes of History" may yet surprise — it's not impossible for a balanced and inclusive list of great Americans to positively supplement the nation's history curricula. But it remains to be seen which individuals, presumably one major figure a year, will be highlighted by the NEH series. If the emphasis rests on those who have literally "defended the homeland," the forum might not expand beyond the founding fathers, wartime presidents and battlefield legends. The list of great thinkers, social activists and voices of dissent that tested and challenged America to reach for its lofty creeds could easily be lost in a search for brawny patriots. Like that Mel Gibson fellow in that war we fought …uh, before there was television.

E-mail Bill Wilson at wmwilson at wesleyan dot edu.