Kerby Anderson

This next year, we will hear quite a bit about the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I plan to encourage Americans to learn more about their history. Many others will be doing the same.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has a children’s book, with the title, Heroes of 1776,  coming out next year. He argues that one of the “greatest dangers” facing American society today is a lack of civics education. He added that “half of Americans’ cannot pass the citizenship test that non-Americans who are seeking to become U.S. citizens are expected to pass.

Filmmaker Ken Burns has a miniseries on the American Revolution that many Americans looked forward to seeing, given his past success in telling stories about our history. Unfortunately, the first few episodes have been disappointing.

Dan McLaughlin says, “No, Ken Burns, the United States is Not an Iroquois Nation.” He adds, “The founders didn’t model us on the Six Nation, and George Washington didn’t tomahawk a Frenchman.” Rich Lowry says, “Ken Burns Is Completely Wrong About the Iroquois.” Matt Walsh produced a video “Exposing Every Lie in Ken Burns’ New Anti-American Documentary.”

The lesson here is not to believe everything you read or see this coming year. Some of us are old enough to have remembered the patriotic fervor and educational programs during America’s Bicentennial in 1976. Fifty years later, patriotism is in decline and the educational programs include some historically flawed woke ideas.

One of my projects this year on radio is to teach our nation’s history: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We should be proud of this nation but also remind ourselves of the dark chapters of American history.