Posted on 05/07/2015 4:49:20 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Every now and then those of us who follow the news closely will read, view or hear stories that seem separate and unconnected. But, as we think more about them, we make connections and establish a larger context. So it was for me last week.
First came the alarming civil unrest in Baltimore.
Within a couple of days, I read about a different kind of protest, this one in Texas
The third story that got my attention came in the form of a report from the U.S. Department of Education detailing the results of the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). ''
According to the 2014 NAEP tests in civics, geography and history for eighth grade students, only 23 percent demonstrate a proficiency in civics and only 18 percent demonstrate a proficiency in history.
Going back to the Baltimore uprising, a civilized society cannot excuse mass violence or looting; hooliganism is not a political movement, and rioting is not demonstrating. By the same token, neither can a civilized people ignore factors that have combined to create feelings of frustration with, alienation toward, and civic disengagement from the system. Pervasive poverty and its accompanying social pathologies are real, but so, too, are a lack of knowledge and an awareness of the kind of constructive engagement that can help change the system.
Providence does not assure the health or the permanence of our republic. As Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor phrased it, Civic knowledge is not passed down through the gene pool; it must be taught. Indeed it must, and wed better get on with it before it is too late.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Lemmie see, now.
Amerikka—founded by a buncha dead white guys who had some ‘religion’ or some such, ‘an what they have was STOLEN, ROBBED AND CHEATED AWAY from nice peaceful innjuns— BUT THEY ALL OF THEM OWNED SLAVES.
So, issall rotten ‘an and NO GOOD and we is all owed REPARATIONS $$$$$$$$$$—so FORK IT OVER honkey!!!
(Texed from my OBAMA FONE!)
Nominal proficiency in civics ought to be a strict requirement for pulling the levers that establish our governing authorities.
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