September 11th, Students and the Politics of History

Public outcry might not compel ABC to cancel their controversial mini-series “Path to 9/11”, but progressives have already won an important victory. Scholastic Incorporated, one of the largest suppliers of textbooks and other educational materials, has been forced to withdraw their biased study guild that was slated to accompany the film.

“Path to 9/11” has generated controversy because it primarily blames the Clinton administration for failing to capture Osama Bin Laden. It also makes bogus connections between the attacks of September 11^th and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Scholastic produced a study guild for students that repeated many of the same falsehoods. This blatant attempt to brainwash the next generation shows that conservatives will do anything to propagate their narrative about that fateful day in September.

For many youth, the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center was a formative political event. It was the first major challenge faced by a generation raised in relative peace and prosperity. For many, it was a wakeup call that there was an entire world beyond our borders. September 11^th jolted us from our collective slumber and helped forge a renewed sense of national identity.

Conservatives have long sought to exploit the attacks and blame liberals. Young people must remember the truth. We offered to help our country in this time of crisis and President Bush told us to go shopping. We yearned to understand the rest of the world and our government declared millions of people to be evil. We watched in horror as our country invaded a sovereign nation that had no connections to the attack and the world grew more dangerous.

For young people, September 11^th and the ensuing response was a lesson about ideological extremism, incompetence, and the limits of conservative governance.

Now, the right-wing wants to re-write history. They want young people to believe that the Clinton administration should be blamed for the September 11^th attacks. They want students to think that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They want the history books to record their narrative and shape the minds of generations to come.

Thankfully, progressives rose to the challenge in this round. Bombarded by thousands of e-mails and phone calls, Scholastic had no choice but to withdraw their biased study guild. Thousands of youth will be spared from being force fed right-wing propaganda. Of course, this will not be the last attempt by conservatives to influence the politics of history.

Progressives must stay vigilant against right-wing attempts to influence school curriculum. Although they might claim to oppose the mechanism of big government, conservatives will gladly use public schools as a tool of indoctrination. There will undoubtedly be future attempts to re-write history according to the right-wing talking points.

The politics of September 11th will be with us for a long time. We cannot allow conservatives to shape the historical narrative of this crucial event. Young people and their progressive allies have a special responsiblity to stay watchful of any efforts to replace academics with misinfromation.