One of my students, John, reported that his elementary-school teacher said that Oreo cookies are racist because they show the black crushing the white. If students are corrupted by identity politics, it is much more likely to be from that kind of comment than from what their textbook has to say. From my experience as a student and as a teacher, I do not think so. I remember taking an Advanced Placement class in government at Millburn High School in New Jersey with a wonderful teacher, Mr. Stivers. That is what textbooks are for and what history education should be.
Multiculturalism remains principally a phenomenon of elite colleges.
Starting at Harvard and Yale, multiculturalism has indeed trickled down - witness the Sobol Commission Report on New York schools in 1991 or the recent federally sponsored National History Standards. His book on his experience as a high-school teacher, In the Classroom, will be published next year by the Free Press. From the Cold War to the Culture Wars, due from Madison Books this winter. Text is intended solely for the use of the individual user. 67 Issue 15, p52, 3p.