President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a 1776 Commission on the eve of the election that will create a curriculum that teaches “patriotic education” in schools.
Trump has been vocal about his objection to the 1619 Project which detailed the history of the nation’s first African slaves brought to Virginia and the legacy of slavery. Nikole Hannah-Jones launched the project and won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for her work. However, Trump and other Republicans have criticized its depiction of America.
In September, Trump claimed that the narrative of the New York Times initiative promoted that “America is a wicked and racist nation.”
The president even threatened to cut funding from schools that taught the 1619 Project and promised a commission that would instead teach “the miracle of American history.”
Read More: Trump attacks ‘1619 Project,’ will sign executive order for ‘1776 Commission’
Trump followed through on that promise on Monday, signing an order that would create the Advisory 1776 Commission. The advisory will work with the U.S. Department of Education to “better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776.” There will be 20 members appointed by the president who will develop principles about the core principles of America’s founding to create a new curriculum for students.
The order made reference to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that have led to nationwide protests. The administration criticized the unrest as “one-sided and divisive.” The 1776 Advisory Commission says their goal is to highlight how America has overcome its struggles.
“In recent years, a series of polemics grounded in poor scholarship has vilified our Founders and our founding. Despite the virtues and accomplishments of this Nation, many students are now taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but rather villains,” the order reads.
“This radicalized view of American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues, twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed and history disfigured. Failing to identify, challenge, and correct this distorted perspective could fray and ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and culture together.”
The Trump administration acknowledged that state and local districts have control over their educational curriculums, but felt it necessary to also provide federal input. Trump also stated he wanted to “empower” parents to have more say in what their children are taught in order for them to take more pride in the country.
“Viewing America as an irredeemably and systemically racist country cannot account for the extraordinary role of the great heroes of the American movement against slavery and for civil rights,” the order states. “Thus it is necessary to provide America’s young people access to what is genuinely inspiring and unifying in our history.”
Read More: Trump wants to pull funding from schools that use 1619 Project curriculum
Jones responded by reminding her followers that Election Day is here and highlighted a tweet that blasted slavery being declared a “curse” in the information released by the 1776 Commission.
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