GOP state legislator Sarah Fowler Arthur (photo, left), who sponsored a bill to ban teaching “divisive concepts” (read: critical race theory) in Ohio schools, explains her tilting at windmills as follows:
“What we do not want is for someone to come in and say, ‘Well, obviously the German government was right in saying that the Aryan race is superior to all other races, and therefore that they were acting rightly when they murdered hundreds of thousands of people for having a different color of skin,’ appearing to argue against teaching the Holocaust from the perspective of its perpetrators.”
How stupid is that? Nobody teaches kids in American schools about the Holocaust from the Nazi perspective, or that the Nazis were “right,” although this numbskull came close (as a result of being painted into a corner by legislation similar to what she’s proposing). So what problem is she trying to solve?
What’s going on, of course, is Republicans don’t want public schools teaching kids anything about America’s sordid history of slavery and racism. But they won’t admit it, so they fumble around for lame excuses.
The less mentally agile of them, like Fowler, equate saying our country has a racism problem with endorsing Nazism. Don’t ask me to follow their pretzel logic; I can’t. That’s bad enough, but this ignoramus can’t even get straight how many Jews the Nazis murdered (she’s off by a factor of 10) or why they did it (it looks suspiciously like she’s stereotyping Jews as dark-skinned).
But wait, there’s more; this ninny wasn’t through yet. She added, “You should talk about these atrocities that have happened in history, but you also do have an obligation to point out the value that each individual brings to the table.”
This from someone who’s trying to prevent teachers from talking about “atrocities that have happened in history,” especially those against blacks, Native Americans, Japanese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, et al., which devalues them as individuals. Again, don’t expect to follow the logic, because there isn’t any.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not imputing evil or racist motives to her (other people might). I merely think she’s ignorant about history and lousy with concepts.
Read story here.
Look, we’re a democracy and voters can elect anyone they like to represent them, and I’d be the last person to take that right away from anyone. (Note, however, that many Republicans are working to do just that.) Electing stupid people to pass stupid legislation is the voters’ prerogative. (Also a GOP specialty these days.)
But I won’t assist that enterprise. Until the GOP cleans up its act, and nominates smarter people than her for public office, I can’t vote for them. Can you? Then let me ask you this: Is this who you want deciding what can be taught in our tax-supported schools?
Photo: Behind that charming smile is an empty head