LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OPED: by Councilman Ritchie Torres HIV cases in the borough are too high
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EAST BRONX HISTORY FORUM HOSTS FREEDOMLAND U.S.A. AUTHOR
(Left) Mike Virgintino (r),
‘Freedomland U.S.A.: The Defi -
native History’ author, accepted
a certifi cate of appreciation
from the EBHF’s president Richard
Vitacco for his presentation
on Freedomland.
Photo by Thomas X. Casey
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR ARCH 8-14, 2019 13
Action
Association
BY FRANK V. VERNUCCIO, JR.
The Woodrow Wilson National
Fellowship Foundation
has revealed that its new survey
of 41,000 Americans found
that only 27 percent of those
under the age of 45 nationally
were able to demonstrate a basic
understanding of American
history. Nationally, only
four in 10 Americans passed a
basic exam on the topic.
According to the organizations’
president, Arthur
Levine, “Unfortunately, the
Woodrow Wilson Foundation
has validated what studies
have shown for a century:
Americans don’t possess the
history knowledge they need
to be informed and engaged
citizens.”
The survey found only 15
percent of American adults
could correctly note the year
the U.S. Constitution was
written and only 25 percent
knew how many amendments
there are to the U.S. Constitution.
Further, 25 percent
did not know that freedom of
speech was guaranteed under
the First Amendment.
“American history education
is not working, as students
are asked to memorize dates,
events and leaders, which the
poll results shows are not retained
in adulthood,” Levine
said. “Based on our research,
this is not an issue of whether
high school history teachers
are adequately prepared or
whether kids study American
history in school. The answer
to both questions is yes.
This is an issue of how we
teach American history. Now
it is too often made boring and
robbed of its capacity to make
sense of a chaotic present
and inchoate future. Instead,
knowledge of American history
must serve as an anchor
in a time when change assails
us, a laboratory for studying
the changes that are occurring
and a vehicle for establishing
a common bond when social
divisions are deep. This requires
a fundamental change
in how American history is
taught and learned to make it
relevant to our students lives,
captivating and inclusive to
all Americans.”
The survey confi rms a deep
concern that the American education
system is failing, in
some cases intentionally so, to
provide adequate instruction
in U.S. history. The New York
Post’s Karol Markowicz wrote
that “Don’t know much about
history . . .,’ goes the famous
song. It’s an apt motto for the
Common Core’s elementary
school curriculum…A 2012
story in Perspectives on History
magazine by University
of North Carolina professor
Bruce Van Sledright found
that 88 percent of elementary
school teachers considered
teaching history a low priority…
Van Sledright also found
that teachers just didn’t know
enough history to teach it. He
wrote there was some ‘holiday
curriculum as history instruction,’
but that was it.”
A Blaze report noted that
George Washington University
decided that even history
majors did not have to take any
courses in American History.
In 2015, ABC’s KSFY affi liate
reported that “the South
Dakota Board of Education
approved new guidelines that
do not require high schools to
teach U.S. history.”
A Nations Report Card
study found that only 18% of
eighth grade students are profi
cient in U.S. history. Similarly,
a worrisome 2014 survey
of 1,416 adults recently conducted
by the Annenberg Public
Policy Center found that:
While little more than a
third of respondents (36 percent)
could name all three
branches of the U.S. government,
just as many (35 percent)
could not name a single one;
Just over a quarter of
Americans (27 percent) know
it takes a two-thirds vote of
the House and Senate to override
a presidential veto; and
One in fi ve Americans (21
percent) incorrectly thinks
that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision
is sent back to Congress
for reconsideration.
Also in 2014, Capitol Times.
com quotes a statement by Arizona
state legislator Steve Montenegro,
a Republican, that
“Civics and Social Studies and
History are being boxed out of
the classroom.” He notes that
“96% of a sample group of high
schoolers in Arizona and Oklahoma
failed to pass a basic test
on citizenship issues.”
In a commentary, William
J. Dodwell provides his analysis
for the growing exclusion
of U.S. history:
“Academia has long been
a bastion of the political left…
The origin of the malaise derives
from the ideological
and administrative politicization
of public education.
Liberal elected offi cials and
like-minded school administrators
embrace identity politics
and other forms of political
correctness that alter
academic content and teaching
modalities. At the college
level, professors also promote
the progressive agenda… In
the primary and secondary
schools, teachers might not
be as ideologically motivated
but are controlled by their
left-leaning administrative
authorities, that is, superintendents
and principals… The
radical departure from traditional
curricula and academic
standards linked to the institution
of political correctness in
the schools and colleges raises
serious questions as to educational
purpose. Has the left
deliberately diluted education
in its self-interest… Education
authorities have curtailed or
eliminated the teaching of
civics and American history
such that many children do
not even know who George
Washington was. Daniel Henninger
writes in The Wall
Street Journal, June 11, 2015,
about the College Board’s revision
of the Advance Placement
examination for U.S. history.
The changes recast the
subject in a framework of ‘different
contexts of U.S. history,
with special attention given to
the formation of gender, class,
racial and ethnic identities…”
Thomas Jefferson once
wrote “If a nation expects to
be ignorant and free, in a state
of civilization, it expects what
never was and never will be.”
The lack of instruction in
American history is a clear,
present, and immediate threat
to the health of the U.S.
rally suppressed or “undetectable,”
meaning they are unable
to transmit HIV to others, and
help people who are HIV-negative
to stay HIV-negative.
Medicaid Special Needs
Health Plans are specifi cally
designed to address the needs
of individuals living with or
at elevated risk for HIV. But
not everyone who could benefi
t from them is currently eligible
to enroll. These health
plans have an incredible track
record of helping their members
access treatment to become
undetectable. They also
have the expertise to prevent
HIV transmissions by connecting
HIV-negative individuals
to prevention methods, such as
pre-exposure prophylaxis and
post-exposure prophylaxis so
they can stay negative. PrEP
is more than 90% effective in
preventing HIV transmission.
Preventing new HIV infections
isn’t just good for public health;
it’s fi scally responsible. For every
2,000 new HIV infections
we prevent, we save $1 billion
in state Medicaid costs.
SNPs are effective because
they know our communities
and how to work on the ground
to serve our neighbors. They
provide the kind of care that
helps people get healthy and
stay healthy. They also focus
on the whole person, and work
to address the other aspects
of life that impact a person’s
health - like housing, hunger,
and poverty.
Currently, only people living
with HIV or HIV-negative
transgender individuals or
people experiencing homelessness
are eligible to enroll in
SNPs. That must change. The
State Department of Health
should allow all of the populations
identifi ed as higher risk
for HIV to join these plans.
Thanks to the hard work of
advocates and health care providers
across the city and state,
and the leadership of Governor
Cuomo, New York is leading
the way in the fi ght to end
HIV/AIDS. Expanding access
to SNPs that can help to prevent
new HIV transmissions
is an important next step toward
making HIV history in
the Bronx and throughout New
York State.
(Ritchie Torres is a member
of the New York City Council,
representing the 15th Council
District.)
‘Freedomland U.S.A.: The Defi
native History’ author Mike
Virgintino gave an insightful
presentation at the East Bronx
History Forum’s meeting on
Wednesday, February 20 at City
Island Historical Society.