Do Public Schools Need a 'Jan. 6 Insurrection' Course? |
When Republicans have strong majorities in a state legislature, our national media often find their actions nationally controversial on issues like guns or transgender advocacy or DEI. When Democrats are dominant, the national media are fine with it. That's just comforting business as usual.
In Virginia, with a Democrat majority in both houses and new Gov. Abby Spanberger, they have passed a bill prohibiting public schools from teaching that the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was a "peaceful protest" or that there was "extensive election fraud" in 2020. The bill requires any instruction on Jan. 6 to describe this "insurrection" as "an unprecedented, violent attack on U.S. democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives."
The first objection is historical. Violent attacks at the Capitol are not "unprecedented." Start with 1954, when five Puerto Rican terrorists shot into the House chamber, wounding five members of Congress (all survived). In 1998, a mentally disturbed man........