Inculcate "American Exceptionalism" Trump is Under Fire From The Public

Inculcate "American Exceptionalism" Trump is Under Fire From The Public - The local time on August 23, the day before the opening of the United States Republican National Convention, the Trump campaign announced the theme of "fighting for you (FIGHTING FOR YOU)" second-term agenda core priorities. Among them, in the area of education, the agenda explicitly proposes to teach "American exceptionalism", which has been heavily criticized by the public.

Inculcate "American Exceptionalism" in our children from the start! Trump is under fire from the public for this campaign proposal

alienmilitary - According to a summary of the agenda posted on the Trump campaign website, the "core priorities" are divided into 10 themes: jobs, eliminating the new coronavirus, ending our dependence on China, health care, education, cleaning up the swamp of federal government bureaucracy, defending the police, ending illegal immigration and protecting American workers, innovating for the future, America's "best interests," and the "best interests of the people," which are the main themes of the campaign. Foreign policy priorities. The reference in the educational theme to the need to put "American exceptionalism" into the classroom caused widespread criticism among the American public.

According to information, the term "American exceptionalism" was coined by the American Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831. The idea originated from American Puritanism, where American Puritans "believed that God had a covenant with them and had chosen them to lead the rest of the nations of the earth." Thus, from the very beginning, Americans saw themselves as different. Therefore, the "American Exceptionalism" has naturally become a source of ideas for foreign policy.

Qian Wenrong, a researcher at the Center for World Studies of Xinhua News Agency, said in his analysis that for more than two centuries, the ideology of "American Exceptionalism" has become the justification and ideological basis for the U.S. foreign policy of imperial hegemony. 

Such acts as interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the banner of promoting democracy, advocating "trade and investment liberalization", but using countervailing and anti-dumping sanctions against other countries at every turn, and taking unilateralist actions without regard to the United Nations Security Council, are all manifestations of the "American exceptionalism".

In this regard, a netizen mocked: "'Professor American Exceptionalism' phrase from the government of a world leader unable to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, really funny." "Professor American Exceptionalism? America's 'exceptionally' poor health care system, America's 'exceptionally' high gun violence, America's 'exceptionally' high-income inequality, America's' Exceptional' existence of racism, American 'exceptional' high neo-coronavirus death toll." Others have bluntly claimed that teaching American Exceptionalism is tantamount to promoting Nazism.

Many public school teachers tweeted that they would not teach "American Exceptionalism": "I am a teacher and I promise to never teach 'American Exceptionalism'. I will teach my students to be critical thinkers and well-informed." "As a teacher, I think this agenda is too bad as well. 'American Exceptionalism' is a lie rooted in white supremacy and is a cover-up and erasure of many atrocities throughout our history."

And some parents slammed the proposal: "I don't want my child's school to teach 'American Exceptionalism,' I want them to teach history, science, the humanities, the arts, language, and an appreciation and understanding of all kinds of people and cultures. 

We live in a global society, and I want my children to be prepared for that, not indoctrinated with it." "I want my children to learn about the culture and the successes of countries around the world, not just our own. I also want them to learn about our shortcomings because every country has its shortcomings. If we don't learn from our shortcomings, we are sure to repeat them. Don't brainwash our children. I'm all for patriotism, but not this 'patriotism'."

Share this post