Far-right state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, is in the news again, this time for filing HB 829, a bill that would require Texas high schoolers to pass a civics test if they wish to graduate.
As he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Zedler is concerned that teens “don’t know where we got our independence from” and that he wants “kids to know as much as people who become citizens of the United States.” Perhaps valid concerns, though, as noted in the Star-Telegram, the test might not accomplish much.
But the best part of the story came at the end. When the Star-Telegram reporter asked Zedler if he’d taken a civics exam, this was his response:
“No, but I think I would do pretty well. I know the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. I know World War II was started Dec. 7, 1941. I know what the Civil War was fought over.”
Yeah, Poland would like a word with you about when World War II started. And we are just aching to find out what Rep. Zedler believes the Civil War was fought over. Would he say slavery or would he say states’ rights? The Star-Telegram story ended there, so we may never know.
Actually, I think that kids should learn about civics in school. That’s where I learned about it.
I well remember VJ day, I started school on September 3, 1945, the day after the Japanese officially surrendered and the war ended.
It should be noted that during the war, we Americans firebombed CIVILIAN cities and vaporized two Japanese cities that were filled with civilians.
It was necessary, that I fully understand. What I do NOT understand is why the only country on the face of the earth that has been lambasted for killing civilians, even on accident is the State of Israel. I say that as an aside.
Slavery was the not the reason for the Civil War (although it was anything but civil), it was, of course, states rights, but the rights the states were wanting was the right to keep slaves. So which came first, the egg or the chicke?
Of course, I meant the chickeN.
However, from what I have heard recently is that kids no longer get civics in school. I took Social Studies, Problems of Democracy (POD) and other civics related subjects including various histories: world, national, state, hemisphere…oops, that’s geography, something else that is not being taught in most schools today.
A COLLEGE girl was asked on a TV show to tell how many stars were on the flag of the United States. She complained that the flag was moving too fast to count them!
Most Americans today cannot point to their own state on a map that contained no words.
Worse is that some of them could not point out the United States! They pointed to Russia in the mistaken belief that the United States is the biggest country in the world!
Even worse was when they turned the map of the world upside down. Many could not understand that it was just a map that was turned the “wrong” way.
My personal favorite is to show someone a map based on the Mercator projection. It shows countries that are WAY out of proportion to their actual size, especially in the northern climes.
On the other hand, the Peters projection shows the world the way it is. The difference is shocking, but accurate. The Mercator was drawn for navigators in the 16th century.
Greenlanders are proud of the Mercator projection! 😉
Maps for navigation still use it, btw.
i am not surprised by this answer. Apparently the Texas educated person was asleep in what passed as a world history class. Let’s see, he missed the great agreement between Germany and Russia to divide up Poland, the fall of France, the Blitz and the Battle of Britain in Asia he missed the Japanese invasion of China and Mongolia and the rape of Chungking let’s not miss the incident of Germany attacking a nearly sinking a American Destroyer months before Germany declared war on the U.S. I’m sure he would do well on lecturing what parts of the Constitution that Moses and Jesus wrote and which Commandments are apart of the Bill of Rights
Yes, we can all make fun of the republican but, the fact is, if he doesn’t know those answers and he’s a representative then, maybe, we do need a civics test. lol
“It was necessary, that I fully understand. What I do NOT understand is why the only country on the face of the earth that has been lambasted for killing civilians, even on accident is the State of Israel.”
Eh, Beverly, Hermann Goering was sentenced to hang at Nürnberg for ordering the bombing of civivlians, among other things. And there has been much criticism of the atomic bombings of Japan.