S7 E20: U.S. History & Covid Update: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Reckless Behavior

• The US has reached a grim milestone of 150,000 deaths due to the coronavirus, yet people continue to gather in large numbers, ignoring social distancing guidelines 47s.
• A Michigan house party resulted in at least 43 people testing positive for the coronavirus, while a New Jersey Airbnb party had over 700 attendees, prompting the governor to criticize the gatherings 55s.
• New Jersey's governor mentioned the state's "knucklehead Hall of Fame," which includes individuals like Jared Kushner, who is from New Jersey 1m31s.
• A recent concert by the Chain Smokers in the Hamptons has come under fire for ignoring social distancing guidelines, despite the event organizers and performers claiming to have followed all CDC and state guidelines 1m48s.
• The concert also featured a performance by Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who moonlights as a DJ under the name DJ D-Sol 2m21s.
• Solomon has seven remixes of the R&B classic "Rescue Me" on Spotify, which have been described as "garbage" 2m33s.
• The need for strong leadership during the pandemic is being hindered by reckless behavior, including President Trump's recent tweet spreading misinformation about masks and promoting hydroxychloroquine 3m6s.
• The doctor featured in the tweet, who has a history of making outrageous statements, including claiming that health problems can be caused by demons and that alien DNA is being used in medical treatments 3m15s.
• The president refused to back down from his tweet despite criticism, and the doctor's comments have been widely condemned as irresponsible 4m4s.
• A doctor was praised for her voice and claimed to have had tremendous success with hundreds of patients using hydroxychloroquine, despite the person praising her knowing nothing about her background or credentials 4m6s.
• Herman Cain died about 6 weeks after attending a Trump rally in Tulsa, where he was photographed without a mask, highlighting the risks of downplaying the virus 4m48s.
• Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert tested positive for COVID-19 and initially did not isolate himself, instead returning to his office to inform his staff in person, which is considered reckless and absurd 5m8s.
• Gohmert disputes the claim that he did not immediately isolate himself, stating that he notified his staff by phone and only visited his office wearing a mask 6m17s.
• A letter from a staffer to Politico claims that Gohmert requires full staff to be in the office, including interns, and that people were berated for wearing masks 6m35s.
• The staffer's claims are disputed by Gohmert, but it is emphasized that no one should be berated for wearing a mask, and that reckless indifference to the virus is costing people their lives 6m53s.
• The importance of taking the virus seriously and protecting each other is stressed, as the number of cases and deaths continues to rise 7m22s.

A Look at Ancient Egypt

• Scientists used a 3D printer to recreate the mouth and vocal cords of an ancient Egyptian, allowing them to produce a single sound, providing an answer to a long-standing question about what an ancient Egyptian would sound like 8m21s.

Reckoning with America's Past: The Tulsa Race Massacre and Juneteenth

• The murder of George Floyd has sparked a national conversation about America's present and past, highlighting the need to reexamine the country's history 8m50s.
• Many Americans lack knowledge of US History, as seen in the reaction to President Trump's plans to hold a rally in Tulsa on June 19th, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the US and the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre 9m8s.
• The Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the nation's worst outbreaks of racial violence, was recently portrayed in HBO's Watchmen, introducing many Americans to the event for the first time 9m31s.
• A recent poll showed that 48% of Americans were either not at all or not very aware of Juneteenth, a day that commemorates when Union troops informed Texas that enslaved people must be freed 10m19s.
• There are many gaps in knowledge about US History, including the fact that George Washington did not immediately free his slaves, but instead specified in his will that they would gain their freedom after his wife's death 11m37s.
• George Washington became a slave owner at the age of 11, a fact that is often overlooked in discussions of his legacy 11m46s.
• Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, did not free his slaves and spent the last year of his life pursuing those who tried to escape 11m16s.

The Biased Lens of American History Education

• The way American history is taught in schools can be misleading, with some versions being more palatable, especially for white people, as seen in Joy Behar's version of history and the popularity of the movie "The Help" during the protests following George Floyd's murder 11m56s.
• Senator Tom Cotton suggested that schools should lose federal funding if they teach a curriculum based on the New York Times's 1619 project, which brings slavery to the forefront of American history 12m24s.
• Tucker Carlson criticized President Obama's eulogy for John Lewis, in which Obama advocated for abolishing the filibuster to expand voting rights, saying it was like throwing around partisan talking points at a funeral 12m42s.
• However, it is argued that honoring a friend's legacy by continuing to advocate for voting rights is what John Lewis would have done 13m15s.
• There are no national standards for what topics or figures students must learn about in school, and state standards vary widely, with seven states not directly mentioning slavery in their state standards 13m29s.
• Only two states mention white supremacy, and 16 list states' rights as a cause of the Civil War, which is a misleading argument 13m47s.
• The root cause of the Civil War is clear, and it was slavery, but history textbooks often get it wrong 14m1s.
• The teaching of American history has always been political, with the South campaigning for textbooks that would accord full justice to the South after the Civil War 14m52s.
• The United Daughters of the Confederacy campaigned for schools to adopt textbooks that would tell the story of the South in a more favorable light 15m7s.
• A 1950s Georgia textbook downplayed the horrors of slavery, claiming that slave owners often held barbecues or picnics for their slaves, giving them sandwiches, which is a poor excuse for the brutal system of slavery 15m34s.
• An Alabama school textbook from the 1970s described some slaves as "good workers" and "obedient," implying that those who were not were flawed, rather than recognizing their actions as a form of protest against an unjust system 16m0s.
• The idea that being a "lazy slave" was a character flaw rather than an act of resistance is infuriating and misrepresents the reality of slavery 16m41s.
• A current Texas school book uses the euphemism "chores" to describe slave labor, which is a problematic and inaccurate representation of the brutal reality of slavery 17m20s.
• State standards and textbooks are just a baseline, and what happens in a classroom largely depends on teachers, who may not have the resources to provide accurate and updated information 17m52s.
• Some teachers may use tone-deaf assignments and classroom exercises, such as asking students to choose to be a slave or a slave owner and write a journal entry, or playing a slavery-themed Monopoly-like game, which can be hurtful and insensitive 18m21s.
• These types of assignments can be particularly hurtful for black students, who may already feel marginalized and excluded from the curriculum 19m15s.
• The majority of school teachers in the US are white, and many may have grown up learning a skewed version of history, which they are now passing on to their students, resulting in incomplete educations in history and real harm to students 19m26s.
• A man from Tulsa shared his experience of not learning about the 1921 Tulsa Massacre in school, despite it happening in his hometown, and only finding out about it in a college class, which caused him emotional whiplash 19m50s.

Upgrading History Education: Addressing Key Mistakes

• The way history is taught in schools needs to be upgraded, and three big mistakes that historians believe should be corrected are: not fully acknowledging the history of white supremacy in America, not teaching the full history of the Constitution, and not providing a nuanced view of historical figures 21m2s.
• The history of white supremacy in America is not fully acknowledged, and this is evident in the pushback against teaching anti-racist curricula in schools, with some arguing that it will turn children into "mini Ilhan Omars" 21m21s.
• The Constitution is a document that is both revolutionary and infused with racism, codifying slavery and making it harder for individuals to escape it, and students should be taught to see it as an imperfect document with imperfect authors 22m16s.
• The fact that the Constitution is infused with racism does not mean it should be "canceled," but rather that students should be taught to understand its complexities and nuances 22m41s.
• Students should be taught to see historical figures and documents as complex and multifaceted, rather than simply as heroes or villains, and to understand the context in which they lived and wrote 22m53s.
• The US Constitution can be both revolutionary and racist, and it's possible for kids to understand that things can be both positive and negative at the same time 23m0s.
• Incomplete history can lead to a lack of understanding of how different events and pieces fit together, and when the full story is revealed, it can be uncomfortable and challenging to process 23m21s.
• Thomas Jefferson's legacy is complex, and it's essential to be honest about his flaws, including his ownership of slaves, to provide a complete understanding of history 23m33s.
• The Underground Railroad was a necessary response to the injustices of slavery, and if everyone had been in favor of it, there would have been no need for it to be underground 24m4s.
• The history of America is a story of change, but it's often resisted, and the truth is that progress is not always linear or inevitable 24m29s.

Untaught History: Reconstruction, Wilmington, and the Civil Rights Movement

• The period between the end of the Civil War and the Civil Rights Act is often glossed over, but it's essential to teach this era thoroughly, as it was marked by white hostility and backsliding 25m8s.
• Reconstruction was a time of promise, with black men voting in the South and holding elected office, but it was met with resistance from white people, leading to the founding of the KKK and the lynching of over 2,000 black people 25m34s.
• The Wilmington coup of 1898, in which a mob of armed white men killed at least 60 black residents and replaced the city's government with white supremacists, is a lesser-known but significant event in American history 26m16s.
• The 1898 Wilmington coup, the only coup on American soil, is often either not taught or taught misleadingly in history books, with a 1949 textbook placing the blame for the event on the victims 26m40s.
• The Civil Rights Movement did not end racism in the US, and the version of American history taught in schools often leaves out important details, such as the economic justice aspect of the March on Washington 27m27s.
• The March on Washington was officially called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and Martin Luther King Jr. grew more outspoken about economic justice in the years following the event 27m29s.
• King understood that making progress on economic justice would be harder than achieving civil rights, as it would require the nation to spend billions of dollars and undergo a radical redistribution of economic power 27m45s.
• Martin Luther King Jr. had more than one dream, including one about wealth redistribution, which is often left out of his legacy 28m12s.
• The Civil Rights Movement was longer, messier, and more radical than often taught in schools, and was thwarted in many of its aims 28m27s.
• The black-white wage and wealth gaps are larger now than they were when King gave his famous speech, and housing and education systems in the US are still segregated 28m43s.
• The effects of segregation and racism can be seen in the present day, but the causes are often not taught in history classes, making it seem like these effects appeared out of nowhere 28m56s.
• A straight line can be drawn from the post-Civil War return of plantation land to former Confederates to the present-day segregation and racism in the US 29m1s.
• The growth of suburbs in the 20th century, where redlining kept black people from moving into white neighborhoods, contributed to the ongoing segregation and racism in the US 29m13s.
• Many white Americans, including those in liberal cities, have historically opposed integration and equal rights for black people, often citing concerns about property values and social mixing 29m30s.

The Evolution of Coded Racism and Its Persistence

• The way US history is taught often trails off after the Civil Rights Movement, skipping over the past half-century and the adaptation of white supremacy, rather than its disappearance 30m28s.
• Lee Atwater, a top Republican campaign strategist, explained in 1981 how the party's rhetoric shifted from overtly racist language to more abstract economic issues that still disproportionately harmed black people 30m50s.
• Atwater's strategy involved using coded language to appeal to white voters without explicitly mentioning racism, and this approach has continued to influence politics to the present day 30m59s.
• A recent example of this is a tweet by President Trump announcing the rollback of an Obama-era rule under the Fair Housing Act, which was designed to appeal to suburban voters by promising to prevent low-income housing from being built in their neighborhoods 31m58s.
• This type of rhetoric is part of a systemic racism that has been baked into the US from the beginning and will persist even after Trump is gone 32m29s.

The Challenges and Importance of Teaching Accurate History

• Teaching children about this history is crucial for them to understand what's happening in the present, and it's essential to calibrate the information to each age group 32m38s.
• Addressing mistakes in the way history is taught will not be easy, and there will likely be resistance from parents and accusations of being "political" 33m10s.
• Some parents, like one in Texas in 2010, may resist changes to the curriculum, preferring to focus on teaching "American exceptionalism" and the idea that the US is inherently superior to other countries 33m22s.
• The idea of focusing on the positive aspects of American history, such as overcoming slavery, can be misleading and ignores the fact that certain Americans overcame other Americans, and the impact of slavery is still felt today 33m52s.
• The concept of a "worst day in America" is subjective and depends on who you are and when you are, as the experiences of different groups of people have varied greatly throughout history 34m14s.
• The legacy of slavery and white supremacy in America is still relevant today, and ignoring or downplaying this history can be harmful and perpetuate a white supremacist narrative 34m29s.
• John Lewis, a prominent figure in American history, understood the importance of drawing a line from the past to the present and learning from history to create a better future 35m7s.
• Lewis emphasized the need to study and learn from history, as it provides lessons and solutions to the challenges of the present, and that the truth does not change over time 35m30s.
• The way history is taught is crucial, as it can either show us how to improve the world or falsely claim that there is nothing to improve, and it is essential to teach and learn history well 35m56s.
• Several historical figures and events, such as Claudette Colvin, A. Philip Randolph, James Baldwin, the Red Summer of 1919, David Walker's Appeal, the Brownsville Affair, and the Atlanta Washerwoman strike, are worth learning about to fill in the gaps in American history 36m31s.