Forum, June 1: Those ‘largely peaceful protests’ were deadly
Published: 5/31/2021 10:00:15 PM
Modified: 5/31/2021 10:00:13 PM
Those ‘largely peaceful protests’ were deadly
The
Los Angeles Times story about reforms after the George Floyd killing tries to soft-pedal the violence and lawlessness of the Minneapolis rioters (“Police reform goals remain unfulfilled,” May 25). The story blandly refers to “largely peaceful protests” in one single line. Largely peaceful? Those so-called “protests” killed two, cost some $500 million in property damage and burned out an entire police precinct building. More than 1,000 businesses were destroyed. Some Minneapolis neighborhoods became no-go zones for overwhelmed police.
The essence of the story was about police reforms, so no need to belabor the mob violence. But to wave it off as “largely peaceful” is disingenuous at best. I’d call it journalistic malpractice. The story came from the
Tom Birmingham
Guest Columnist
After decades of being overlooked, the importance of teaching U.S. history and civics in public schools is at last gaining momentum. At the same time, the American Rescue Plan will bring an influx of tens of millions of dollars into Massachusetts schools. The confluence of these two events could transform civics education, but turning potential into reality will require combining a high-quality, fact-based curriculum with strong accountability measures.
The focus on preparing students to be informed participants in American democracy is overdue. For too long, the education-as-workforce-development model has held sway in the United States, despite research and outcomes evidence showing that it falls short in terms of both academics and economics.