4 four corinthianOpinionsStaff Editorial: A forgotten tradition at Davis

nnoticed, the alma mater of Grace Davis watches silently as the first period bell rings and students file in to begin their

P.E. class. They remain unaware of the aged,

traditional hymn as they go about their day, never thinking twice about what it is or why it’s there.

Located in the North West corner of the gym since 1983, the Grace Davis Hymn has watched over students in all aspects of Spartan life. It has witnessed twenty-six years worth of sporting events, P.E. classes, rallies, dances, assemblies, banquets, expos, concerts, testing, and anything else that has occurred in its vicinity, providing it with a rich and proud heritage. It is the image of what Davis strives for and achieves. It represents who we are as Spartans and continues to be our motto, though most of us may not know that it even existed.

This once exalted mantra has been lost through time, is collecting dust, and remains unused and unconscious by the students here. Spirit is what makes us better than any other school, and without it, this school would be a dull place to be. Rallies, dances, sporting events, homecoming; these are all traditions that we keep and will always remember. So why isn’t the school hymn one of those traditions?

It was meant to be something that would make us stand out and show other schools who we were, and that we were proud to be Davis Spartans.

So, maybe it’s time to bring back the lost alma mater of Davis High, bring back the tradition of proudly and publicly stating who we are as Davis Spartans; bring back the rich heritage of the greats who have walked the same halls as us. Be proud in your school and discover what it really means to be a Spartan.

U

Patriotic textbooks veil America’s pastI

CHRISTINA ZUNIGACorinthian Staff

t’s assumed that our yearly textbooks are informing, correct, and up to date. And they are…partly. I have taken both CP and AP classes and have

noticed one huge gap, the information that is given to us by our nationalistic textbooks which is lacking in comparison to AP textbooks.

Historians simplify American history for the benefit of high school students through these patriotic textbooks.

They show history in a patriotic way so that students’ out look towards their country isn’t sacrificed.

To me, this is unfair. The student should have a right to know the good and bad sides of history, just as we see the mistakes of other countries.

Take the following passage from a CP textbook as an example:

“Most white southerners swallowed whatever resentment they felt over African American suffrage and participation in the government.”

This statement came from The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century, as one of the final statements of the Civil War during the era of Reconstruction. But of course, this is what you’d expect to find in a CP textbook.

No one likes to hear the truth, so it has to be sugar-coated.

Unlike CP textbooks, The American

Pageant 13th Edition, is geared towards Advanced Placement students and does to unveil the truth. After Reconstruction, the use of black codes was allowed.

“These laws were designed to regulate the affairs of the emancipated blacks...”

Not only that, black codes did not give freedmen the right of marrying or serving on a jury.

I looked throughout

the CP textbook and found no mentioning of this atrocious law. Why

can’t CP students learn this valid piece of information? Maybe it’s too controversial, but isn’t this depriving a student from the proper education for which they attend school for?

“In traditional books they don’t necessarily lie, but they mention in a couple of sentences and push it aside,” Dr. James Cook, a history professor at Stanislaus State University, said. “They do it because they don’t want to be called liars.”

In the California State Board of Education website, the standards of a US History class stated, “Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.”

The web site also states, “Students

identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.”

If this is their goal for the students, then why do they give us these patriotic textbooks that don’t even allow students to formulate t h e i r view of American history on their own?

T h i s d o e s n ’ t make any sense.

Students shouldn’t be given a bias t e x t b o o k and be e x p e c t e d to learn American history when they aren’t given the other side of the story. What the students learn is that America was the “good” country and other countries made “bad” mistakes.

“It’s one of the reasons students aren’t interested [in history],” said Cook.

I talked to a few history teachers on campus and they, too, agreed that textbooks

are patriotic. If everyone is seeing this, why hasn’t

anyone done anything to stop it?“High school history tends to be very dry

and memorized,” Cook said. “That is not the way I teach history in college.”

C o l l e g e professors go more in-depth, but what about those who don’t pursue a career in history or go to college?

They are left ignorant only to blindly follow what these textbooks say because that’s what the district wants us to read. To me, this is unfair and incomprehensible.

“It doesn’t allow them [students] to

have a point of view,” Cook said.CP students should be aware of these

truths especially since most of their opinions are formed from the media and peers.

Unknowingly, they are missing the core information that allows a person to decipher their own opinions.

AP US History textbook

CP US History textbook