Teaching About Race and the “Good War”: The Role of Racism in World War II

When I was a child, I enjoyed playing army with my friends. We would dress up in our imagined uniforms and guns, and pretend we were fighting the bad guys. My grandfather, who was a soldier stationed in Boston during World War II, would say, “Stop playing that.” He would tell me that some of his friends died during the war and many others experienced terrible events. Despite the fact he never left the United States, he told me about his own difficult war experiences here at home and how lucky he was that he did not go through what others did, concluding that, “War is not a game. It is not fun.” I never forgot what my grandfather would tell me (in fact, it would later influence me to become a pacifist and a war protester). From a young age, I knew there was a very bad side of the “good war.”

In his book "The Good War," Studs Terkel captured powerful accounts of the war through oral histories, and in many cases, exposed the dark side of the war. As we approach the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, it is important that social studies teachers help students dig deep into the complexities, including the often-ugly past, of the war. The Second World War is often framed in history classes as a clash between democracy and fascism (certainly the Holocaust and Japanese military atrocities in China and elsewhere provide evidence of how horrific fascism was). However, we must remember, as Howard Zinn wrote, “World War II is not simply and purely a ‘good war.’ … There were too many betrayals of the principles for which the war was supposed to have been fought."

One specific part of this betrayal of principles is the treatment of people of color, soldiers and civilians, during the war. At the hands of the U.S. military and the civilian government, people of color faced imprisonment, segregation, discrimination, destruction of their homes and land, and, in some extreme cases, even scientific experimentation. The Black, Latino, Asian, and indigenous people's histories of the War, in many ways, contrasts the history we often read in textbooks or see in the media. Within communities of color, there were varying personal experiences and opinions of the War. While some American Indians felt an overwhelming sense of patriotism and volunteered to fight, others volunteered to simply leave the poor economic conditions of their reservations, and still others felt anger at the U.S. government for allowing the war to tear apart their communities and land. While over a million African Americans fought bravely for their country, they also felt the sting of segregation both at home and abroad. After the imprisonment of Japanese Americans in internment camps, many Asian Americans, regardless of their ethnicity, were forced to routinely demonstrate their patriotism for fear of being labeled the enemy. For Latinos, while the war effort helped many Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and others groups feel patriotism and civic inclusion, for others it was a reminder that the color of their skin and their language prevented them from being treated like full citizens.

These histories are often left out of the larger World War II narrative. Yet, they are incredibly important part of the War's history and should be addressed along side other more traditional topics, such as D-Day or the contributions of citizens on the Home Front. Below is a list of 11 important race-related events, with brief descriptions, that should be taught in any World War II curriculum. In the links, teachers can find many primary sources that can be used to frame historical inquiries.

 

1. Japanese Internment and the 442^nd Regiment

After the Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S.government began swift arrests of Japanese American males in Terminal Island, California. It was a premonition of what was to come. Although more than 2/3^rd of all Japanese Americans were U.S. citizens, Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which imprisoned 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 internment camps, called “war relocation camps” at the time. There were many resisters to internment, including Fred Korematsu, the No-No Boys and Girls, and other acts of civil disobedience. Despite their treatment, many Japanese Americans, who were imprisoned or had family imprisoned, chose to fight for the U.S. military, of which the 442nd Regiment is the most well known. For other Asian American groups, in particular Chinese Americans, it was a time to express their patriotism and transcend stereotypes, but also a time to display their loyalty to avoid being treated like the Japanese Americans.

2. Workforce Discrimination in the War Industries

In the early years of the war, industrial production was increased. Factories were often running 24 hours a day to produce armaments, tanks, planes, and other types of military equipment. Women played an important role filling in for many of the men who were shipped abroad. Yet, people of color were often excluded from these factories and faced significant discrimination in hiring. In many places, the war industry was for “Whites only.”

3. Anti-Japanese Propaganda

Even before the U.S. entered the war, the government began to turn out military propaganda. While much of this was tailored to garner support for ally nations and to raise funds for an impending war, the propaganda that focused on Japan had obvious embedded racial stereotypes. While this was intended to arouse patriotism and support for the war, it also sent a powerful negative message to Japanese Americans about how White America viewed them and motivated prejudice and hate crimes toward Asian Americans.

4. The Role of Race in Chemical Experiments on Soldiers

During World War II, the U.S. military experimented on soldiers in an attempt to improve their ability to fight the Axis Powers. Recently, NPR uncovered secret testing of chemical warfare, including mustard gas, on Black, Puerto Rican, and Japanese American soldiers to determine if certain ethnic groups were more resistant to chemical warfare that could be used by Germany or Japan. Many of these veterans faced life long health effects and premature deaths as a result.

5. The Impact of World War II on Indian Reservations

In recent years, many students have learned about the important contributions that American Indians made at home and abroad (including the famed Navajo Code Talkers), but little is taught about the impact that the war had on Indian reservations. The U.S. government used Indian lands as internment camps (Poston in Arizona and Gila River in Colorado) and military bombing ranges (Pine Ridge). In Alaska, the government imprisoned many Unangan people in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, because they lived in what the U.S. government declared a war zone. With over 25,000 American Indians served in the military during the war, this caused a massive exodus of young Indian males from reservations, with many never returning after the war, which devastated many indigenous communities.

6. Racial Segregation and the Military

While the United States was fighting a war against fascism, it continued to practice Jim Crow-era racial segregation at home and in the military. Many soldiers of color were relegated to labor roles during the war, were never appointed to the highest leadership roles, and, when they did see combat, were often sent on some of the most dangerous missions (as many people know from the experiences of the infamous Tuskegee Airmen). In reaction to the racial discrimination, many soldiers of color stood up this this through different forms of protest, including Jackie Robinson (the future baseball player), who faced a court marshal trial for refusing to move to the back of a segregated military bus.

7. Detroit Race Riots

In summer of 1942, the Detroit Race Riots began at Belle Isle amusement park, when “a fight erupted between a total of 200 African Americans and white sailors. Soon, a crowd of 5,000 white residents gathered at the mainland entrance to the bridge ready to attack black vacationers wishing to cross. By midnight, a ragged and understaffed police force attempted to retain the situation, but the rioting had already spread too far into the city." Days of rioting by Whites and Blacks occurred. In the end 25 Black residents and 9 White residents had been killed.

8. The Zoot Suit Riots

Two years later in 1944, following the Sleepy Lagoon murder, the city of Los Angeles would also erupt in race-related violence often labeled the Zoot Suit Riots. What started as a turf battle between Mexican American teenagers and White sailors, who were stationed on their edge of their neighborhood, would result in sailors and other White residents attacking Latinos (as well as, Filipinos and African Americans) throughout the city, often stripping the young men of their Zoot Suits (which were culturally significant, but seen by Whites as excess in a time of textile rations).

9. The Double-V Campaign and Sedition

Often taught today as an act of patriotism, the Double V campaign (victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home) waged by African American civil rights activists during the war, connected segregation to the inequality and lack of democracy existed in fascist nations. However, this was seen by some in power, including J. Edgar Hoover, as an act of sedition and disloyalty.

10. Treatment of Veterans of Color on Their Return Home from War

We often think of the scenes of Time Square on V-J Day, where Americans greeted returning soldiers with ticker-tape parades. While nearly 2 million people of color served in the U.S. military during World War II, many did not face the same fanfare as returning White soldiers. In fact, a large percentage returned home to segregation and discrimination. Blacks, Latinos, and American Indians returned to higher rates of unemployment to Whites, segregated housing through redlining practices, and inability to secure bank loans, and refused service in stores and restaurants. Many returning Japanese American soldiers not only lost their homes and possessions when their families were interned in prison camps, but they were often treated as if they were “the enemy” by many Whites.

11. The Use of the Atomic Bomb

The last issue that should be addressed when examining the role of race in World War II is the use of the atomic bomb on Japan. In his book “Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb,” historian Ronald Takaki argued that beside a desire to reduce U.S. causalities and end the war quickly, Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb twice on Japan was motivated by American’s “racial rage” toward the Japanese. These were not military targets that were bombed. Rather, they were major cities with large civilian populations. It is an event that had a profound impact not only on the people of Japan, but Japanese Americans, some of whom had family and friends in the bombed cities.

Teaching About the U.S. Occupation of the Dominican Republic

   

Above: Protests opposing and supporting the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. The top picture reads, "July 12th, Get Out Yankees" in Spanish, while the other sign reads in English, "Yankees Come Back."

Fifty years ago, the United States invaded and occupied the Dominican Republic (this was actually the second U.S. occupation, with the first lasting from 1916 to 1924). The 1965 occupation coincided with the early days of Operation Rolling Thunder, which was the first major American bombardment of Vietnam War and longest air campaign in U.S. history, and was one of the most important events in Dominican Republic history. However, this historical event is rarely taught in history classrooms, as it is usually overshadowed in curriculum by other events of the era, including the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

Above: (left) Rafael Trujillo, (right) Juan Bosch, and (bottom) Elías Wessin y Wessin

The Back Story
In 1961, the Dominican Republic's military dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated. After a democratic election, Juan Bosch, the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, took office. Bosch pushed for a series of economic and social reforms, which received widespread support from the rural and urban poor and working classes, but also strong push back from both the military leadership and wealthy Dominicans. In September 1963, there was a coup d'état and Elías Wessin y Wessin would eventually take power while a civil war broke out in the streets of Santo Domingo. During months of fighting, the pro-Bosch forces gained control of the capital city. Fearing another Cuban-styled revolution, Lyndon Baines Johnson ordered the U.S. Marines into Santo Domingo (named Operation Power Pack). The Dominican people remained divided in their support of the U.S. invasion. In 1966 election, running on a platform of peace and stability and with the endorsement of the U.S. government, Joaquín Balaguer (a former official under Trujillo) defeated Juan Bosch. Balaguer would rule the Dominican Republic of-and-on for the next 22 years, with many people considering him a puppet of the U.S. government. 

    

The U.S. Occupation of the Dominican Republic should be an essential component of any Cold War unit in U.S. or world history. First, there are over 1.5 million Dominican Americans in the United States. Dominicans have had a particularly important influence on many communities in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Florida. In fact, the 1965 turbulence and civil war was a major influence on Dominican immigration to the U.S., which dramatically increased from the 1960s through the 80s. In many ways, Dominican Republic history is U.S. history. Second, this is an important place in the curriculum to connect the Cold War to the Latino experience. It is typical that Cuba is the only Latin American country that plays a prominent role in Cold War curriculum units (i.e. Cuban Revolution, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis). By teaching the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic, it allows students to see other incidences of U.S. intervention. Finally, the occupation is an important side story of the Vietnam War. Much like Vietnam, LBJ and the U.S. government used the fear of spreading communism (and a plea to protect American citizens abroad) to justify another use of military force. It is also a prime example of American imperialism during this period and should be taught in conjunction with the first U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924) and rooted in the long history of military force used by the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba (1898/1961), Puerto Rico (1898), Panama (1908/1912/1989), Haiti (1915/1994), Guatemala (1954/1966), Nicaragua (1981), El Salvador (1981), and Grenada (1983).

I would suggest that students use the below sources to examine the following inquiry question: Was the United States justified in occupying the Dominican Republic in 1965?

Primary and Secondary Sources:

Overview: Dominican Republic Historical Timeline (2014): news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1217771.stm

Overview: The U.S. in the Caribbean, 1877-1920 by Jason Colby (2015): www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/empire-building/essays/united-states-and-caribbean-1877%E2%80%931920

Essay: Occupation by the United States, 1916-1924 by Richard A. Haggerty (1989): countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/10.htm

Primary Source: TIME Magazine Article on Trujillo's Rule (1945): content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,886652,00.html

Primary Sources: U.S. Occupation of the Dominican Republic: www.utexas.edu/cola/orgs/hemispheres/_files/pdf/newsletters/cold_war_docs/DominicanCrisis.pdf

Primary Source: U.S. Military Newsreel: Marines in Action (1965): www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhJ7v6wkrM

Primary Source: LBJ's Speech on the Dominican Republic (1965): www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOYKHY2mBmQ

Primary Source: British Newsreel: Dominican Revolt (1965): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6oS3BGABTc

Primary Source: TIME Magazine Article on the Military Coup: content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898727,00.html

Report: LBJ on Dominican Republic by David Coleman (2015): nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB513/

Report: Hope Denied: The U.S. Defeat of the 1965 Revolt in the Dominican Republic by Piero Gleijeses (2014): www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/CWIHP_Working_Paper_72_Hope_Denied_US_Defeat_1965_Revolt_Dominican_Republic.pdf

Editorial: Dominican Republic 40 Years After U.S. Occupation by Juleyka Lantigua (2005): www.progressive.org/media_la2505

Editorial: LBJ's Other War by Rory Fanning (2015): www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/dominican-republic-occupation-united-states-1965/

The Case for Elementary Social Studies Specialists

Elementary schools have traditionally been organized into self-contained classrooms where one teacher has the responsibility for all subject-matter areas. Although some have made the argument for departmentalization, I continue to support the self-contained elementary classroom. Although the research is relatively thin, some studies do show positive effects of self-contained classroom, including benefits for child development, increased instructional time, and possibly an increase in student achievement on standardized tests.

As a teacher educator, I have found stark differences across schools in the amount of social studies instruction elementary students receive. In some elementary schools, students learn social studies at least 3-4 times a week. However, these schools are becoming a rarity. Numerous scholars have documented that social studies continues to be marginalized as a school subject, especially at the elementary-level. Several studies have shown elementary social studies instructional time has dramatically declined over the past two decades. I have been in many elementary schools (especially in urban districts) where students receive absolutely no social studies or only interact with social studies content during language arts time (for instance, they have a unit based on a historical biography or non-fiction history text).

The steep decline in elementary social studies is certainly a symptom of an overwhelming emphasis on math and literacy in U.S. schools. However, under these circumstance, is it still the best idea to include social studies as a subject within the self-contained elementary classroom? Elementary teachers are expected to be experts in several different content areas. Yet, across the nation, elementary teacher preparation programs now include less instruction in social studies methods. In elementary schools, principals are forced to focus their attention on students' math and literacy (and sometimes science) test scores. Professional development for elementary teachers rarely focuses on social studies. Is it fair to expect the elementary generalist to teach social studies with so little professional development and so much pressure to focus on math, reading, and writing?

As a result of the decline in elementary social studies, I argue there is a need for elementary social studies specialists in schools. When I say "elementary social studies specialist," I am referring to a teacher in an elementary school who teaches social studies as a separate or special subject. Elementary social studies specialists would have a content background in social studies (history, civics/government, geography, economics, etc.) and a substantial preparation and continuing professional development in social studies pedagogy (including inquiry and culturally relevant social studies teaching).

The elementary social studies specialist would not be unprecedented. In fact, for decades, art, music, computers, and physical education have been taught by specialists. More recently, the science specialist has become more common in some districts (such as the Boston Public Schools) to increase the quality and quantity of science instruction. Why not add social studies specialists (especially in districts were social studies is short-thrift)? This would ensure that students were getting consistent social studies from a content specialist and, in schools where math and literacy have become the main focus, free up generalist teachers to focus on those areas. It may even allow generalist teachers to have an additional preparation period for collaboration with peers. Moreover, generalist teachers would still be encouraged to teach social studies within their classrooms, but they would also have someone in the building, with a background in social studies, who could be a resource.

Finally, elementary social studies specialists are not the ultimate solution to this problem. We need more social studies in school and especially at the elementary level. I am hopeful that social studies will eventually re-emerge as an important component of the elementary curriculum. When it does, elementary teachers will again receive a strong preparation in social studies methods (as they still do in some teacher preparation programs), regular social studies time in their weekly schedule, and social studies-related professional development. For now, social studies specialists may be a necessary stopgap measure.

Teaching About the “Black Lives Matter” Movement

In the past month two separate grand juries did not indict police officers involved in the shooting of Michael Brown (Ferguson, Missouri) and strangling of Eric Garner (Staten Island, New York). These are two of several high-profile cases involving White police officers using deadly (or near deadly) force on unarmed Black men, including Rodney King (L.A. Riots), Amadou Diallo, and Oscar Grant (whose family reached out to Michael Brown's family). Here in Massachusetts, our local news media has illuminated the police-related shootings of D. J. Henry (in Mount Pleasant, New York) and Eurie Stamps (in Framingham, Massachusetts). Recently, there were also the shootings of John Crawford III (who was carrying a BB gun he intended to purchase inside a Walmart) and Tamir Rice (a 12 year old who was shot while he played with a pellet gun on an Ohio playground). Furthermore, these events occurred only two years after Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, was shot to death by self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman (see my previous post on teaching Trayvon Martin).

In reaction to these events, there is a widespread growing social movement that has labeled itself the “Black Lives Matter” movement. From Boston to San Francisco, New York to Los Angeles, groups of activists (many in their late teens and early 20s and from a diverse array of racial backgrounds) are uniting to raise concerns about the treatment of Black men by law enforcement and the society as a whole (including their portrayal in the media). At the national level, these groups are using social media platforms (Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter) to organize mass demonstrations and spread counter-arguments to mainstream media. There have been mass demonstrations in Ferguson (Missouri), St. Louis, New York, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, here in Boston (as well as neighboring Cambridge and the predominately White suburbs of Lexington and Newton), and numerous other cities across the nation.

How should social studies teachers approach the teaching of these events? If you watch the 24-hour news networks, these events are being framed by the media in terms of "were the police justified in their actions?" and "are the protesters right to be upset?" Commentators are asking their guests, could the officers have avoided using deadly force? Some are even suggesting that the victims were responsible for their own deaths. However, this generally avoids discussing the larger issue. It reduces these events to individual actions and does not look at the larger system that perpetuates inequity and violence. Instead, teachers should be focusing on the historical and present-day factors that led to these incidences (police treatment in communities of color, income and opportunity gaps, and incarceration rates of Black males) and the growing movement to make social change around these issues. Social studies teachers should help students connect these events and determine their relationship with racism, as a system of advantage based on race, which leads to widespread social inequity.

Below are teacher resources and links to primary sources that teachers can use to teach the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

When teaching this movement, I would encourage teachers to use the following inquiry question: “What are the main factors that have led to the shooting deaths of several unarmed Black men over the past 5 years and what steps should society do to prevent this from continuing to happen in the future?” By framing the lesson as a moment to think about social change, we can hopefully increase critical conversations around race in the United States today.


Resources for Teachers:

Answering Ferguson in the Social Studies Classroom: A Perspective from St. Louis by Alex Cuenca

The Ferguson Syllabus

A Time for Social Studies: Talking with Young People about Ferguson and Staten Island by Beth Rubin

How to Teach Kids About What is Happening in Ferguson by Marcia Chatelain


Primary Sources:

"Black Lives Matter" Movement Social Media (consider taking screen shots as primary sources):
www.blacklivesmatter.com

blacklivesmatter.tumblr.com

www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatter 

twitter.com/blklivesmatter

News Articles on Movement:
www.npr.org/2014/12/04/368408247/black-lives-matter-slogan-becomes-a-bigger-movement 

www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/11/28/ferguson-must-force-face-anti-blackness/pKVMpGxwUYpMDyHRWPln2M/story.html 

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/05/ferguson-protests-broaden-occupy-wall-street/19917015/ 

www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/black-lives-matter-11-racist-police-killings-with-no-justice-served-20141204 

Brief History of Police Violence Involving Unarmed Black Men:
www.huffingtonpost.com/g-flint-taylor/darren-wilson-wasnt-the-f_b_6216342.html 

Brief History of Ferguson and Race:
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/23/how-ferguson-became-ferguson-the-real-story/

Statistics on Indicting Police Officers:
www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Indicting-a-police-officer-is-uncommon-occurrence-5939558.php

fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ferguson-michael-brown-indictment-darren-wilson/

Statistics on Incarceration:
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/18/chart-of-the-week-the-black-white-gap-in-incarceration-rates/

www.sentencingproject.org/map/map.cfm

www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

Perceptions of Whites and Blacks on Racial Discrimination:
news.stanford.edu/news/2014/august/prison-black-laws-080614.html

spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/03/1948550614553642.abstract

inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/12/perceptions-of-discrimination-a-black-and-white-story/

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/08/28/the-black-white-and-urban-rural-divides-in-perceptions-of-racial-fairness/

Statement by Michael Brown's Family on Grand Jury Decision:
www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/15/statement-from-michael-browns-family-and-attorneys-beyond-outraged/

Evidence from Grand Jury in the Michael Brown Case:
apps.stlpublicradio.org/ferguson-project/evidence.html

Press Conference by Prosecutor Robert McCullouch on Michael Brown Grand Jury Decision:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd5sQEI_chs

Statement by San Francisco Public Defender on Michael Brown Grand Jury Decision:
sfpublicdefender.org/news/2014/11/sf-public-defenders-statement-on-grand-jury-decision/

Reaction from Eric Garner's Family on Grand Jury Decision:
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hell-no-garner-family-rejects-cops-condolences-after-grand-jury-n261176

Statement on Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision by the Mayor of NYC Bill Blasio:
www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/03/368249828/reports-nyc-grand-jury-does-not-indict-officer-in-chokehold-case 

Statement on Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision by Attorney General Eric Holder:
www.justice.gov/opa/speech/statement-attorney-general-holder-federal-investigation-death-eric-garner

Statement on Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision by NY Patrolmen's Benevolent Association:
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/eric-garner-chokehold-death-ny-police-union-chief-praises-grand-n261586

U.S. Department of Justice Report on Ferguson (MO) Police Department:
www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

"Hands Up, Don't Shoot" Was Built on a Lie by Jonathon Capehart
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/16/lesson-learned-from-the-shooting-of-michael-brown/

Arne Duncan Needs an Education in Education

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Harvard. His education ended there. After playing professional basketball in Australia, he returned home to become the leader of a philanthropic organization in Chicago (which later started a charter school) and he was eventually appointed as a leader and later head of the Chicago Public Schools. As most people know, Arne Duncan was never a teacher and he holds no degrees in education. To most educators, this is painfully clear when he gives speeches or discusses teaching, curriculum, or assessment. When educational experts analyze Race to the Top (RTTT), they see the many missed opportunities and some incredibly harmful policies in this $4 billion dollar portion of the Stimulus Package. As his signature policy, RTTT was a market-based school reform effort, which had states compete for money and prioritized standardized curriculum and associated testing, as well encouraging the proliferation of charter schools. It has been criticized not only by teachers unions, but also civil rights groups and some members of the American Educational Research Association. This has been at the heart of many educators’ desire that Linda Darling-Hammond was the Obama nominee back in 2008 and continues to fuel petitions and resolutions for Arne Duncan's resignation.

Not only does Arne Duncan lack the general understanding of educational theory and research, he continues to make incredibly uninformed statements in editorials and public appearances. For instance, in an editorial earlier this year he called Tennessee and Washington, D.C. “standout” education systems (despite the fact that their NAEP scores showed declines in the upper grades and an overall performance below the national average, as well as a general lack of improvement by most DC students and widespread concerns from Tennessee superintendents about their state's educational leadership). Last fall he depicted some parents’ concerns over the design and implementation of the Common Core as “white suburban moms” who are realizing their children are not brilliant. Perhaps his worst comment dates back to 2010, when he described Hurricane Katrina as “the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans.”

I am sure that Arne Duncan cares deeply for public education and has good intentions. He strongly believes that his policies will improve the nation’s school systems. His problem is actually a lack of education in education. If Arne Duncan went through teacher preparation and had a chance to teach children, he probably would have developed a much stronger understanding of teaching and learning. If he had studied education, he would have presumably learned about educational research and gained a broader understanding of the historic debates between the curriculum theorists. This would have helped him see that the early 21st century movement of education reform (supported by him, as well as an interesting group of neoliberals and conservatives) was really just a reiteration of that early 20th century “social efficiency” movement, which never found much success in improving education and eventually fueled many of the progressive reforms of the mid-20th century. In fact, Arne Duncan would realize that his own education (which he often cites as excellent) at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools was based on the first iteration of progressive education in the late 19th century. A close reading of the work of Franklin Bobbitt and other social efficiency supporters reveal the stark similarities to Race to the Top and the policies supported by Arne Duncan:

• An educational movement influenced by the needs of business and industry (at that time, education was to prepare factory workers)
• Over-reliance on measurement and testing outputs to determine educational quality
• Heavy focus on modifying student and teacher behaviors to improve education

Today, Arne Duncan advocates for “rigorous standards” with expanded testing and the use of large-scale data sets to guide educational decisions and he certainly does not hide his very close relationship with the business world, which generally advocates for educational privatization through "choice, competition, and deregulation."

Lacking knowledge about education is not a new phenomenon for a secretary of education. The U.S. has a long history of education secretaries with little education or experience in education. Since the creation of this cabinet-level position in the 1970s, there have been only two education secretaries with K-12 teaching experience and those same two were the only to hold a degree in education (both had a Ph.D.). Furthermore, there is an apparent growing movement to have more district superintendents (especially in urban districts) without degrees in education (see Michelle Rhee in D.C., Joel Klein in NYC, Paul Vallas in various urban districts). Even here in Boston (the “Athens of America”), Mayor Marty Walsh recently said that he wanted to appoint a new school superintendent “who isn’t necessarily an educator first but is actually an administrator first,” implying someone with managerial skills would be preferred over knowledge about education.

Arne Duncan's tenure as Secretary of Education should be a warning cry to future presidents. He is a perfect example of what can happen when the top education official (and educational leaders in general) lack both a strong background in education and substantial practical experience in schools. In fact, most of the high performing nations on international education assessments (e.g. Singapore, Finland, South Korea) would never appoint someone as their minister of education without substantial experience in schools. Even here in the U.S. there are certain cabinet secretaries that we would be appalled to find out did not have a background in their field. Could you imagine an Attorney General without a law degree? Or a Secretary of Defense without military experience (see Dick Cheney)? What makes this even more unusual is Arne Duncan’s seeming pride in not having an education degree. For example, he has publicly stated that degrees in education are a waste of money and has implied their uselessness.

With a stronger education in education, Arne Duncan might have avoided repeating so many past education mistakes, especially those made by reformers who relied heavily on social efficiency for their ideas. He would have seen that these ideas were tried once before, generally failed, and later abandoned. Despite this, it seems that we will be stuck with more of this social efficiency-oriented education policy for the next two years. My hope is that the next president will appoint someone who has both practical and academic knowledge of education. This is vital in helping us actually improve education for all students.