RALEIGH -- The recent uproar over proposed changes to the history curriculum in North Carolina public schools is not a conservative-vs.-liberal issue, said N.C. State University history professor Holly Brewer.
"This is America's history that's being cut," said Brewer, who organized a protest Monday outside the Raleigh Convention Center to object to the suggested changes. The protest, which attracted five people, was designed to coincide with the Emerging Issues Forum being held at the center.
Fox News highlighted the possible curriculum changes last week. Among them, the 11th grade U.S. history class would focus on the years since Reconstruction.
That news caused angry Fox viewers to flood the state Department of Public Instruction with complaints.
The department contends the new plans would not remove early American history from the curriculum. Instead, students would learn about the years before 1877 in elementary and middle grades, rather than studying the entirety of American history in 11th grade.
Many of those opposed to the initiative, such as the Called2Action group, are conservative. But Brewer, who describes herself as liberal, said she is against it, too.
Brewer, who has taught American history at N.C. State for 15 years, helps run a Facebook group called "History did not begin in 1877!" Started a few days ago, the group has more than 1,200 members.
