President Trump, History Matters

1110 E. 168^th Place

South Holland, IL 60473 

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

2 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

I suspect you have noticed it has been several days since our last letter.  I cannot be certain because even after 75 letter, you have not replied, but I am going to assume you have noticed. 

 

We haven’t been able to write you because it is nearing the end to the school year and that means more grading.  And last minute revised lesson plans and field trips and so on.  My wife and I are teachers and our children are students.  School is the center of our lives right now.  Our apologies for not writing for a couple of days.   

Today I would like to talk about history and the importance of setting a good example.  Recently, according to the New York Times, you said that Andrew Jackson was really angry about the Civil War in spite of the fact that he died 16 years before that war began.  During Black History Month, you seemed to imply that Frederick Douglass was still alive.  And the New York Times also reported that you recently put up a plaque at a golf course marking a Civil War battle that did not, in fact, happen.

History tells us the story of our nation and other nations too.  It marks the achievements and sometimes mistakes and disappointments of our republic.  History is something that every school child in this country learns about to some extent.  I know that history can be confusing and dates and historical figures can be hard to keep track of.  I do not blame you for your mistake about Andrew Jackson (though the mistakes about Frederick Douglass and the gold course are even more perplexing).  However I do encourage you to ask one of your advisors to fact check the things that you are going to say before you put them out there. 

Because when you make such a mistake, you look foolish, but perhaps of more concern to me is that you send a message to everyone in this country that history doesn’t matter, that getting it right doesn’t matter, and that the facts are something easily manipulated if one has reason to do so – even as trivial a reason as trying to make a golf course more interesting.  

But sir, getting it right does matter.  Facts matter.  History matters.  Historians and history teachers matter.  And school kids especially matter. Please start setting a better example for the people of this country.

 Regards,

 Bill Boerman-Cornell