Eighty percent of South Dakota High School graduates have NO idea who Leonard Peltier is- does this shock anyone else? Something that major that happened in their own state and they never hear anything about it.. And South Dakota prides itself on its "Local History" high school classes.
2006-12-09 16:31:37 · 3 answers · asked by Jennifer F 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
~I guess the whole affair just wasn't that big a deal, expect to the mercenaries who have made a fortune writing songs and making movies about it ever since the conviction. Hey, once Hurricane Carter got released, folks needed another murderer to martyrize. My, how times have changed. OJ lost his TV and book deal. Hey, your South Dakota honor students probably don't know who Wovoka, Short Bull and Kicking Bear were, either, but their legitimate efforts to retain their freedom and culture resulted in some far more significant history, not to mention a national park or two. Just ask us (upstate) New Yorkers. We know of these things here in the wild and wooly East.
May Wakon Tonka bless you.
2006-12-09 16:43:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Leonard Peltier case is not surprising to me, due to the media blackout on this unpopular controversial case.
Another shocking case of a historical figure written out of history books is Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President at a time women could not even vote. She ran with Frederick Douglass on the Equal Rights Party ticket, to make a statement that women's suffrage and black suffrage were both issues of equal human rights. This approach so threatened both movements, their campaign remains censored to this day.
If that interesting piece of history can be buried from public knowledge, anything can be!
2006-12-09 16:46:59 · answer #2 · answered by emilynghiem 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
State history takes a beating in almost all states. Texas mandates that all students and teachers take classes on Texas history, dedicated to Texas history and not just a side bar or unit. There is so much to do in HS and its worse now with NCLB testing that something gets cut. Its normally the state history in favor of US history.
2006-12-09 16:35:55 · answer #3 · answered by fancyname 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋