The past few weeks have ushered in powerful and potentially consequential shifts in the United States’ social and political landscape. Journalists, politicians, scholars, and the general public have already begun to put the current political moment in historical perspective and to observe connections or parallels to moments in the history of this country and elsewhere. All of this begs urgent questions for the classroom teacher: How and when should you make connections between what your students study and what they see happening around them today? Is there a way to responsibly offer students opportunities for such inquiry? What is the value in studying the past to understand the present? What is the value in making connections to the policy and practice of governments and societies in other places and times?
Invoking History in Today’s Politics was an article written and published by Facing History staff in 2016, at a time when the history of Weimar Germany and the rise of the Nazis was being increasingly called into the public conversation and into classrooms. As we listen to the public discourse today, we think it still offers relevant guidance about how and when we might ask questions of history to better understand ourselves and the moment we’re in.
As we share in the article, some questions that students and teachers may ask as they use historical perspective to ask more in depth, probing questions about the present include:
- What does it mean to suggest that democracy is at risk? How do we monitor the health of democracy and pay attention to small steps that may be changing its character? What avenues do citizens have to protect and sustain democracy? What are the consequences when citizens become bystanders?
- What is the role of the information and media in maintaining a healthy democracy? At a time when we have so much access to media and information, how do we interrogate the information we receive? How do we sift through the rhetoric to get an accurate reading on the state of our democracy?
- How and why does economic struggle sharpen social tensions? Is there a relationship between economic and social stratification and the health and weakness of a democracy?
- What are the attitudes towards laws, government, and institutions in our society today?
At Facing History our work is rooted in the belief that the study of history can help us better understand human behavior, ourselves, and the choices we face today as individuals and as a country. When students examine historical case studies like the collapse of democracy in 1930s Germany and the steps that led to the Holocaust or the often-violent struggle for freedom and equality in the years of Reconstruction following the American Civil War, they discover that history is not inevitable and the choices of individuals matter. They also come to realize that there are no easy answers to the complex problems of racism, antisemitism, hate, and violence; no quick fixes for social injustices; and no simple solutions to moral dilemmas. Meaningful change takes patience and commitment. Still, as a Facing History student said, “The more we learn about why and how people behave the way they do, the more likely we are to become involved and find our own solutions.”
