I just read a brief mini-article on so-called myths of the Civil War. Things like U.S.Grant's alcoholism and Robert E Lee's slaves. The sources seemed sound, such as  Eric Foner.

I was reminded of an honors American History class I taught. On one occasion I gave the students copies of Howard Zinn's massive American History opus, A People's History of the United States. One of Zinn's facts regarding the American Revolution was that George Washington, as commander-in-chief, had to deal with mutinies amongst his troops. This was the first time my students had ever heard of such a thing. Washington was a hero and most of my students were very conservative. Needless to say, the information was badly received and I had several challenges. 

But I was reminded of the Twilight Zone episode, The Changing of the Guard. Was anything I was teaching falling on receptive ears? as in the Television episode, could I honestly go home believing the Thomas Mann Maxim,  "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.."

America in the 21st Century was very different. We were not fighting fascism or Communism. We were fighting to be wealthy and self-powerful. Moral and ethics no longer mattered. so old, retired teachers went out to die.

Was it too passé To look back at Mr. Chipps? When the evening of my life I look back and ask, Did I fill the world with love?

My students snickered. They hated Howard Zinn and they mistrusted me. I was the teacher who quashed the Jingoist Club.

They all wanted to get into good colleges. Preferably the top names like Duke, and Princeton, and Yale. I didn't dare state that Yale's benefactor was a slaver. Modern students can be selective and step over a  bad apple without every looking back.

In our ultra affluent society they breeze through their Ivy leaf, blue blood schools and change the world, making what would be a more segregated place. 

It becomes a matter of language and global experiences.

And It comes early. I took a group of mostly freshmen to Sweden and they fell in love with the clean, organized city of Stockholm. They all wanted to live here  they got older. The same happened in Boston and in Sydney and in Paris. As my principal used to advise me, all students should see Paris, He was wrong, of course, most students hated Paris only because the Fresh hated Americans or so we were told. We may have shouted, "Lafayette we are here," but that was two hundred years ago. 

I closed out my teaching career with the knowledge that I had made a difference. They were the scions of Republican conservative Catholic families. and that was enough for me to know. Someone would made a difference,