Appreciate letters
Reading last Sunday’s Lewiston Tribune letters to the editor — and there were many — was a true delight.
Regardless of the proclamations lambasting or praises of a candidate, initiative or the opposite, it was printed for all to read. What a wonderful demonstration of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
And, good for all who wrote in. Differences expressed openly, can be the seeds of understanding to strengthen our country.
Doug Mourer
Manson, Wash.
Curriculum inaccurate
On the night of May 10, 1933, 25,000 books were burned in Nazi Germany, books that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis deemed “inappropriate” for their citizens to access.
The public schools were then instructed to teach only Nazi propaganda, a curriculum that had no basis in truth or history. Next, college professors, teachers, librarians and anyone else who objected were rounded up, along with millions of Jews, and sent off to the concentration camps. Most did not survive.
Many of our grandparents volunteered to fight the Nazis, to make sure that the people of Europe could once again institute fair elections and rewrite their history to reflect the painful truth of what had happened. They understood that truth and facts were of the utmost importance going forward. Our grandparents were proud to have served and were proud to uphold our Constitution, especially our First Amendment rights guaranteeing us a free press and freedom of speech.
Yet, 79 years later in Idaho, our Superintendent of Public Education, Debbie Critchfield, has approved an “alternative” K-12 supplemental curriculum for use in our schools. This curriculum, developed by PragerU, contains inaccurate information and falsehoods about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. In addition, topics on slavery, indigenous history and genocide are also inaccurate and misleading.
Our grandparents would be horrified. I know I am. This curriculum should not be adopted in any Idaho public school, ever. Our children deserve accurate information, verified facts and the truth. Our Constitution demands it and so should we.
Heather Stout
Moscow
