To the Editor:

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana

“If we are to have another [civil war], I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other.” — Ulysses S. Grant

Dietrich Bonhoeffer expressed his concerns about what is now our current situation in his letters from prison in 1945; but still, our country finds itself in the here and now atop a foundation of cultivated ignorance contemplating the possibility of another civil war.

I personally believe that no part of the Newtown Board of Education’s duties should involve creating patriots. I do feel however that the BOE should be the sworn enemy of ignorance; because ignorance breeds fear and hatred which, in turn creates nationalists, not patriots, and I am concerned that there are many, even in this body [BOE] that do not distinguish between the two.

Simply put: Patriots good — Nationalists bad.

The idea that we should continue to bake ignorance into our educational mix especially in this climate of anti-fact and anti-science is unsound.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a wrapper that is used to encapsulate the thinking that we should purge ignorance from the teaching of our history and of our fellow Americans; yet as demonstrated in a previous meeting, there are those, even in this body [BOE] who may be threatened by that line of thinking and are willing to use their strategic high ground to silence the voices of the majority of people who are in favor of a historically accurate curriculum, while tacitly amplifying and approving the voices of ignorance under the guise of embracing alternate viewpoints.

I submit that if we are too ashamed of our history to teach it, that we should be terrified at the prospect of repeating it. So, I challenge you [BOE] to lay bare your true arguments; I challenge you to stand for what you believe instead of against what others do.

If you believe that patriotism belongs in school, then create a mandatory class in it instead of rewriting history. Even if that sounds like indoctrination.

If you believe that the American experience of marginalized groups is of no consequence, then simply offer that as your argument. Even if that sounds like bigotry.

If you believe that you have a better plan to address the issues that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion attempts to, then present it. Even if that sounds like progress.

Thank you,

Konrad Karl Miller

Sandy Hook