Raven33, thank you for the comment. Agreed, throughout history all peoples have practiced murder, theft, slavery, and every other horrible act you can name. But the context of Davidge's column is that students should receive an education in civics, and in that respect it bears noting that the sins I named in my original comment all have a basis in this nation's constitution and laws. Sure, let's make sure that students understand the glory of the Bill of Rights -- but let's not shield their tender minds from the fact that our nation has at different times denied those rights to women, blacks, Native Americans, immigrants et al. It seems that your desire to teach the larger history (that I acknowledge as accurate) is not motivated by an enthusiasm for civics, but rather because you want to even the score to assuage white, patriarchal guilt over said atrocities. If I'm wrong, I apologize, but I've been teaching this stuff a long time and I've seen your counterargument many times before.