The Trump Administration has asserted that American colleges and universities are bastions of left-leaning radicalism that need to be reined in. Consequently, we’ve seen a variety of proposals to accomplish this goal.
Ironically, the alleged radicalism of contemporary institutions of higher learning appears linked with biased college and university curriculums before the 1960s. For instance, during the first half of the twentieth century, American college and university students were taught that enslaved Africans were happy with their condition and that paternalistic slaveowners rarely abused their slaves.
The expansion of college and university curricula since the late 1960s has sought to move beyond the previous focus on the thoughts and actions of white males. For example, the study of slavery in American history now includes a discussion of how both slaveowners and the enslaved viewed what has been called “America’s Original Sin.”
Besides featuring a reassessment of the activities and accomplishments of African Americans; U.S. higher education, since the late 1960s, has also sought to illuminate the activities and accomplishments of such previously marginalized groups as Native Americans, Hispanics, and white women. This appears to have enhanced, rather than debased, college and university curriculums. Especially when compared to what existed previously.
