In this expanded edition of his 2002 book, Zimmerman surveys how battles over public education have become conflicts at the heart of American national identity.
Critical Race Theory. The 1619 Project. Mask mandates. As the headlines remind us, American public education is still wracked by culture wars. But these conflicts have shifted sharply over the past two decades, from religious issues to national ones, marking larger changes in the ways that Americans imagine themselves. From the Scopes Trial over evolution in the 1920s through battles over school prayer in the â80s and â90s, the twentieth centuryâs bitterest school battles were tied to questions of faith. By contrast, America forged truces over history instruction by adding new groups to a shared patriotic story of freedom and progress. Jonathan Zimmerman forecast as much in his 2002 book, Whose America? Twenty years later, though, Zimmerman has reconsidered: arguments over what American history is, what it means, and how it is taught have exploded with special force in recent years, whether over Confederate monuments, the naming of buildings and institutions, or the very definition of patriotism. In this substantially expanded new edition, Zimmerman meditates on the history of the culture wars in the classroomâ"and on what our inability to find common ground might mean for our future.
Industry Reviews
"Who we are as a nation has always been a central through line in culture wars focused on US schools. But as Zimmerman astutely argues, the disputes have morphed in substance over the past twenty years. Will culture wars in schools ever recede? In these polarized times, the answer appears to be an emphatic no." * Amy Binder, coauthor of The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today *
"A fascinating tour through the strange twists and turns in America's culture wars. Zimmerman analyzes each generation's conflict over the schoolroom, right down to the contemporary fracas over American history itself. This compelling book shows us how culture wars always provoke the most dangerous question of all: Who are we?" * James A. Morone, author of Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History *
"Nowhere does the culture war in America rage more intensely than in education. Zimmerman provides a comprehensive map of this contested terrain and, with it, rich insight essential for a constructive way forward. Essential reading for parents, teachers, school administrators, and all concerned with the education of America's youth." * James Hunter, author of Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America *
"This highly informative and updated second edition of Whose America? leaves readers both relieved and concerned about the state of American history education. Clashes over religion, sex education, and the Civil War have long consumed schools and school board meetings, including fraught verbal and sometimes physical encounters. The nation lived through these battles and in most cases came out stronger. . . . The message readers are left with is that participating in debate on these issues might be the only thing holding the nation together. Recommended." * Choice *
