It's too easy

[khaosworks]

Why is it so easy for the Republicans to erode constitutional freedoms? Because many people don't know their constitutional rights, or what's in the Constitution. A short, but cogent article, more of which at the link.

One (Constitutionally Illiterate) Nation Under God

According to a National Constitution Center poll five years ago, "only 5 percent of Americans can correctly answer 10 rudimentary questions about the Constitution," such as naming any of the rights contained in the First Amendment or declaring true or false whether the president is elected directly by the people. Notably, one out of six citizens (this means tens of millions of people) actually believes that "the Constitution establishes America as a Christian nation." A lot of high school students mix up the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights, which may explain why so many congressmen make the same mistake. Many high school students I have spoken with in inner city areas think that Brown v. Board of Education established rather than overthrew the doctrine of "separate but equal." After all, de facto segregation is their lived experience and no one has taught them the decision itself.

I do recommend visiting the NCC site, by the way.

Comments

[gingicat]

When I wsa in seventh grade (age 12-13), my American History teacher drilled us in these basics, and then they were lightly touched upon in my Advanced Placement American History class in 11th grade (age 16-17). Most of my peers in that Advanced Placement class had never had the kind of drilling Miss Gray had given my 7th-grade class. And as for kids not in Advanced Placement... who knows?

There's a lot of ignorance out there. Any suggestions on how to fix it?

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Education is the only answer really. I don't know how much of an emphasis Civics gets in the American classroom. Maybe it really should be taught as part of History - the origins and structure of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

(sorry for the late answer. I was putting off the reply until I got back home that day and it slipped my mind totally until now)

Not to play partisan politics, but...

[jost.livejournal.com]

I'll at least speak for The South. I'm willing to bet that the majority of those who are in that 5% are Republicans. Unfortunatly, the majority of the people who always vote straight-ticket Democrat are the uneducated. It's also why the Republicans gets the image of being the elitists. It's not just that they appear politically and socially "above the rest" but they do actually tend to be the better educated. Granted, I do know a number of well-educated Democrats down this way but the proportion versus Republicans is strongly out of balance.
Personally, I think the biggest problems these days stem from those people who actually decide to run for office. The people who should run for office don't want the hassle and the people who do, more often than not, really shouldn't ever be in any sort of leadership position. I mean, look at our last election; most people were actually voting against "the other guy" as opposed to voting for the candidate of their choice. We were left with two options that, if we could, we would have voted "do over" and sent them both packing until we could find better candidates.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

You should join sos_usa if you haven't already! Lots of stuff like this...


c

[adamselzer.livejournal.com]

I think that, down here, a lot more than 1/6th seem to think that the constitution establishes the US as a "Christian Nation." I hear that constantly. They also claim that it does nothing to separate church and state. They usually say this right before they say that kids should be learning science from The Bible, not some boat-ridin, bird-watchin, monkey-lovin' scientist. Over the course of several biology classes, I've found that scientists are really unpopular.