What Will You Do When You Can’t Teach Us History?

by Nicholas Efstathiou

Sometimes, my students ask difficult questions.

I teach high school history at a small charter school in New Hampshire. Our school focuses on history and is dedicated to shaping the leaders of tomorrow. As a veteran with a master’s in military history, this is my dream teaching job. I believe my students need to understand both the successes and failures of the United States. Without a clear grasp of our past and the challenges we’ve overcome, I cannot truly prepare them to take on leadership roles in the future.

My students know to expect lessons on U.S. history that they haven’t encountered before. Recently, we covered America’s participation in the 1918 invasion of Soviet Russia and the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. We’ve examined the use of troops and planes to crush labor strikes and protests in mines and factories. Soon, we’ll discuss the Bonus Army March of 1932 and the Great Depression. Other than the Great Depression, these topics are rarely covered in standard curricula. The reason is simple: they are dark chapters in our history and confronting them is uncomfortable. No one wants to think about the United States attacking its own citizens for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech.

The title of this article comes from a question one of my students asked: “What will you do when you can’t teach us history?” I encourage my students to read the news because history is not just about the past—it shapes the present, and the present lays the foundation for the future. I stress the importance of critical reading and thinking because these young men and women will be the ones running our country. It is my responsibility to ensure they are prepared for that task.

Several of my students recently read about the Department of Education’s new “End DEI” portal, which encourages parents to report schools or teachers who violate the administration’s anti-DEI policies. They also came across the Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling. While parts of the order and portal remain vague, one thing is clear: it mandates that a “patriotic education” be taught. According to the executive order, patriotic means an “accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles.”

The problem is that honest history cannot always be unifying, inspiring, or ennobling. How do I teach the end of slavery without discussing the transatlantic slave trade, the Dred Scott case, or the Fugitive Slave Act—none of which can be framed as inspiring? How do I teach about the Bonus Army of 1932, when World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., and set up Hoovervilles (homeless encampments) in desperation, demanding early payment of their promised service bonuses because the Great Depression had left them destitute? How do I explain that the future heroes of World War II—Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur—were young officers when they led troops, tanks, and gas attacks against those same veterans?

The list of uncomfortable moments in U.S. history is long, but the purpose of this article is not to dwell on them. Instead, it is to examine the implications of this executive order and what it means for education.

Many veterans feel called to serve in some way after their military careers end. I was not a hard-charger, and I battle imposter syndrome daily, but I am still proud to have taken the oath to serve my country. An Army flag hangs by my desk as a reminder of what I once was. I am a proud American—not despite our history, but because I believe in the promise of this country. I believe that only by teaching the truth can students recognize America’s potential and work toward its betterment.

If the executive order forbids teaching the darker aspects of American history, we will not be preparing students for reality. Instead, we will be setting them up for a shock that could lead us to repeat past mistakes.

During the Vietnam War, young Americans who had been raised to believe that the United States could do no wrong were confronted with the brutal realities of war, broadcast on television night after night. The images shattered the veneer of righteousness and glory in battle, making many young citizens question other aspects of their country’s history. What was true? What wasn’t?

Our nation has come a long way, but we still have far to go. That’s not negativity; that’s fact.

As a teacher, my job is to help students think critically, analyze events, and understand why they happened. Simply memorizing facts does not prepare them to grasp the significance of history or learn from it.

When my student asked what I would do if I could no longer teach history, I told the class I would tell them “what if” stories.

What if the United States had fought against the right for all its citizens to be free and equal?
What if it had taken some of its citizens and locked them in camps?
What if the United States had opposed child labor laws and better working conditions?
What if teachers weren’t allowed to teach history?

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Nicholas Efstathiou is a husband, father, and grandfather, as well as a dedicated history teacher and author of Killers in Their Youth. Beyond teaching, he enjoys reading, writing, and collecting books. A veteran of the United States Army, Nicholas earned a Master’s degree in Military History from Norwich University.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.