The Indoctrination of White America — And the Fight for Honest History

“I cannot tell a lie.” For generations, that cherry‑tree fable was one of the first things American children learned about George Washington. It was a myth designed to showcase his honesty and moral virtue — and it sounded far better than the truth. The real Washington spent years relentlessly pursuing Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped his household. His dentures? Partially made from teeth pulled from living enslaved people.

If historian Edwin Betts had his way, we’d still be in the dark about Thomas Jefferson’s nailery at Monticello, where teenage boys were beaten and whipped to “improve productivity.” Betts deliberately hid a letter describing the abuse to protect Jefferson’s image. Jefferson’s descendants denied for over a century that he fathered children with the enslaved Sally Hemings — until DNA evidence forced them to admit it. Even now, Monticello’s official narrative hedges, suggesting the relationship “could have been consensual.” It was not. Jefferson raped Sally Hemings. Her mother, Betty, was raped by Jefferson’s father‑in‑law. A white man raped her grandmother. This type of generational violence is rarely documented in history textbooks.

The Real Target of Historical Distortion

The current fight over “distorted” Black history is often framed as a debate about whether to celebrate Black achievement. That’s a smokescreen. The real goal is to hide white atrocities. Florida’s controversial guidelines — criticized for suggesting enslaved people “benefited” from slavery — still highlight George Washington Carver’s peanut innovations, the heroism of Harriet Tubman, and the leadership of Nat Turner. Black athletes and entertainers are celebrated. But woven through these lessons is a steady drumbeat of white benevolence — the myth that white Americans were always striving to end slavery.

The ugliest truths are erased. The rapid growth of the enslaved population is attributed to “natural reproduction,” not the reality of forced breeding and rape. And Florida is hardly alone. No state teaches this truth. Historians, educators, and government publications have long perpetuated the lie of “natural increase.”

Erasing Atrocities Across the Board

This whitewashing extends far beyond Black history. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — the first federal law targeting an ethnic group — is rarely taught. Christopher Columbus is still lionized, while his torture, mutilation, enslavement, and sex trafficking of Native Americans are glossed over. Texas textbooks once referred to enslaved people as “workers” and still push a narrative of American exceptionalism that veers into white supremacy.

Institutionalizing Indoctrination

Florida has gone further, openly approving PragerU videos for K‑12 classrooms. PragerU is not a university; it’s a right‑wing media outlet whose founder boasts about using education to indoctrinate children. In one video, animated characters meet a fictional Frederick Douglass who excuses slavery as a “compromise” necessary to create the United States. The real Douglass called slavery “the great sin and shame of America” and vowed never to excuse it.

Florida was the first state to adopt these videos. New Hampshire nearly followed suit before public backlash forced a pause. The content ranges from attacks on feminism and Black Lives Matter to defenses of slavery that credit white people for ending it.

History Written by the Victors — and the Whitewashed

Confederate Senator George Graham Vest once said, “History is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side.” That bias is not just about protecting white feelings. It’s about pacifying all Americans — especially minorities — into believing that the past “wasn’t that bad” and that white people have always acted in their best interest.

The Urgency of Truth

It has never been more urgent to teach America’s children the whole truth of our history — not just the sanitized chapters that flatter the nation’s image. They must learn about enslavement and forced breeding, the Black Codes, the Trail of Tears, Jim Crow, Japanese internment, broken treaties, lynchings, rape, and the systemic racism that still shapes our institutions today. Glossing over these realities is not education; it is indoctrination — a practice as old as the Republic, now accelerating at a dangerous pace. The first step toward truth is dismantling the myths we’ve been feeding generations. America is strong enough to face its past. It is our politicians and leaders who must find the courage to let that truth be told.

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This post was previously published on The Polis.

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