A right-wing Indiana state senator has backtracked on his shocking instructions to a history teacher during a legislative hearing this week not to criticize Nazism or fascism to his students.
During the hearing Wednesday, teacher Matt Bockenfeld noted that his class was “learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of Nazism right now,” adding: “I’m just not neutral on the political ideology of fascism. We condemn it, and we condemn it in full.”
The purpose, he said, is to help students “recognize it and combat it. That is why we learn: To use history to make a better world.”
Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin responded: “We need to be impartial.” He also said he wasn’t “discrediting” Nazism.
Baldwin emphasized that it’s fine to discuss the existence of the “isms,” like fascism and Nazism. But “we’ve gone too far when we take a position on those ‘isms,’” he told Bockenfeld. “We need to be the purveyor of reason. We just provide the facts.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/indiana- ... 37aea2a5b4
This is the senator for the 20th district including Noblesville which has a rather famous history with the Klan. They take their racism seriously in those parts.