Patriotic Education: Trump Says He Will Start New Commission - NPR

President Trump holds a Constitution Day proclamation after speaking Thursday during the White House Conference on American History at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

President Trump holds a Constitution Day proclamation after speaking Thursday during the White House Conference on American History at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

In austere, starkly divisive remarks, President Trump on Thursday said he would create a commission to promote "patriotic education" and announced the creation of a grant to develop a "pro-American curriculum." The move is largely political — a reaction to a growing push by some academics for schools to teach an American history that better acknowledges slavery and systemic racism.

Trump said schools need to focus instead on "the legacy of 1776," when American Colonies declared independence from Great Britain.

"American parents are not going to accept indoctrination in our schools, cancel culture at work or the repression of traditional faith, culture and values in the public square," Trump said.

In a shot at his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump said he would add a statue of Caesar Rodney to the National Garden of American Heroes park — a proposal he first made in his Mount Rushmore speech