In light of President Trump’s comments about “both sides” being to blame for the violence during the white supremacist, Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA, this past weekend, Kevin M. Kruse, Princeton history professor and author of White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, shared examples in his Twitter feed about the use of false equivalencies in history. These could be useful for teachers and students to study. Invite your students to find more examples in history and send them to us.
In 1956, Gov. Earl Long of Louisiana lumped the NAACP in with the White Citizens Councils, who led massive resistance to Brown in the South. pic.twitter.com/ENLPff88SX
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 16, 2017
In 1958, Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas, the chief architect of the Central High crisis, did the exact same thing. pic.twitter.com/HVcu34Cvaf
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 16, 2017
In 1958, Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas, the chief architect of the Central High crisis, did the exact same thing. pic.twitter.com/HVcu34Cvaf
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 16, 2017
Others did too. Here’s an editor of the Charlotte News, a Maryland school administrator & an official with Tennessee’s state school system. pic.twitter.com/J0iJhzYNCH
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 16, 2017
The false equivalence was so widespread it became the standard for both national parties’ leaders — Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. pic.twitter.com/yfhBfwPMZk
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 16, 2017
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