The sooner we capitulate, the sooner we die. Not merely in body, but in intellect, in conscience, in the life of the mind. And here, one cannot help but notice the grim irony of Oklahoma—the “Sooner State”—whose very nickname is rooted not in honor but in deceit. A sooner, let us recall, was a cheat: someone who slithered across the line before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889, staking a fraudulent claim in advance of his fellows. The “sooner clause” of the Unassigned Land Act specifically denied such opportunists any legitimate right to land. Yet Oklahomans, with that curious genius for self-mythologizing that so often accompanies provincial mediocrity, chose to embrace the title as their badge of pride.
So it should come as no surprise that, true to form, the descendants of those original line-jumpers are at it again. Enter Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s far-right Superintendent of Public Instruction—a title that would have embarrassed Cicero, though clearly not him. Walters, in a move that blends petty spite with authoritarian ambition, now requires teachers from New York and California (and only those two heretical blue states) to pass what is laughably styled an “America First” test before being permitted to teach in Oklahoma classrooms.
This “test” is not an examination in the Socratic sense but an ideological catechism, drafted by none other than PragerU—a company which, like Trump University, is neither Prager nor U, but does admit, with the charming frankness of a pickpocket, that its goal is to indoctrinate children. That such a parody of a university should be granted authority over education is proof enough that we are not in Kansas anymore—or rather, that Oklahoma remains what it has always been: a staging ground for fraud masquerading as virtue.
Now, let us place this lunacy in perspective. Oklahoma currently ranks 50th—yes, dead last—in education. If there were a 51st slot, they would claw for it with the same enthusiasm with which they celebrate executions. Yet here they are, a state that can scarcely teach its children to spell cat without phonetically rendering it as “k-a-t,” deciding to legislate who may or may not enter their classrooms. It is the bureaucratic equivalent of the Titanic’s orchestra refusing to play unless the sheet music had first been properly censored.
Nor does the absurdity stop at education. Oklahoma is 44th in infant mortality, 44th in median income, and safer than only 31 percent of the states in the Union. It boasts the nation’s second-highest number of executions, a rather ghoulish way of demonstrating the sanctity of life. And yet, rather than address any of these calamities by raising standards, investing in teachers, or permitting the honest teaching of history, Walters and his ilk have chosen instead to build a moat around ignorance—and charge admission.
Why, then, single out teachers from New York and California? Not because the measure will affect more than a handful of educators—most rational professionals would sooner take a vow of silence than relocate to Oklahoma—but because Walters is performing. He is auditioning before the court of the new Caesars, currying favor with the high chancellor of Mar-a-Lago and his loyal fiefdom of demagogues.
In just the past 14 months, Walters has issued decrees that would embarrass Torquemada. He has demanded that the Bible be taught in classrooms, as if it has worked so splendidly in churches. He has ordered schools to collect citizenship data on students, as if a child’s right to education were contingent on their paperwork. He has required teachers to instruct children about the “discrepancies” in the 2020 election—discrepancies visible only in the fever dreams of the defeated, and dismissed by 62 federal courts.
And now, to crown this parody of pedagogy, Walters seeks to inoculate Oklahoma’s children against the supposedly dangerous idea that history should be taught truthfully—that the Osage Indian murders, the Tulsa race massacre, and the state’s long infatuation with white supremacy are not to be studied as they were, but wrapped in bunting and concealed beneath patriotic cliché.
What we are witnessing is not education but the organized vandalism of education: a deliberate attempt to replace inquiry with obedience, history with myth, and truth with the narcotic of national exceptionalism. The losers, as ever, are the children—raised to inherit a false story about their country, and taught that questioning is a crime.
Sooner or later, the bill for such dishonesty comes due. The Sooner State, it seems, has chosen “sooner.”
Why it Matters
When a state ranks last in education and still chooses censorship over reform, it’s not just failing students—it’s dooming its future. Replacing truth with propaganda may win political points, but it ensures generational ignorance.
Key Takeaways
- Oklahoma is dead last in education but prioritizes ideological tests over academic standards.
- Ryan Walters weaponizes schools for political theater, whitewashing history and suppressing truth.
- Instead of raising standards, the state replaces inquiry with obedience and myth.
- The children of Oklahoma are the ultimate losers—robbed of honest history and critical thinking.
Further Reading
- Democracy and Education – John Dewey
A classic on why education must be rooted in inquiry, not indoctrination. https://civilheresy.com/democracy and education - The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn – Diane Ravitch
Exposes the forces that censor textbooks and weaken education. https://civilheresy.com/Language Police - White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide – Carol Anderson
Examines how backlash against truth-telling perpetuates inequality in American life. https://civilheresy.com/White Rage
