"While there is a difference in degree, curbing the discussion of the United States' history of racism, segregation and slavery puts American conservatives in the same camp as Smith's Rhodesia," writes Mershon Post-Doctoral Scholar Brooks Marmon for the Washington Post's Made by History blog.

This past Tuesday, Marmon offered a historical perspective on the ongoing education push by conservatives, specifically Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), to limit educational materials. In the article, Marmon focuses on the attempts to reframe teaching of the complete version of the American past as unpatriotic or indoctrination.

Marmon warns that "While there is a difference in degree, curbing the discussion of the United States' history of racism, segregation and slavery puts American conservatives in the same camp as Smith's Rhodesia — using a selective version of the past and attempting to strictly regulate access to information to bolster their own political project."

To read the entire piece visit the Washington Post's Made By History blog.

Brooks Marmon is a post-doctoral scholar at The Ohio State University’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies. His forthcoming book, "Pan-Africanism Versus Partnership: African Decolonization in Southern Rhodesian Politics," traces the rise of pan-African nationalism in Rhodesia and White backlash against it.