The saga of renaming Peoria schools continues, as does the national debate over removing statues of historical figures.

Advocates for renaming Peoria schools have been charged with “cancel culture” because they want to correct the myths and fables of American history with truth. But even a rudimentary understanding of world history confirms that nations built on exploitation and glorified origin stories are destined to failure. Recognizing historical truth with all its ugliness moves us toward understanding.

A recent op-ed in The New York Times written by Timothy Egan recounted the decision by Washington State to replace its statue of the Protestant missionary Marcus Whitman in the U.S. Capitol National Statuary Hall with a statue of Billy Frank Jr., a Native American truth-teller and leader of the Nisqually tribe who was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barrack Obama.

The op-ed quoted former Sen. Rick Santorum objecting to the decision: “We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean there was nothing here. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

After recuperating from the shock of that statement, it helps to analyze what constitutes lies and what constitutes truth. We did not birth a nation from nothing. We are not a perfect nation. We did not create and implement a democracy that recognizes the equality and basic human rights of all people. The only way to correct our serious flaws and live up to our ideals is to accurately and sometimes painfully acknowledge America’s dark truths. That process can include renaming schools and replacing statues.

Politics muddles the science of vaccines

Rutgers University in New Jersey was one of the first schools to decide students must be vaccinated before they can return to campus. Many schools in Illinois have yet to issue a position on returning students. Unfortunately, sound science is not the determining factor in this decision.

A survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education shows schools requiring students and/or employees to be vaccinated correlates with the presidential vote. Only 16 schools in states that voted for Trump require vaccinations compared with 184 schools in states that voted for Biden. That’s more than statistically significant.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., has mandated that all students attending public colleges and universities in New York State must be vaccinated.

Flawed regulation of glyphosate

A recent study confirms Roundup and its major ingredient glyphosate is not only a danger to human health but soil health as well. The findings reported in Frontiers in Environmental Science points out that U.S. regulators don’t even consider soil health when approving pesticides.

Despite recognizing the damage of climate change, regulators fail to protect soil microorganisms that help sequester carbon.

“Below the surface of fields covered with monoculture crops of corn and soybeans, pesticides are destroying the very foundations of the web of life,” said Dr. Nathan Donley, a co-author of the study and scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Study after study indicates the unchecked use of pesticides across hundreds of millions of acres each year is poisoning the organisms critical to maintaining healthy soils. But our regulators have been ignoring the harm to these important ecosystems for decades.”

Pesticides can linger in the soil for years or even decades after they are applied. Yet U.S. farm policies continue to foster a system of food production dependent on intensive pesticide use.

“Pesticide companies are continually trying to greenwash their products, arguing for the use of pesticides in ‘regenerative’ or ‘climate-smart’ agriculture,” said Dr. Kendra Klein, a co-author who’s also a senior scientist at Friends of the Earth. “This research shatters that notion and demonstrates that pesticide reduction must be a key part of combatting climate change in agriculture.”

Jobs lost in conversion from coal to renewables

The United Mine Workers of America, the largest union of coal miners in the country, announced recently it would accept a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as long as the federal government takes care of coal workers through the provision of green jobs and income support for workers who become unemployed.

It is the free market economy that’s moving away from coal and its expensive environmental damage.

Any legislation to support displaced workers should be uniform, not just provided to those with the strongest unions and loudest lobby. There was no government support for newspapers and thousands of journalists who lost their jobs as papers across the country folded and social media that often peddles lies took over the public forum for information critical to a well-informed electorate.

Israel, Palestine and the press

When an office tower in Gaza housing 23 international press organizations was destroyed by Israel with one hour of notice, the obvious question is was Hamas the target or was independent journalism the target.

Associated Press offices were in the building. AP’s executive editor said the news organization had staff in the 12-story building for 15 years and no one ever unearthed any information Hamas was in the building.

AP is calling for an independent investigation of the airstrike. Reporters Without Borders has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the bombing as a possible war crime.

Jewish Voice for Peace issued a statement saying “A healthy democracy does not attack the free press.”

For four years, America watched Donald Trump attack news outlets, newspapers and individual journalists. He encouraged violence against journalists and mocked and made fun of individual reporters. It was wrong, should have been sanctioned and continues to undermine democracy both globally and in America.

In a recent op-ed in The New York Times, Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote, “Israel has the absolute right to live in peace and security, but so do the Palestinians. I strongly believe that the United States has a major role to play in helping Israelis and Palestinians to build that future. But if the United States is going to be a credible voice on human rights on the global stage, we must uphold international standards of human rights consistently, even when it’s politically difficult. We must recognize that Palestinian rights matter. Palestinian lives matter.”

And we have to recognize and defend a free press.