The Essence of Teaching a Unified National Narrative in K-12

Before plunging into the 500 years of history we will cover in the next 16 weeks, let's start by thinking about history: the teaching of history, the political use of history (both Black Lives Matter and the rioters of the Capital on January 6th use much of the rhetoric from that history), and the understanding of our history. As most of you are future educators, you will be tasked with both the building of content knowledge and fostering critical thinking skills. So, let us begin by thinking about the complexity of delivering historical narratives;
The two tweets below were in response to the research and article in the New York Times comparing textbooks from California and Texas. Although the textbooks were from the same author and publisher, they were different in both subtle and significant ways. Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations tweeted that "National Unity depends on their being a national narrative. This is especially so for the U.S. as it is a country based on an idea. The idea of each state fashioning its own narrative is an oxymoron that contributes to our political dysfunction." Ms. Hannah-Jones, a writer at the New York Times Magazine and the creator of "The 1619 Project" responded to Mr. Haas's comments by tweeting '"National Unity" has depended on a national narrative and political reality that downplays and erases genocide and slavery to play up an "idea" only made possible through the subjugation of millions. The belief that there was ever a single national narrative is naive."
Directions:
1. Read the NYTimes article excerpt (attached above in both Word and PDF).
2. Read the tweets from both Hass and Hannah-Jones
3. Post your answer to which author (tweeter), Haas or Hannah-Jones, you more agree with. Should the U.S. have a Unified National Narrative? Can we? Explain your answer. 250-word minimum.