Editorial | Teaching the facts about Jan. 6 to New York children

Five years ago Tuesday, the U.S. Capitol was attacked by an angry mob who believed lies about the presidential election being “stolen,” who rampaged through the seat of American government in an effort to interrupt the certification of the election results.

That is a fact. That is not an opinion. That is exactly what transpired on Jan. 6, 2021. It is also crucial for the future of this country to know the truth.

Here in New York, two state lawmakers — state Sen. John Liu of Queens and Assembly Member Charles Lavine of Long Island — are seeking legislation to mandate that all schools teach the proper history of Jan. 6.

Children must be taught that elections, democracy, and the rule of law are all sacred institutions that must be respected. The very survival of this country depends upon such respect.

The state Legislature must act to pass this bill, and Gov. Kathy Hochul must sign it into law.

In doing so, we can start to fix the damage inflicted by insurrection deniers who have sought to whitewash Jan. 6, 2021, as a blip in American history — just a few rowdy “patriots” who got out of hand.

Never mind the hundreds of Capitol police officers the mob injured that day.

Never mind the mauraders smashing their way into the Capitol, raiding the Senate chamber and House Speaker’s office, and defecating on the premises.

Never mind the five people who died in the event, with at least one death coming as a result of the mob’s effort to apprehend and harm the Speaker.

Never mind the sitting president at the time, Donald Trump, who fueled the election lies that ginned up the mob, and did nothing for hours to put down the insurrection.

These are facts. These are not opinions. There is no “other side to the story.” There is no room for “whataboutism.”

Yet the truth of Jan. 6 continues to be denied by too many Americans in much the same way as ignorant people deny cataclysmic events such as the Holocaust or 9/11.

The dangers of such denials are incalculable. It means that the U.S. Capitol, future presidential elections, and American democracy itself remain vulnerable to attack by those who seek to undermine them, believing they are justified in assaulting our government if they don’t get their way.

This is especially true since President Trump last year pardoned the more than 1,500 Jan. 6 attackers who were tried, convicted and sentenced for their roles in the assault on our democracy. With no consequences for their actions, what’s to stop them from trying again?

Philosopher George Santayana said it perfectly decades ago: “Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If we do not teach the true history of Jan. 6, we are doomed to see it inflicted upon our country once more, and potentially to more lethal effect.