Mother Jones on Betsy DeVos’ Sheltered Background (and More)
In January 2017, Mother Jones originally published an article entitled, “Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America’s Schools to ‘Build God’s Kingdom.'” It has since been updated.
I did not read the original article; however, I am intrigued by the details I read today on US Ed Sec Betsy DeVos’ sheltered and privileged background, a background that decidedly contradicts her fitness as overseer of the nation’s public schools.
Thus, I offer my readers excerpts from what is an extensive article.
Here we go:
More than 150 years ago, Dutch immigrants from a conservative Protestant sect chose western Michigan as the setting for this idealized replica of Holland, in part because of its isolation. They wanted to keep American influences away from their orthodox community. … If city officials decide that a fence or a shed signals decay, they can tear it down and mail the owner a bill. Grass clippings longer than eight inches have to be removed and composted, and snow must be shoveled soon after it lands on the streets. … It’s also where President Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary, billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos, grew up. …Most people I meet in Holland tell me that it’s hard to understand the DeVos and Prince families without learning about the history of Dutch Americans in western Michigan. In the mid-1800s, a group of mostly poor farmers known as the “Seceders” rebelled against the Dutch government when it tried to modernize the state Calvinist church, including by changing the songbooks used during worship and ending discriminatory laws against Catholics and Jews. In 1846, an intensely devout Calvinist clergyman named A.C. vanMother Jones on Betsy DeVos’ Sheltered Background (and More) | deutsch29:
