Renowned actor Kelsey Grammer has sounded an alarm regarding the current state of American education. He cautions that individuals who neglect to learn about the country’s founding history run the risk of falling prey to manipulation.
During his appearance on “Planet Tyrus” this past Tuesday, Grammer underscored the need for a significant reform of the U.S. education system. He critiqued those who dismiss the Founding Fathers as nothing more than “old White guys in wigs,” challenging this dismissive view.
“If you’re unaware of your origins, you don’t truly understand your identity. Without that self-knowledge, you’re susceptible to control,” Grammer pointedly remarked.
“We must address several significant issues within our educational system,” he asserted. “A comprehensive retooling is undeniably necessary.”
Grammer’s engagement with historical storytelling continues with his most recent role in the film “Young Washington,” which explores the early life of the man who would become America’s first president. Additionally, Grammer lent his narrative voice to the six-episode Fox Nation series “The Patriot War,” where he delved into pivotal moments of the American Revolution as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.
The former “Frasier” and “Cheers” actor said America’s past serves as a blueprint for its future — one he believes many young people are dismissing.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired of the old White guy in [a] wig thing,” Grammer told Tyrus. “I mean Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he wrote what is arguably the most important political document in the history of man,” he said.
Grammer emphasized that the American Revolution was fought on radical ideas rather than identity and called for a stronger push to teach early American history.
“It never had anything to do with the way you looked,” Grammer said. “It had everything to do with the way you thought and the way you dreamed, and that’s all America.”
He argued the Founding Fathers did not claim America would be perfect but envisioned an evolving quest for better.
“The land of the possible. Yeah, absolutely. It’s always [going to] fall a little short, but that’s just it. It’s the world of becoming. We’re becoming a more perfect union, always, rather than we just are one,” Grammer said.
Grammer said that most of the 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence “ended in ruin” by sacrificing everything for the nation. He added, “Some of their children were murdered, some of their wives were raped,” and said their spirit of resilience in hard times remains today.
“They paid the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate one. And they would probably do it again. And I think that sort of character is what still is in most of us. I believe in America that way,” Grammer said.