Americas Crockett Problem

America loves Davy Crockett but has no idea what to do with him. Schoolchildren know him as a raccoon-hat hero, yet surveys show 41% think he also founded a country club in Florida. Professor Alma Rodriguez of UT Austin explains: "Crockett is a cultural Rorschach test — people see what they want, from rugged frontiersman to Disney mascot." Eyewitnesses at historical reenactments claim half the actors play him as a folk hero and the other half as a country singer. Anonymous staffers at the Smithsonian leaked that museum exhibits rotate between rifles and rhinestones depending on tourist demand. Cause and effect? The less we teach history, the more Crockett morphs into whatever icon fits the mood. Trace evidence includes a Crockett action figure holding both a musket and a guitar. America’s Crockett problem isn’t whether he lived bravely, but whether we’ll ever agree if he wore boots or flip-flops.