I’ve always been a bit of a history buff. Many times my traveling companions have humored me as I pulled off the side of the road to read an historical marker, or stop at some hidden time-worn gem I found as I drove the backroads of America.

Sometimes I’ll go to the Durham Museum just to walk the halls and imagine what it must have been like when it was a bustling train station. Or walk through Prospect Hill cemetery to see the gravestones of many of the pioneers who helped create our city.

Yes, I love learning about our past.

But history is a funny thing. It’s determined by the person or government writing the history books. For instance, you’ll get a very different view of Russia’s contributions in World War II from the Moscow history books than what we were told in ours. And while I learned about the Civil War, many students in southern states learned about the War of Northern Aggression. And we all saw how Nikki Haley had to do damage control when she didn’t automatically say that the Civil war was about slavery but rather about “government overreach”. But if the south had won the war, I’m sure government overreach and states’ rights would be the official cause and not slavery. To the victor goes the spoils.

Which is why I am concerned with LB 1169. A bill that would make History Nebraska a code agency under the control of the Governor. History Nebraska is the agency that works to preserve our past.

Now before I continue, I want to make it perfectly clear that what I am about to write has nothing to do with Governor Pillen specifically. It has to do with any Republican or Democrat Governor we might see in the future.

LB1169 is a bad bill because no Governor should be in charge of how our history is told.

History isn’t always pretty. All too often it tends to get sugarcoated or covered up. For years the history of African Americans was never taught in schools; Christopher Columbus was seen as this benevolent explorer and not a murderous tyrant; and as hard as it is to believe, there are still people who swear the Holocaust never happened. Yes, history isn’t always pretty. History is complex and doesn’t always show people in the best light.

Which is why no single politician should have the power to control what is taught about our past.

Currently History Nebraska is facing some serious problems, which is why LB 1169 is being proposed. The former head of the agency is facing felony theft by deception charges, there is a high turnover in the department and fundraising groups are in competition with each other.

But a new head of the agency is being hired and these problems can be worked out. I don’t see how putting the state’s historical guidance in the same category as other code agencies benefits the Good Life state. Why would state senators think putting History Nebraska in the same category as the Board of Geologists, The Insurance Board or the Parole Board is going to provide a clearer picture of Nebraska’s past?

And what if we get some future Governor who decides that they want to put political pressure on the board to erase the memory of the Mormon winter camp or the fact that over 12,000 German prisoners of World War II were held captive in the state, or how Chief Standing Bear successfully argued in an Omaha courtroom that Native Americans were indeed people and thus awarded the civil rights of other Americans.

Yes, Nebraska is filled with history that needs to be celebrated and taught. Getting politics into the mix can only mess things up.

History Nebraska deserves the chance to fix their problems. If they can’t or won’t fix them, then some other group made up primarily of educators needs to take the reins. But in a world where we see other states where the politicians want to ban books or rewrite history to fit their political agenda, we don’t need to give any politician more power to do that here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to hop in my car and take the backroads. I can’t wait to see what historical markers I might find along the way.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.