I'm sure many of you have read Lies my teacher told me and many could provide more insightful commentary than I, but I'd like to share some of my reactions to this book. The author has helped me put many of our current political struggles into a historical context and convinced me that history education may be one of the best ways to prevent the next George W Bush.
Published in 1995, The author mainly debunks the traditional American History textbook, makes swiss cheese out of its narratives and exposes the motives behind them. Most of my sociopolitical education came after the age of 15 so I remained generally unaware of how rosy and full of lies high school history texts are. This evoked a nice simmering anger until I read the following:
By downplaying covert and illegal acts by the government, textbook authors narcotize students from thinking about such issues as the increasing dominance of the executive branch...Thus our American history textbooks minimize the potential power of the people and, despite their best patriotic efforts, take a stance that is overtly antidemocratic.
And my face contorted in unnatural and unsightly ways...
Nearly every American takes high school history. Professor Loewen makes the compelling argument that we are squandering an opportunity to teach children the critical thinking skills that could one day lead them to take historical knowledge and use it as a tool to think about / act on present day problems. For example, I sure as hell didn't understand the details of the executive power grab that dates back to the Wilson administration and continues today.
Okay, I know, you're saying "Duh!" Yes, duh, but here at Dkos we live and breathe a lot of these issues so we may take our skills for granted. Imagine if every citizen who passed the 10th grade had been taught in depth examples of how the American government had misused its power in the 20th(and now 21st, sigh) century, and how we have committed actions that could easily be labeled undemocratic. Maybe, just MAYBE when these situations crop up again more and more citizens would be inoculated against the myth that the United States is the ultimate bringer of peace and justice in the world. Americans would hold their government more accountable, and the chances of another George W Bush / Iraq / unitary executive could be reduced.
How does one person bring about a change in history teaching? Well, I have one simple suggestion for the parents/future parents out there: Look at your kids history textbook. Talk to the teacher about how they are presenting the material. I know most of us will pass our values to our children, but by taking a step into the classroom and talking to teachers we can have an effect on the 34 other students in the class as well. (Hopefully someday it'll get down to the 19 other students but that's another issue)
I've just scratched the surface of what the book delves into, so I'd recommend finding it at the library.
p.s. My first diary, be nice :p