I remember my AP American history book in the 1980s. It was amazingly thick. Somewhat intimidating, even for a good reader. I did have incentive to pay attention that year, though, as I could receive up to 6 college credits in history if I passed the AP test.
My main love was reading about the Civil War, the blue and the gray. I loved studying Matthew Brady’s photos and reading Civil War newspapers, because at the time I wanted to be a journalist.
I also remember being completely disinterested in anything after our involvement in WWII. Korea, Vietnam, Nixon, all a big yawn. Maybe it was too close in time to feel like ‘history’, or maybe my still developing abstract thinking about the connectivity of events wasn’t quite there yet. Vietnam didn’t have an impact on my family directly, as my father had been drafted but was excused for medical reasons. My grandfather, though, was a WWII vet, and my other grandfather worked in DC for a war department, so that had meaning to me.
Regardless of how uninterested I was about the nation’s trauma related to the Cuban missile crisis and Watergate, I passed the test that covered recent history too. I got my 6 credits and placed out of introductory history requirements. Today, I find myself remembering sitting at that desk — I can still see the room — staring at that book, and now I am wondering what a similar student will be thinking about us.
I mean, will she be bored reading that text, because it is painfully obvious how the 1980s-2000s were the gateway to class warfare? Will the book discuss how 9/11 was indeed the day that brought all of our issues to the forefront? Will several pages be dedicated to the Internet’s role on political participation, speech, and critical thinking?
Will we have a Lilac Festival, or some such, to mourn the Red and Blue casualties from Civil War 2? Will there be interactive films following partisans through a Mad Max-like experience? Or will this whole situation be, hopefully, flat words talking about how election of a narcissistic authoritarian was the natural consequence of income inequality and served as a last minute wake up call?
And what if we took that book and put it on a French or Chinese student’s desk? How would it be different?
Who are the people that book will discuss as pivotal in furthering darkness and in bringing light?
I wish I knew.