How History is "Rewritten" in the US

 How History is "Rewritten" in the US

Felipe Landero

Via, CNN; https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/black-capitalization-school-textbooks-mcgraw-hill-trnd/index.html

History has shown that racism has been a prevalent issue for hundreds of years as colonizers like Christopher Columbus ventured to the western hemisphere. After Columbus so called, “discovered America” the slave trade ensued. Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million people were kidnapped from Africa and sent to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. Only 10.7 million survived the harrowing two-month journeys. How American society remembers and teaches the horrors of slavery is crucial. But as recent studies have shown, many textbooks offer a sanitized view of this history, focusing solely on “positive” stories about black leaders like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Prior to 2018, Texas schools taught that states’ rights and sectionalism, not slavery were the main causes of the Civil War. And, in Confederate memorials across the country enslaved people are often falsely portrayed as loyal slaves.  The history of the United States is taught from the perspective of the dominant culture (that is, from a colonizer’s perspective), their acknowledgement of the racist policies and actions of the U.S. government. In Violent Nature of American Democracy, an article by Lorraine Boissoneault she notes how the policies include the genocide of Native Americans and the continued breaking of numerous treaties with Native American nations; internment of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent during World War II; constitutional encoding of enslavement of Africans and others until the passage of the 13th Amendment; the post 13th Amendment imposition of Jim Crow and Sundown laws; and racial profiling of Latinx and African Americans and other people of color that continue today (Williams, 245). 

Via, BackStory; https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/banned-2016/

Racial, economic and educational disparities are deeply rooted in U.S. institutions. Though the Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal,” American democracy has historically and more often than not excluded certain groups of non fair skin. In the article, Democracy by Kofi Annan, she states how “Democracy means everybody can participate, it means you are sharing power with people you don’t know, don’t understand, might not even like,” “That’s the bargain. And some people over time have felt very threatened by that notion” (Annan Democracy). Instances of inequality range from the obvious to less overtly discriminatory policies and belief systems. Historical examples of the former include poll taxes that effectively disenfranchised African American voters, the marginalization of African American soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II but were treated like second-class citizens at home black innovators who were barred from filing patents for their inventions. Beyond that, more examples include white medical professionals’ exploitation of black women’s bodies like Henrietta Lacks and J. Marion Sims, Richard, and Mildred Loving’s decade long fight to legalize interracial marriage, the segregated nature of travel in the Jim Crow era, the government mandated segregation of American cities, and also segregation in schools.

Via, Comparitech; https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/guide-to-online-censorship/

    This issue matters to me as because as a minority of latin decent I often feel misrepresented. I feel personally affected because latinos are barely represented in U.S history textbooks. To add onto that, when latinos are presented in textbooks, they are only presented as Spaniards, or as Mexicans. As a child of two parents that are fully Nicaraguan, it holds a place in my heart as many issues that happen over there are never noted on news outlets. There is currently a major issue there where individuals rights and freedom of speech are trying to be stripped by the government. I just want history to be taught the way it is. As history. History is meant to be looked at,  build from the mistakes, and learn for the better. When history is being manipulated, so will the outcomes of future learnings and understandings from past wars, laws, and documents. When this issue going on in Nicaragua is published, I don't want it to be watered down version of a simple disagreement between the people and the government but what it really was, a president elect minimizing the citizens murdering people trying to stop him.

References 

Alfonso, Fernando. “This One Letter in a Textbook Could Change How Millions of Kids Learn about Race.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 July 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/black-capitalization-school-textbooks-mcgraw-hill-trnd/index.html. 

Annan, Kofi A. “How It Threatens Democracy by Kofi A. Annan.” Project Syndicate, 16 Feb. 2018, www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/digital-threats-to-democracy-by-kofi-a-annan-2018-02. 

Balogh, Brian. “Banned [2016].” BackStory, www.backstoryradio.org/shows/banned-2016/. 

Bischoff, Paul. “A Beginner's Guide to Online Censorship.” Comparitech, 26 Aug. 2018, www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/guide-to-online-censorship/. 

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “Artifacts Show the Sometimes-Violent Nature of American Democracy.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 July 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/artifacts-show-sometimes-violent-nature-american-democracy-180963914/. 

Fitt, Rob Alex. “Perspective | Conservative Activists in Texas Have Shaped the History All American Children Learn.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Oct. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/19/conservative-activists-texas-have-shaped-history-all-american-children-learn/. 

Greenlee, Cynthia. “How History Textbooks Reflect America's Refusal to Reckon with Slavery.” Vox, Vox, 26 Aug. 2019, www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/26/20829771/slavery-textbooks-history.