How do we Teach History? Is it correct?

Two very interesting articles recently fell into my lap thanks to a recent post on the bloghub. It's not surprise that the United States would tend to brush some of our history under the rug, especially the southern most states, such as Texas. I don't have anything against Texas, but there is something wrong with the way they teach their history courses.

How Texas Teaches History is an editorial that was posted in the New York Times by a Dartmouth writing professor. In this article, Ellen Rockmore analyzes how Texas history books use grammatical and writing skills to perceive slavery as a less traumatic event than it actually was, all to make Texas look better in the eyes of their students.

You have to be a certain type of person to agree with slavery, or to try to idealize it and make it seem less brutal than it truly was. I think I began learning about slavery in elementary school, and even then I realized how inhumane and truly horrible it was.

Five million public schools in Texas are using the same textbooks, with excerpts such as these:
"African slaves brought with them knowledge that helped turn the wild environment into profitable farms."

"The treatment of enslaved Africans varied. Some slaves reported that their masters treated them kindly."

These sentences may have some truth to them, not every slave owner was brutal, but a majority of them were not kind men who smiled and helped the slaves. Slaves also brought with them knowledge, but not the right tools for a totally new environment. The word, brought, to me translates planning. Slaves did not get to plan what they would bring with them on their forced migration to the new world.

After this article was brought to my attention I looked at one of the textbooks/resource books we are currently using in my AP United States History Class. This is an excerpt from the AMSCO AP US History book.

"Conditions of slavery varied from one plantation to the next. Some slaves were humanely treated, while others were routinely beaten. All slaves suffered from being deprived of their freedom. Families could be separated at any time by an owner's decision to sell a wife, a husband or a child. Women were vulnerable to sexual exploitation."

I think they did a good job explaining how the slaves suffered, they weren't paid workers, they were forced. And on top of all of that, they were ripped apart from their families, in a new place with no knowledge, and severe punishment from their masters.

Words are powerful, and to use words in a way to diminish the severity and brutality that slaves faced from white Americans is absolutely unacceptable. It makes me angry. We, as a community and world, should realize the mistakes we made and fix them! Education and improvement are the only way to sustain tranquility and as much "peace" as we can.

Take a look at the history books you read, and see if the authors use writing skills to "sugarcoat" horrific historical happenings.

stay peaceful (and informed)!!