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(2016
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2016 (index to #3 samples) #3: Web Highlights |
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Michael Bradshaw
March
21, 2016
Whitewashing the History Books (Web Highlights)
Since
I have been in college, I have noticed a sharp contrast from what I was taught
in high school, particularly when it comes to history. We are taught that
Columbus discovered America, and that the Pilgrims had Thanksgiving with the
Indians; meanwhile Cabeza de Vaca is mentioned only in passing, and the genocide
of the Native Americans is almost completely glossed over. High school history
seems to whitewash its textbooks in order to paint the dominant culture in a
more favorable light.
In
Elizabeth Sorenson’s essay, Teaching
about America, she states that she does not want to teach the “Disney
version” of history to her future students. I take this to mean that the
Euro-centric version of history taught to students has been scrubbed clean of
anything that might possibly be controversial. I can attest that my high school
history education, usually taught by sports coaches, was in no way
comprehensive, but I experienced a bit of culture shock from just how much I
didn’t know. I knew nearly nothing about the colonial interactions with the
Native Americans other than the Pilgrims. All that I knew about the Salem Witch
Trials was from television. I suspect that the only reason I knew anything about
Cabeza de Vaca was because he explored parts of what would be Texas. Like
Sorenson, I was unfamiliar with the captivity narrative until I took this class,
and I certainly had never heard the accounts of colonists captured by Natives.
Entire sections of history had been glossed over or excised from the textbooks
completely.
Stephen Rodwell seems to take an aggressive stance in his essay,
What America do we Teach?, linking
Columbus’ method of conquest to Christianity. “This idea of ‘claiming’ the
territory is reminiscent of the verity that some Christians feel, that their
religion is the one and only true religion.” I can understand his viewpoint.
Columbus’ renaming of the islands is reminiscent of God commanding Adam to claim
dominion over the earth. The forced conversion of many indigenous people is also
a black mark on the face of what is supposed to be a peaceful religion. I
understand that Rodwell is trying to bring to light the suffering of the Native
Americans, and I agree that their history has been swept under the rug, but the
vitriol with which he describes Christianity and European cultures seems just a
bit over the top. It’s hard to blame him, though, as he writes as if he has been
lied to by the history books, which in a sense, he has. I shared similar
feelings when finding out the extent of the historical events that were not
taught to me. It felt like the dominant culture was dictating how history would
be written, and I resented it. It made me feel like things were being hidden
from me and that society at large was responsible. It wasn’t until I progressed
in some of my studies that I realized that no culture is without blemish. I
believe that teaching history from both sides at younger ages would do much to
alleviate the anger many feel about being kept in the dark regarding the more
sordid details of the origins of this country.
In
her essay, also titled What America Do We
Teach?, Laura Weatherly expresses disappointment in a previous Early
American Literature class starting its curriculum with the Puritans. “I feel
that I was robbed of knowledge that should have been included in the class.”
This is a not uncommon sentiment when students find out that their education is
not nearly as extensive as they were lead to believe. She also takes an
aggressive stance against Columbus’ claiming of the islands, and makes a
connection between it and Christianity. ‘This notion of staking claim on
territory reminds me, sadly, of another notion by Christians that their faith is
the one true and only faith; no others can possibly be right as they conflict
with what is written in the Bible.” Weatherly also wonders why the story of
Genesis is “… told alone as the end all, be all story of creation…” Both of
these questions can be answered by the fact that there is still a Christian
majority in this country. Just as the followers of most religions believe that
theirs is the true religion, so too do Christians. It’s just that, in this
country, Christians have the larger platform on which to proclaim. In other
parts of the world, it would feel like Islam or Hinduism may be the true
religion. Also, I don’t believe Genesis is “told alone”. Genesis nor any other
creation story was ever taught to me in school; I heard Genesis in church. It is
not the responsibility of a religious factions to teach its congregation about
other religions. However, I do see her point that the history books are biased
towards W.A.S.P.s (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants).
The old saying that history is written by the winner rings true in this
regard. Whether that is how it should be is a different story.
All
three of these essays reflect some degree of disappointment that the writers
were not taught both sides of the story at a younger age, and I echo these
sentiments. If the education system were more upfront about the things that
happened during the formation of this nation, students would have more time to
process and accept that our predecessors were not all shining beacons of
morality. Obscuring these facts leads to resentment when people find them out in
college, because it feels like we have been misled. The realization that
horrific events took place before, during, and after the establishment of the
New World, is compounded by the feeling of being mistrust engendered by the
obfuscating of the information. This often leads to a resentment of one’s own
culture, or could lead to feelings that one’s culture is under attack. If both
Americas were taught, I believe that people would be more able to understand
their neighbors, which has never done anything but help.
