Wake up, folks! Such a rewrite of actual history has been going since our nation was founded. In fact, U.S. history has always been written by the rich and powerful who want to shape events to their liking. Sad to say you never got the truth in school. It was mostly propaganda!
When I was growing up in South Carolina, a place that can match Texas any day with right-wing nutcases, the state-approved history textbook actually said that blacks were prohibited from working in textile mills because the machinery lulled them to sleep. No kidding!
Of course, the reason blacks weren’t hired was racism, but the South Carolina textbook couldn’t admit the mill owners were racists, could they? The ultraconservatives in Texas wielded their power over hundreds of subjects this week, introducing and rejecting amendments on everything from the civil rights movement to global politics. It was whitewashing as usual.
Howard Zinn, the late historian, made an alternative history available to everyone and it’s now available to teachers who dare to use it. It’s called A People’s History of the United States. There are different versions and one new edition is aimed at teenagers.
There’s also a wonderful new movie, The People Speak, in which well known actors and musicians tell the stories of slaves, authors, politicians, poets, protestors and others who have shaped American life. Most of these people who actually changed the world fail to gain even a mention in school textbooks.
If you really want to learn or have your kids learn the truth, first turn off the television set. Then buy Howard Zinn’s great book. Your eyes will be opened.
