I would like you to read and ponder all of these quotes carefully. Select one from each section that interests you most and write your opinion for both.
Section One: The teaching of history
“High school students hate history. When they list their favorite subjects, history invariably comes in last. Students consider history the ‘most irrelevant’ of twenty-one subjects commonly taught in high school.” James Loewen
“We see things not as they are but as we are.” Anais Nin
“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” James Baldwin
“There is no other country in the world where there is such a large gap between the sophisticated understanding of some professional historians and the basic education given by teachers.” Marc Ferro
“Learning social studies is, to no small extent, whether in elementary school of the university, learning to be stupid.” Jules Henry
Section Two: Indians and history
“What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind and this trade [in American Indian slaves] as one of the most unjust, evil, and cruel among them.” Bartolome De Las Casas
“Considering that virtually none of the standard fare surrounding Thanksgiving contains an ounce of authenticity, historical accuracy, or cross-cultural perception, why is it so apparently ingrained? Is it necessary to the American psyche to perpetually exploit and debase its victims in order to justify its history? Michael Dorris
“The invaders also anticipated, correctly, that other Europeans would question the morality of their enterprise. They therefore [prepared] quantities of propaganda to overpower their own countrymen’s scruples. The propaganda gradually took standard form as an ideology with conventional assumptions and semantics. We live with it still.” Francis Jennings
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.” Rupert Costo
“God has not been preparing the English speaking and Teutonic peoples for a thousand years for nothing….He has given us the spirit of progress to overwhelm the forces of reaction throughout the earth. He has made us adept in government that we may administer government among savage and senile people…..And of all our race He has marked the American people as His chosen nation to finally lead in the redemption of the world.” Senator Albert Beveridge, 1900
14 comments:
Robby Mack
Per. 3 Rockenbach
9/19/08
Opinion Piece #2
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.” –Rupert Costo
In no way do I discount how horrible the Native Americans or African people were treated by the European settlers. In no way do I say that I agree with them, in fact, I despise what they did. However, why should we allow for something that dead men committed long ago to continue to separate us into the future?
The beauty of our nation is not what has been done in the past, but what can be done in the future. By allowing for something so horrible to continue separating us, we are only serving to continue it as though we were doing it ourselves. Yes, have pride, but there is no point in having pride in something that you cannot control. Why define yourself by your ancestry? Or your nationality? You should define yourself by your ideals and by what you can contribute to the world.
America is not a nation of genocide and theft, perhaps that happened in the past, but, if you are truly an American, then do not allow something from the past to continue separating us into the future. We can do great things, and it is our generation that will accomplish them, but we shall never succeed divided. We must unite under the banner of freedom, not of race, class, or nationality, but of the one thing that unites us all.
Robby Mack
Per. 3 Rockenbach
9/19/08
Opinion Piece #1
“We see things not as they are but as we are.” –Anais Nin
Throughout history there have been many different accounts of each individual event, be it war, culture, religion, whatever, but, though people may agree with one or the other, that doesn’t mean that the others are necessarily wrong.
Perception is reality, reality is perception, and the human mind can’t tell the difference. What you see, what you hear, what you think is all the information that your brain has in order to form the world around you. Everything in the background of the world is the same, things are as they are, and you can’t change that; however, what you perceive as reality isn’t what reality truly is, for reality is nothing but empty facts and universal functions that continue unabated, it is what you make of those facts and functions though that determines your reality.
Each person’s mind is different from the next, and each person has subconscious mental filters which sort thoughts, images, sounds, and feelings in a way unique to that person. Take a modern day situation for example; to some, America is liberating the Iraqi people, and to others, America is trying to force her policies on them in an act of neo-imperialism. If you’re an Al-Qaeda combatant, from your perspective, you are fighting for freedom from tyranny and western oppression, but, if you’re a United States Marine, from your perspective, you are fighting for freedom from tyranny and the right to self-govern. To both people they are the ones fighting for freedom, and it is the other committing acts of evil. Good and evil, though, is a point of view, the actions being performed by each person is concrete, it is fact, whether or not it is good or evil, though, is up to you.
Using a historical example, in the English Civil War, King Charles I and his supporters believed it was they who fought for God and country, while Oliver Cromwell and his supporters believed that it was they. The English Civil War decimated much of British society, and there are points for both sides as to which side was truly fighting for good and which for evil, yet, if you’re of the perspective of one side, then the other is truly evil, and there is not much that can change that. Though the facts are unchanging, it is your perspective that determines your interpretation of those facts, thus determining your reality.
It is human nature to be biased, it is impossible for anybody to be truly objective, unless they have no emotion or independent thought, but, if they have no emotion or independent though, then they are not human at all. One will try ever so hard to see the truth, to find out what the facts are, but, the truth, the facts, the reality of everything, means different things to different people.
“ We see things not as they are but as we are.”-Anais Nin
Objectivity is impossible. The way we see things is clouded by our own views and our own experiences. It is very easy to judge another person, and say “I would have acted differently in that situation”, having never been in that situation yourself. You cannot truly judge someone’s actions unless you have been in the same situation as them, and acted differently. People are formed by their experiences, and those experiences make us who we are; they control how we think, how we act, they create our sense of right and wrong. An example of this is how a person reacts to the news that the United States government is torturing POW’s in Iraq. While I, Tommy Ufland, see this as a travesty, a disgusting abuse of power and total disregard for the value of human life; a soldier who has been in Iraq for two years, and has had a friend killed as a result of bad intelligence, might see these instances of torture as necessary ways of procuring information. Given, that it has been proven that torture is a totally unreliable source of information, very commonly results in bad intel, and a complete violation of the Geneva Convention, a soldier who has witnessed first-hand the horrors of war, and has dehumanized the enemy might purely see torture as a means to an end; that end being reliable information that will prevent the loss of American life.
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.”
The amount of pain and suffering inflicted on the Native Americans by the European search for “Freedom” is inexcusable. It was the worst genocide in history, and textbooks portray the settlers as heros, victims of religious persecution, who started over in the new world. They neglect to mention the horrible violence, the brutality and arrogance of the Europeans, who created entire societies on the enslavement of he indigenous peoples. Our history books fail to describe the atrocities committed by the Europeans, instead describing a Thanksgiving where Europeans and Indians came together, and allowing people to think that that was the extent of Indian-European interactions. The first time the massacres of the Powhatan and the Pequot Indians are ever mentioned is 11th grade history. The brutality of the Europeans, and the dehumanization of the Indians is not once mentioned before US History. The history books focus on the religious persecution of the Puritans and the Pilgrims, not the fact that they themselves were as intolerant of Indians as the Church of England was of them. History books never mention the fact that Native Americans had thriving societies a thousand years before the Europeans did, but instead makes them out to be violent heathens who were saved by the invasion of the Europeans.
History Quotes
1) “We see things not as they are but as we are” Anais Nin
This quote is interesting because it shows how all history that we read or are told about has the persons own agenda in it. No matter where we get the information from, it will always contain someone’s opinion. The only way to get solid factual information is to be there and witness it for yourself. Obviously this is impossible for any historical events that take place before your birth. This is why Anais Nin says that we see things as we are because our own ideas and perspective is put into everything we say or write.
2) “God has not been preparing the English speaking and Teutonic peoples for a thousand years for nothing… He has given us the spirit of progress to overwhelm the forces of reaction throughout the earth. He has made us adept in government that we may administer government among savage and senile people as his chosen nation to finally lead in the redemption of the world” Senator Albert Beveridge
This senator thinks that the American people are so much better that everyone else, and that God has chosen us to be his favorite people. There is obviously something wrong with this statement when nation all around the world would say that their nation is chosen by God to be his chosen nation. This senator’s speech is the reason why people like the early settlers of the new world thought that they were better that the Indians and committed such awful crimes against an innocent free people. This speech plays to the unintelligent people in the country who would get excited from this uplifting quote that tells them that they are better that everyone, and then treat others poorly because of it. People like this who for no reason think we are chosen by God, are the reason why people like the Indians were tortured and killed.
Wendy Perez
Per. 3
“We see things not as they are but as we are.” Anais Nin
I think that this quote means that we view things with our own opinion and perspective but not as what they really are or were. I think this quote is referring to the teaching of history. History has never been taught as just facts or as what really happened without a bias opinion added to those facts. Thus, in history books, we are taught to view things as the author of the book viewed them but not as they really were. Regrettably, we will never really be sure how things truly happened in the past because everything we’re taught is essentially bias.
“There is not one Indian in the whole country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.” Rupert Costo
I think this quote is very depressing and disheartening, but unfortunately true. I feel really remorseful for every Indian, who still in 2008, has to continue hearing about his/hers ancestors being called savages, barbarians, uncivilized people who were brutally killed by the Europeans because of the concepts they held of them. I also feel awful for the Indians because I can relate to their feelings, not because I’m an Indian but because I’m a Mexican. My parents and a lot of my other family members emigrated from Mexico to the United States of America and whenever I hear the term of “illegal aliens,” it makes me cringe in anguish and frustration because the people making these comments are essentially talking about my parents and my ancestors. I know this feeling is not the same as that of the Indians because they did not immigrate to America rather fundamentally founded this country. But although our feelings are not equal, we are both known as not white but instead known as “people of a different color and race” and this feeling we mutually share.
Chelsea McMahon
September 22, 2008
History: Fact or Fiction?
Is there more to history than what we are taught from our textbooks? As Marc Ferro once said, “There is no other country in the world where there is such a large gap between the sophisticated understanding of some professional historians and the basic education given by teachers”. I believe that this is a direct result of the USA’s constant need for justification for their actions. Immigrants come to the Americas and kill off thousands of Indians, and we celebrate it with Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. Why? Because from elementary school, this is what we are taught. We’re taught that Columbus “discovered” the Americas, and that when we encountered the Natives, we gave them a feast of thanks. And yet, professional historians know the truth. The massacres and the mistakes that, from birth, we are taught to be blind to.
The use of propaganda as justification was not an accident on the immigrants part. Francis Jennings once described it as follows: “The invaders also anticipated, correctly, that the other Europeans would question the morality of their enterprise. They therefore [prepared] quantities of propaganda to overpower their own countrymen’s scruples. The propaganda gradually took standard form as an ideology with conventional assumptions and semantics. We live with it still”. To cover their mistakes, the immigrants conjured up lies and excuses. These lies were then told to others, and quickly became truth. These lies are today being written in text books, taught to the American children, as a crude attempt to instill a sense of pride in their minds and hearts. I, as an American, feel that I have been let down by my country. As a citizen it is my right to know the true history of my country, and yet somehow, I never will. The facts I know today only touch upon what really happened when Columbus set sail that day.
Blog- Quotes for History
“We see things not as they are but as we are.” Anais Nin.
In life we are taught things how others think we should perceive them. I also think that a lot of times in life people see things, as they would fit into their own lives. Our personal reflection of friends and ourselves often influence how we see other things in the world. When we are young we often aren’t told all the facts. For example if someone dies who is a close friend or family one wouldn’t tell that same four year old very blatantly that this person that was once loved is gone forever and would never be seen again, what would most likely be said is that, “he/she is in a better place now.” I feel as if that is very much like how we learn history. I feel as if people never want to look bad. Have you never told a story where you have slightly changed what happened to either make yourself look better or the other person look worse? I am sure that this has happened many times before in history. Even looking at our own history look at how different the stories are that you hear about the English migration and colonization of their New World colonies, at how we treated the Indians. In elementary school we are taught about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims and Indians got along and all was happy-go-lucky between them, when truthfully we, the Europeans, created genocide.
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in the anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.” Rupert Costo
The Europeans came to the New World thinking that everything that the Indians did and who they were was completely barbaric but looking back on it, isn’t what we did to them barbaric? We created such a fearful and harsh society for the Indians to live in. In elementary school we learn that the Europeans and the Indians coexisted perfectly and helped each other with everything, but as we get older we learn to harsh truths that we were monsters. I couldn’t even imagine learning that my past ancestors were treated the way we treated the Indians when we first settled in the New World. We learn that the Indians are barbaric animals and how the entirety of the race of people should be exterminated. Imagine learning that knowing that your great-great-grandfather was one of those animals whose head was chopped off, or who was sold for slavery. Wouldn’t you too be ashamed and frightened?
Ian Cinnamon
September 21, 2008
Dr. Rockenbach
When high school students think of their favorite subject, history rarely comes first. But why? Is history boring? Is it not taught well? Or do students just think it is pointless to learn?
Option three is the most accurate in this case. According to James Loewen, “High school students hate history. When they list their favorite subjects, history invariable comes in last. Students consider history the ‘most irrelevant’ of the twenty-one subjects commonly taught in high school.” I agree with certain parts of this concept. Other parts, however, I strongly disagree with. First, “High school students hate history.” I cannot argue with this point. If I were to poll everyone in my grade, history would not be most student’s favorite subject. Next, Loewen says that students consider history the “most irrelevant.” I strongly disagree with this point. Students understand the value of history. Everyday, I here the phrase “history repeats itself.” And this phrase is true. History does repeat. That is why it is vital for students to learn the mistakes and successes of the past in order to ensure a positive future.
So we’ve determined that students hate history, but not because it is the most irrelevant. Then why? I propose that students dislike history because of the format it is taught in. Most history classes are consumed by the memorization of facts and events. Instead, students should analyze history. History is full of intriguing and exciting events! Teachers shouldn’t focus on the day the Magna Carta was signed – they should focus on the lively events that make history so interesting.
Whenever anyone reads most US History textbooks, the focus is rarely on the Native Americans. And when it is, it is always (or nearly always) negative. Why isn’t Native American Beauty celebrated? Before I answer this question, let me explain that I think Native American culture should be taught in all high schools. But it should not be taught in a US History course. It should be taught in its own course. Yes, the Native Americans were fundamental to the United States, but the US truly originated from England. Unless the course is called “North American History,” Native American culture should be taught separately (although it absolutely should be taught). Rupert Costo’s quote “There is not one Indian in the whole country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears,” really touches me. This quote is the exact reason that Native American History needs to be its own full year course. It should be given just as much importance as US History.
Section One: The teaching of history
“Learning social studies is, to no small extent, whether in elementary school or the university, learning to be stupid” Jules Henry states. To me it is the opposite. It can be argued that when learning history, you are learning a biased opinion starting from your school, then your teacher, then your book, and then your classmates. No matter how you slice it, it will always be a biased opinion, however it is history nonetheless. From that, you yourself start to from your own opinions and ideas of what has happened in the world and whether you agree or disagree. In no way shape or form is learning how are world came to be the way it is learning to be stupid. People say that children make our future, and I think that it is very important that those children are knowledgeable in our passed. Learning to be stupid is not learning what has happened in the world and how our society became the way it is today. Learning history is only a way to become smarter and more educated in your passed. I think history is a very important subject in school starting in elementary school all the way up to university.
Section two: Indians and history
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has no come home in shame and tears” states Rupert Costo. Not knowing this to have happen on a personal level, I would still say that text books need to be more fair when writing our history about Indians. When one writes a textbook, they should think about the audience who is reading it: students in schools all over the world. On the other hand, authors of these textbooks would argue that they tell it how it they see it and don’t know any other way. One of these people would believe facts are facts and there is no way around them. Maybe it has something to do with the way Indians are portrayed and stereotyped in today’s society that contributes to the feelings they get from the textbooks. Costo’s statement may or may not be true, but I see both sides of the story.
-Olivia
Section One: The Teaching of History
American history is difficult and intricate but can also be enthralling and personal. It gives a sense of who we are but also a display of all that we’ve done. James Baldwin once said, “American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” I think Baldwin is telling us that our history is more versatile and in some ways more awe-inspiring than anything people say. I think he’s trying to say that what has formed us today is so vivid that it can’t quite be explained accurately with words. Our history is indeed often indescribable as some of the things we’ve done have been too “terrible” and others have been too “beautiful.” But all these things have led to the creation of our nation, and all that we regret and remember just makes us and the past more a part of America’s “longer, larger” and “various” history.
Section Two: Indians and History
When we first landed in the Americas and came across the Native Americans of the land, we committed possibly some of the harshest and cruel deeds committed in history. We did everything from using them to lying to them to stealing their land and killing them. As the enlightened Bartolome de Las Casas realized, “What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind and this trade [in American Indian slaves] as one of the most unjust, evil and cruel among them.” What Las Casas said is extremely accurate: doing the things we did to the Native Americans made us the essential evil. We may not have realized it then, but what we did was take away another free people’s wealth unfairly and then arrest them cruelly to do our work without pay. I think it was indeed an “unpardonable offense” and even today, when we want to repay the Native Americans, there isn’t anything we can do to completely reciprocate what we owe them: their ancestors and their ancestor’s freedom.
I agree with Anais Nin’s statement, “We see things not as they are but as we are.” To me this idea means that most people judge a situation or opinion on how it affects them rather then its true meaning. Any laws or ideas can be assessed in different ways by whom you are showing it to. For instance, European settlers probably agreed with laws involving inequality, while the Indians and Africans saw this exact same law as unjust. If you are a rich landowner, you will not see laws the same way as a poor indentured servant would. When a movement or idea doesn’t make a difference in our lives, we look at it as less important then what it is. Most people care for laws that will just directly help them, then for laws that will help the others in the community. So for these reasons I agree with Anais Nin’s quote.
I agree with Ruppert Costo’s quote, “There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears,” only to a certain extent. I feel that every Indian deep down is a little affected by what happen, but not to the point where they come home crying in anguish. What happened was terrible and unjust, but for all the Indians that are living in America today, they can all reek the benefit. They should know that there ancestors before them sacrificed their freedoms, to one day have there children be free in a better society.
Max Moray
Teaching of History and the History of Indians
Anais Nin said that people see history with a bias, rather than how it truly is: “We see things not as they are but as we are.” When learning about history, it is almost inevitable to not have an opinion on the things that are learned. Even when teachers teach their students history, both the book they are teaching out of and their teachings have opinions and biases. The only way to see things as they truly are is to learn strictly facts. But in my opinion, history would not have any true purpose or meaning if it did not have opinion. History is meant for you to interpret and form your own ideas of how that effected what is happening today.
Francis Jenning talks about his opinion on how the Europeans made up propaganda to justify conquering America and taking land from Indians: “The invaders also anticipated, correctly, that other Europeans would question the morality of their enterprise. They therefore [prepared] quantities of propaganda to overpower their own countrymen’s scruples. The propaganda gradually took standard form as an ideology with conventional assumptions and semantics. We live with it still.” Jennings is talking about how we used propaganda to justify the wrong acts we committed against the Indians so often that we started to believe it. I think that this is true and can be applied to many other things in our history as well. Although I do not know many specifics, I am positive that Americans have done things in history that are very shameful that were covered by propaganda. So much that we believe that it is okay to do these things. People seem to be too absorbed in what they believe and do not listen to what other countries or different people have to say on the topic.
Ben Brown
Period 3
As much as we strive, or claim to strive for complete neutrality and a lack of prejudice in our observation of the world around us, our view is often tinted by preconceived notions. Our own backgrounds undoubtedly influence our opinions to a point where we must challenge whether a neutral view is possible at all. As author Anaïs Nin so eloquently put it, “we see things not as they are but as we are.” It is impossible to formulate an opinion or view that is not significantly influenced by our own upbringing and background. Keeping this mind, however, for the betterment of others it is ideal that at the very least present facts as they are. It is possible for us to see facts as they are, but in the end the only thing of significance is our interpretation of the facts. It is at this point that we begin to insert our own identities into our views, and our vision is clouded by preconceptions and unintentional prejudice. While there is certainly not a serious issue with holding a personal opinion, we must be sure to consider that we may often unintentionally hold a bias towards one side or the other. It is not correct or just to state that one’s opinion is unbiased and unclouded by preconceptions, as this is virtually never the case. In the field of education, however, the utmost effort must be made to present the facts as they are, as unclouded by bias as possible. In this day and age, presentation of facts depends primarily on the facts that are presented, not on their validity. Information is so widely available that finding the accurate facts is not difficult—it is the choice of the facts presented that can unfairly mold the opinions of the impressionable. In the context of education, it is imperative that students have facts presented to them as they are, and that they are allowed the opportunity to form their own opinions despite the biases they may hold. While we may see things “as we are,” at the very least we understand what these things are at their core.
I didn't realize we were supposed to have posted these, but here it is:
When high school students think of their favorite subject, history rarely comes first. But why? Is history boring? Is it not taught well? Or do students just think it is pointless to learn?
Option three is the most accurate in this case. According to James Loewen, “High school students hate history. When they list their favorite subjects, history invariable comes in last. Students consider history the ‘most irrelevant’ of the twenty-one subjects commonly taught in high school.” I agree with certain parts of this concept. Other parts, however, I strongly disagree with. First, “High school students hate history.” I cannot argue with this point. If I were to poll everyone in my grade, history would not be most student’s favorite subject. Next, Loewen says that students consider history the “most irrelevant.” I strongly disagree with this point. Students understand the value of history. Everyday, I here the phrase “history repeats itself.” And this phrase is true. History does repeat. That is why it is vital for students to learn the mistakes and successes of the past in order to ensure a positive future.
So we’ve determined that students hate history, but not because it is the most irrelevant. Then why? I propose that students dislike history because of the format it is taught in. Most history classes are consumed by the memorization of facts and events. Instead, students should analyze history. History is full of intriguing and exciting events! Teachers shouldn’t focus on the day the Magna Carta was signed – they should focus on the lively events that make history so interesting.
Whenever anyone reads most US History textbooks, the focus is rarely on the Native Americans. And when it is, it is always (or nearly always) negative. Why isn’t Native American Beauty celebrated? Before I answer this question, let me explain that I think Native American culture should be taught in all high schools. But it should not be taught in a US History course. It should be taught in its own course. Yes, the Native Americans were fundamental to the United States, but the US truly originated from England. Unless the course is called “North American History,” Native American culture should be taught separately (although it absolutely should be taught). Rupert Costo’s quote “There is not one Indian in the whole country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears,” really touches me. This quote is the exact reason that Native American History needs to be its own full year course. It should be given just as much importance as US History.
Post a Comment