Precious Knowledge

In James Loewen’s book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, he talks about misconceptions in America school textbooks. Are these actually misconceptions though? What is the author saying about American history when details or whole event are untold? Lowen delves into these deep topics head on and gives examples as he goes. This book is not only intended for those who have read an American history book, but for those who have never heard the truth. Lowen wrote this book in order to uncover and educate; furthermore, this is important because events never told are now brought to light. Using detailed information concerning racism, governmental over watch, and the Vietnam War the author argues that the American history textbook has covered up things in

As stated in the subtitle, Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen is about what American history textbooks get wrong. As a rule people assume when reading textbooks they are getting raw facts, but that is not the case. Lies My Teacher Told Me really enlightens readers about how corrupt and biased textbook authors truly are. Loewen’s thesis is that textbook authors sugar coat and white wash history while trying to make America and it’s leaders look perfect on their pedestals. Loewen said “Textbooks have trouble acknowledging that anything might be wrong with white Americans or with the United States as a whole”(p.142). Throughout the book he defends this with many viable examples. Most students are told many romanticized myths about the “first

The basic mission of high school American history courses is to prepare students to do their jobs as Americans, but that mission has always been overshadowed by its “nationalistic genesis” (xvii) as a part of a “nationalist flag-waving campaign”(xvii). This causes history to be taught in a way to comfort European descendants so that whites are presented in the best light even if that means leaving out information or telling lies and “we cannot afford another generation of white Americans raised on complacent celebratory Eurocentric history”

In a New York Times article, Jennifer Harvey responds to the question, “Are We Raising Racists?” This article gives feedback on how we should raise the next generation but, the author of this article clarifies that she is not the perfect parent and merely gives suggestions for people to follow. Various themes in the article that related to what we learned in class. The first theme was one of the five fallacies of racism, ahistorical fallacy. The author introduces this theme when she revealed to her daughter that George Washington owned black slaves even though he was recognized as a great leader in history. The daughter questions why we celebrate a slave owner as a great man. Ahistorical fallacy is a biased view on history and omits significant

Mexican-American history is overwhelmed with rich culture and vast experiences. The struggles and challenges this diverse group of people possessed throughout time to bring about change prove important to the history of the world in many aspects and regards. Whether or not to teach Mexican-American history in classrooms throughout the United States is a hot topic of debate. However, to forget about an entire race and culture of a people is to sweep much larger issues under the rug such as racial divide. It is not only morally wrong to do such a thing, but also impractical to ignore an entire group of people. Doing so leaves room to breed uncomfortable ignorance throughout the population about Mexican-Americans.

White people in school are able to learn the true information in history books and teachings than a non-white—here, non-white students will not learn the true greatness of their people.

Those who are patriotic proud Americans, would love to believe that their government and criminal justice system is fair and equal in every way. Even when one learns about the government at a young age in public school, they are told from a whitewashed Eurocentric male point of view that those who make the laws and run the government (who are white men), do it for the greater good of the American people, that they honor fairness/equality, and fought for the freedom of all Americans. However, when one actually researches deeper to look at the entirety of the founding fathers lifestyles, and what the American government was built upon, racism comes into play and has yet to leave. Although this dark history is pushed aside in whitewashed history books, and is rarely discussed when talking about the founding fathers actions, it is still extremely important. Racism and chattel slavery has a unique history within America, since the after effects are still lingering in laws, and within people minds who have passed down such racist ideas to their children who carry the same rhetoric, racism has never died. Today we have a society as a whole that in order to please whiteness, all else deemed other/marked as nonwhite receives negative treatment. This perceived white superiority doesn’t exist without using blackness and anything else nonwhite as inferior. If it were scientifically true, that whites and anything light was indeed better/above blackness, it wouldn’t need to be taught if

Teaching students about their ethnicity or even others should be enforced by the Board of Education directors in high schools. American School Boards should mandate a curriculum that provides multicultural and ethnic studies programs for their students. This allows our American youth to have a wider perspective on human interaction and historical events that lead to world we currently live in. More specifically, in American history, it provides a foundational understanding of the numerous ethnic backgrounds that help shape this country into a pillar of freedom for the world to see. America was built by people from all over the globe and this historical fact is the primary reason our educational programs should include an understanding of all the cultures that played a role in its success.

One of the biggest mistakes that the white population makes in Mainstream American society regarding the way they view racism is the way in which they actually think or envision racism. Racism is thought to be events that have happened in history, but that don’t necessarily happen “anymore”. Many of American’s that are white typically think of significant occurrences such as slavery, segregation, wars between races, and internment camps. Racism is viewed very differently for the non-white population. Discussed in lecture by Professor Chernega, “non-whites think of racism in terms of something that happened to them yesterday, today, or even potential racism they will face in the future” (Chernega, 2017). This produces two very different views that two different populations experience simultaneously. There is a reason for this difference in understanding what discrimination means. It is no surprise that blacks have faced a much longer period of discrimination when compared to whites. Another idea that plays a large part in the reason for these differences of understandings is the way in which history is told. Many historic stories are told as if racism is something that only occurred in the past and doesn’t necessarily happen anymore. More often than not, racism is not addressed as a current issue when historic events are explained. Author Kohl discusses the issues regarding children’s literature

When I was eight years old, I had a firsthand experience of racism that to this day gives me a grotesque feeling. A drunk man came up to my family and proceeded to shout derogative words at us. He yelled at us to “Go back your country you terrorist”. He commenced to say other things, yet what caught my attention was that he thought that we were Muslims. Another encounter with this man lead to him telling his son that “we are not of his kind and he should not play with us”. When we are children a majority of us are taught to respect other races and cultures. In school, we are taught that diversity is a superb thing that makes us cultured. Children have a naïve nature that protects them from all the animosity set by our society. We are all granted the same privilege in this country, nevertheless there are still people that are blinded by ignorance. The only way to combat ignorance of supremacy is to educate children about the past, and have diverse school settings.

Resistance to change. Over the course of their careers, teachers encounter many iterations of educational change. In recent years, standards-based reform movements have led to an increase in the number of change initiatives faced by teachers and schools, while at the same time, the movement toward standards-based accountability systems has increased the pressure on teachers to demonstrate compliance with these reforms (Hargreaves, 1994). The result has been that many teachers are overwhelmed by the constant upheaval created by wave after wave of simultaneous initiatives for change. It is unsurprising, therefore, that teachers associate educational change with externally-mandated initiatives over which they have no control, and that teachers’

I have always advocated for social equality and have been aware of the prevalence of racism. However, my forethought now seems insignificant compared to the degree of racism that James W. Loewen suggests is indoctrinating the minds of America’s youth. Loewen takes readers on an enlightening journey through his book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. The book intends to expose the false claims and lack of information in standard American high school history textbooks. He aims to correct the stigma behind how and why American history is so misrepresented and why it is important to represent history accurately and not limitedly. He proposes a few ways in which we can reform the teaching of history as well. Throughout the book, he largely focuses on the shortcomings or outright fallacies of historical textbooks in regards to racism, government, colonialism, and patriotism. Loewen serves this book to bring about institutional change where he feels that it is needed and to stress the importance of factual historical information and realpolitik. He displays vast amounts of logical and thoroughly descriptive anecdotes and facts, however, the scrambled organization of his topics, and his clear devotion and passion for the theme of social justice and anti-racism present the problem of bombardment. Furthermore, he does not appeal to his suggested audience in an adequate rhetorical manner that is consistent with his declared purpose of the

What is race and ethnicity? Can racial conflicts be eliminated by education? Can there be a time where one’s colour or background did not matter? Every modern day society faces racial conflicts. Humans are equal, whether they are white or black, etc. Hatred among different racial groups is common in out modern day society. Ignorance of the equality of every human causes racism. Humans need laws to follow and the lack of these laws cause conflict between humans. Erin Gruwell was optimistic about teaching a class of so many different backgrounds but it was much more challenging to get through to such angry teenagers. Racial conflicts in America include gang violence, and even murder. The Freedom Writers movie gives a clear description of the

Through my research into the reform of education, I have had my eyes open to some of the most terrifying and most positive potential change that my future may hold. With my upbringing, I was taught in some of the best schools in St. Tammany Parish. The teachers were always there for you and your needs, the facilities were kept clean and safe, and the neighborhood I grew up in was actually pretty good. I have seen the school system through the eyes of a student, but now I am beginning to look at it as a future educator. Michelle Rhee is the Chancellor for Washington’s District of Columbia, and her task was to turn the school system on its head to improve student achievement. She has several years experience in dealing with the school system in its entirety, many do not believe in her methods. One person that is completely against her is Diane Ravitch, a woman who has served as the United States Assistant Secretary of Education in her past, and is currently working as a research professor at New York University 's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Ravitch has also been working as a historian of education and an educational policy analyst. I believe it is safe to say that she knows a thing or two about education in our country. The main question is, where do we begin to reform our poorly organized school system and how do teacher’s statuses play a role in the middle?

There is a major disconnect occurring between teachers and their students in history classrooms nationwide. The main themes of United States history like freedom and liberty are individual to each person as well as each culture and ethnicity. This is an issue in the classroom because 92% of teachers are white while 80% are female. These predominantly white, female educators are attempting to teach a subject that is largely malleable among cultural and ethnic groups to a student population that is largely diverse. With the minority student population expected to increase by 30% within the next decade, it is imperative for secondary educational history teachers to understand the implications of teaching history to a diverse student