Week 2

Reading the introduction of Teaching What Really Happened made me think of this political cartoon:

Source

History courses have been altered to show America in the best light possible and that we are the best country in the whole world. It leaves pieces of history out of the books in order to create a "clean image" of America. I never realized this growing up. Once I got to college, my history professors began to create a clearer image for me of what American history truly is. In the Fall 2017 semester, I took the Art in Elementary Schools course. Around Thanksgiving, we read the chapter in Lies My Teacher Told Me about the real story of Thanksgiving. That was the first time I ever heard of the true Thanksgiving story and this book by James W. Loewen. I have been meaning to read this book ever since that semester to read about the other hidden truths in history. It opened my eyes to the lies and omitted truths that our history books have been feeding us throughout grade school. I want to tell my students the truth about the country they live in, but I believe this is a fine line to walk because of the repercussions that can come from student's parents or the dark truths that may be hard to talk about with young students. However, I believe it is important because of the point that is made in A Brief History of Lawns. Knowing history doesn't exactly stop it from repeating, but it gives you the choice to "free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies" (source). Knowing about the truths of the past gives you the power to make decisions for yourself in the future, to continue to conform or to become a trailblazer.