{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"53526830","dateCreated":"1335709841","smartDate":"Apr 29, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/53526830"},"dateDigested":1532760406,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Kid's Guide to Social Action","description":"This thread is for all of the prompts regarding The Kid's Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems<\/em> you choose - and turn creative thinking into positive action<\/em>. Thank you Ayaka for providing the scans! I am going to start this off by simply asking out of the included social actions, which action do you find is most productive\/useful to teach to children? In what ways can these skills be transferred? Excluding our Brooklyn topics, what topic\/theme would the unit to have to incorporate that action?","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"53585960","body":"I feel that letter writing and speeches are important social actions that are productive and useful. These skills can be transferred in multiple ways. Letter writing requires students to write in a cohesive, clear way. It also requires students to write persuasively and being able to back up their stance with evidence. Speeches are also important because it requires public speaking skills that middle school, high school, college, and even certain careers will be required of students. Being able to articulate your thoughts in a way that moves people to do something is a skill that will nurture a potential leader.","dateCreated":"1335823422","smartDate":"Apr 30, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"ahoriuchi05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ahoriuchi05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46900112","dateCreated":"1322080451","smartDate":"Nov 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ahoriuchi05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ahoriuchi05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46900112"},"dateDigested":1532760406,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Week 4: Chapter 3 & Curriculum Design Ideas","description":"Chapter 3
\nI think all of us have been taught that the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive and in an expression of thanks, the first Thanksgiving came to be.
\n
\nAfter reading this chapter, I had to adjust most of my knowledge that I had surrounding Native Americans and Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. I knew that the Europeans transmitted disease to the Native Americans and that it resulted in the deaths of many Native Americans. But, I didn't know there was multiple epidemics and that Native American Society suffered to devastation because of it. I think there definitely is a teaching point about the effects of the Europeans and Native Americans meeting.
\n
\nI\u2019m going to list things I think students should know about each of the topics.
\nChristopher Columbus- There needs to be major adjustment into the idea about Christopher Columbus being a hero. What were the effects of him and his men coming to America? We could even talk about if herofication is acceptable in history or not. Do we need heroes in history?
\n
\nThanksgiving- As for Thanksgiving, we need to make sure students think that the meeting between Europeans and Native Americans wasn\u2019t all happy happy. We need to make sure that students understand the negative things that happened with the epidemics.
\n
\nRed Eyes- From this chapter I feel that it is important for students to know that there may be a lot of things in your own country\u2019s history that you don\u2019t don\u2019t agree with or even feel anger towards. We can discuss about why it\u2019s necessary for us to accept the truths and how does this process contribute to our learning history.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"47061884","body":"Chapter 2: 1493
\nI think the main points children usually learn about Columbus should be addressed such as how Christopher Columbus was the first explorer to discover America and how he was the one to figure out that the Earth was not flat. These essential points that I have learned when I was a child myself is all false. There were many explorers of different cultures and races that landed in America before Columbus did. Moreover, only a few people believed in 1492 that the Earth was flat. Furthermore, students should learn about the effects of Columbus such as how the Native Americans were mistreated and forced into slavery. These important events in history should be taught and not hidden even if it is a harder topic to cover with young children especially since everything Columbus had done created a "racial underclass." As a multicultural teacher, we should not only teach the truth but we need to explore and examine the truth. Why did textbooks make up false information? Why did textbooks want to praise Columbus? What are the benefits? Children should research and explore these realms on their own as well but the teacher must act as a facilitator.
\n
\nChapter 3: The Truth About the First Thanksgiving
\nOne point I noticed that was repeatedly mentioned was how the diseases and plagues were an essential tool for the Europeans to dominate America. Also, how the Natives reacted to the plagues also explained how their population was getting weaker ("the Cherokee despaired so much that they lost confidence in their gods and the priests destroyed the sacred objects of the tribe... many American Indians surrendered to alcohol, converted to Christianity or simply killed themselves," (p. 76). I thought it was especially important to point out to students the differences between the real Thanksgiving and the "First Thanksgiving" we're all used to hearing and celebrating about. The real Thanksgiving consisted of the English taking Indian prisoners and forcing them to teach colonists how to farm. In 1623, the English used chemical warfare in the colonies when negoitating a treaty with tribes in which the English offered a toast "symbolizing eternal friendship," whereupon two hundred Indians dropped dead of poison. Moreover, the early Virginians engaged in even cannibalism in which they were starving and digging up Native corpses to eat or renting themselves out to American Indian families as servants. Students should read about the real accounts of how the English took over Native American houses so they know the reality of what happened during that time. There was no friendly feast nor was there even a feast to be shared.
\n
\nChapter 4: Red Eyes
\nAs a teacher I would have my students learn about the history of the Native Americans through "red eyes" instead of "white eyes." I would first find a textbook that I think is suitable and accurate. Then I would also have the students explore the history of Native Americans with red eyes by researching more about them on the Web and in the library. I would of course arm them with ideas about what to look for and how to actually assess reputed new information and findings. It would be interesting for the class to have a debate that represented the sides of textbook authors and publishers and advocates for Native Americans. Both sides would need to research and find information that support their beliefs. For instance, the advocates for Native Americans would fight for more accurate accounts of Native American history and for the mistreatment of Native Americans to be included into textbooks while the textbook authors\/publishers would argue the negatives of publishing such information to the public. This explores not only accurate factual information of the Native Americans but the children would understand the deep perspective of authors\/publishers of textbooks and what that actually represents and means.","dateCreated":"1322481575","smartDate":"Nov 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"chrissiechua","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/chrissiechua","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47088462","body":"On terms of Columbus, I absolutely agree with my groupmates that Columbus must be debunked as a hero. We should discuss all of the myths surrounding him and that time period. Similarly, the children need to acquire an analytical lens to look through children's books and critique the misinformation and misrepresentation of indigenous people. Crissie put it really well that we need to ask difficult questions including why might textbooks and authors cloud the reality of what happened. Part of this process will be that we present primary documents and do share the cruel acts of chopping off hands, killing people of all ages, releasing dogs, forcing natives into slavery and digging gold. Despite knowing the truth by documentation, what purpose might these perfect picture stories serve? Is this justified? What can we do against this?
\nI also agree that children should do some researching on their own including the following topics:
\ndiseases (address when these European diseases might have arrived to America; how deadly they actually were; cases when biological warefare was used)
\nwars between Native Americans and colonists
\nfood and animal trades for both sides
\nenslavement of Native Americans and Africans
\n
\nWe could schedule a field trip to the Museum of American Indian.
\n
\nAround this time, Thanksgiving must be discussed and presented through both Native American point of view and European point of view. How did the deaths of so many Native people benefit colonists? How were colonialists' lives possible from Native American help? We should discussion the notion of syncretism and how both cultures adapted to the situation.
\nSimultaneously, I think we should present maps of different time periods to show how natives were pushed back in every direction from Canada, Virginia, Florida, New England, and Mexico to show a better picture of the invasion by imperialism.
\nIt is also beneficial that as teachers we show acts of Native American resistance and their alliances to certain European sides including the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. We must also point out how the term "savage" originated from portrayls in Cowboy media. Then, we lead into how many Native American ideas gave birth to philosophies that many nations followed today including fraternity, liberty and equality. We can strengthen this argument by highlighting historical examples when the theme of Native Americans are used including the Eagle holding a bundle of arrows, political cartoons, and Boston Tea Party. To heighten student's anger, we could show negative images of Native Americans as evil or eurocentric state flags (Connecticut).
\nIf we are to continue this curriculum, the children should continue to follow the push of Native Americans to the west and the trail of tears till we eventually arrive to present day times. We should bring up the existence of the National Day of Mourning and the counter-parade in Plymouth. With this, we should push for what students should do with the skills they practiced and knowledge acquired. How might you contribute to accurate portrayals of history and address how the media\/textbooks might also give wrong information on other topics.","dateCreated":"1322505143","smartDate":"Nov 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47140562","body":"Chapter 3 was absolutely heartbreaking in my opinion. The picture on 75 along with its description particularly got it me. It was so graphic and sounded so amazingly painful. I definitely would like to bring the idea of disease, slavery, and a necessary alliance between some of the Indians and the colonists as ways in which the Native American population slowly decreased. This provided ample opportunity for colonists to take over their land. It also provides an interesting balance between ways colonists and explorers both intentionally and unintentionally brought the Indians to their demise.
\n
\nAyaka also brought up an interesting quote about religion. I am not sure it is something I would bring up in class but I do think that idea of how the emotional state of a people as a whole can affect their survival is a very interesting and important idea. I think that is something that place a large effect in a lot of historical events and how certain people fair into the future. Public sentiment as well as personal sentiment is a very powerful force. We know this to be very much true of public sentiment. That is was often times results in injustices continuing for so long; the fact that the public accepts it as justifiable based on their bias or even contempt for a certain people. When the persons themselves start believing that kind of negativity the drive to fight back or to even feel worthy of better conditions is diminished. This connects in so many ways to how we treat others and how we along other to make us feel about ourselves. This would be interesting to discuss in perhaps an older class, maybe 6th grade.","dateCreated":"1322559446","smartDate":"Nov 29, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"klb409","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/klb409","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46699924","dateCreated":"1321831457","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ahoriuchi05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ahoriuchi05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46699924"},"dateDigested":1532760406,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Week 3: Chapter 4 & 7","description":"Chapter 4: Red Eyes
\n
\nThe last paragraph in "Red Eyes" made a big impression on me. Loewen emphasizes the fact that we shouldn't forget the harm done but it's important to understand and learn so that we don't make the same mistake again. He then adds, "We must temper our national pride with critical self-knowledge" (134). "Tempering national pride", I feel, is extremely hard for countries. For example, in recent years, because of pride, Japan has not been able to be honest in their textbooks about what had happened when Japan took over parts of China. China and Japan has clashed over this topic for many years. As a Japanese person myself, I feel ashamed because history is what it is. It's really shameful that they are trying to hide the truth because of their national pride. Students in Japan need to know the truth about their country's history and I feel that it is crucial for them to understand the harm done. Of course, I believe the anger and the moving on needs to happen, but Japan as a country needs to accept the fact that what they did was wrong back then and that they need to acknowledge their mistake and seek mutual understanding. Sorry I went off on a tangent, but this reading made me think about this.
\n
\nChapter 7: Land of Opportunity
\n
\n"Land of Opportunity" was an eye-opener for me and I had to agree with a lot of the points Loewen made. It was interesting that most history textbooks seem to ignore the topic of social class today. It never really occurred to me that teachers may discuss social class in the past but not social class in the present. This again relates to the fact that teachers addressing long ago wars and being reluctant to talk about the recent past.
\n
\nIt also struck me was the part that stated that "social science research shows that teachers are often surprised and even distressed when poor children excel" (207). Distressed? This blew my mind. How can teachers be distressed when students do well? It was extremely mind boggling for me. However, this made me think a lot about what assumptions and expectation we make or set about our students. Do we assume that they can't do well in school because of their social class, financial troubles, or background?
\n
\n-Ayaka","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46744108","body":"Sooo I would first like to say that I had a whole page written here before the computer went crazy and erased it all lol. Anyways, I love the title for chapter 4 and what it stands for. Loewen states that "It is time for textbooks too send white children home, if not with red eyes, at least with though-provoking questions." In fact, as I was reading I was amazed that I hadn't caught some of the quite obvious discrepancies in the way Indians and colonists were presented. Even the pictures that showed the Indians half naked and the colonists fully clothed. As Loewen brought out, if that was the case and depending on the weather, either the colonist was really hot or the Indians were really cold. Once again, Loewen brings out throughout the chapter the effect that pictures and the way each side is depicted has on the reading. It is interesting that so consistently we find that history textbooks pride themselves on using historical artwork. The problem with this artwork is that it represents the biases of the time period. In order to show a more accurate representation of what really happened, they would need to start considering creating new artwork that represented events based on what we now know.
\n
\nFor my concentration I am taking another class called Constitutions and Communities of Color. We take a look at a lot of court cases and how it showed the sentiment of the public toward a particular group of people as well as how our own laws, court cases that hold precedent, and the Constitution itself has been used on both sides of the arguments regarding the rights of minorities. Chapter 7 is exactly in line with a lot of what we have been discussing. I brought up this book during our most recent discussion of the Japanese interment and it's effects on the generations that followed. The idea presented by Loewen that the way we retell history to our children plays a large effect on the way they rationalize the lives that their parents lead as well as the lives that they will lead is very valid. We recently watched a video in which the children and grandchildren of those who were interned spoke of the fact that the topic was never discussed because of shame and it was most definitely not properly represented in school. They could not understand why their talened parents could so often not get the jobs they deserved or why they pushed their children in certain ways. Once this was finally brought out in the open many of the children and grandchildren began to connect more deeply to their parents and their history. They even took action to try and set matters straight with regard to two court cases that still help precedent which held that the internment was not a violation of the constitution rights of Japanese citizens. We can see the positive effects making children aware of their history and how that history effects where they and their family are now.","dateCreated":"1321894895","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"klb409","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/klb409","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47022698","body":"In chapter 4 "Red Eyes," I really loved the quote in the beginning of the chapter that was said by Thomas Bailey ("Old myths never die--- they just become embedded in the textbooks" ) because it basically describes the whole chapter. When reading this chapter I realized how textbooks have been teaching us the Native Americans through "white eyes" instead of red eyes. The perspectives of the Native Americans were never explained or described. There were so many different kinds of information about the Native Americans that were left out or warped that most people have an inaccurate view of Native Americans and their influence on American history. Textbooks have all taught us that Native Americans were uneducated, uncultivated, ignorant, and primitive which was the total opposite of the Europeans. We have always grown up with these images of Native Americans and these images are being constantly supported with novels, picture books, movies and even television shows. Because they are so embedded in our American culture, no one questions these stereotypes. If I never read this chapter, I would have never known how similar the Native Americans were compared to Europeans.
\n
\nFor example, some Native American nations became ethnic melting pots where whites, blacks and other Indians lived together. In addition, tribes also became more male-dominated, in imitation of Europeans or because of the expanded importance of war skills in their cultures.
\n
\nAlso, the struggles Native Americans went through were rarely mentioned. For instance, the Native American slavery were rarely mentioned. Instead, the textbooks just say, "A few Indians were enslaved." Moreover, the idea that whites "civilized" the "roaming" Indians is false since the whites de-agriculturized the Native Americans making them abandon their corn fields and their villages. The weight of what happened to the Native Americans during these times were rarely mentioned or the information was misconstrued.
\n
\nIt was also interesting to read about how the idea of white supremacy and domination was supported through the Native Americans in which they actually called white man, "waischu" which meant "one who has everything good."","dateCreated":"1322405361","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"chrissiechua","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/chrissiechua","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47023598","body":""Publishers or those who influence them have evidently concluded that what the American society needs to stay strong is citizens who assent to its social structure and economic system without thought. As a consequence, today's textbooks defend our economic system mindlessly, with insupportable pieties about its unique lack of stratification; thus, they produce alumni of American history courses unable to criticize or defend our system of social stratification knowledgeably," (p. 217)
\n
\nThe quote above describes the whole chapter in two sentences and this chapter was really important for teachers to understand. This chapter shows how social class is never taught in schools so generations of students can remain clueless and indifferent about the numerous of inequalities the poor and working class are facing everyday. I am one of those students that never questioned why the poor is so poor. I never questioned about why the affluent was so rich. I just thought they were lucky or that they had to work really hard to get their wealth. However, this chapter opened my eyes of the extreme influence this system of belief has. Because people act on these beliefs (such as the poor deserve to beg because they're too lazy to find a job or the rich has the life they have because of how hard they worked in college), the system is being supported. Poor children will be less motivated to do well in school because they think that they're naturally "stupid." These children will be forever stuck in their unfortunate futures because they believe that it's predestined. Also, it was described that even teachers are surprised when poor children excel in the class. Teachers should always support achievement for every type of student and that these predispositioned factors should be kept outside the classroom and never supported.","dateCreated":"1322407638","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"chrissiechua","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/chrissiechua","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47063854","body":"Chapter 7
\n The Land of Opportunity didn\u2019t tell me much more than what I know already. It is nice though to read the progression of stratification in America\u2019s history. My favorite line is \u201csocial class determines how people think about social class\u201d (p209). As a person in a low class, I am aware of the almost impossible lengths necessary to move up a social class. I specifically remember a conversation with a friend in which I argued that despite how hard someone worked, it rarely guarantees financial success. The social system confines everyone to limits no matter how hard this is done. Only a few cases exist of individuals that acquired a lot of wealth from innovative ideas - unfortunately, textbooks will begin to post their rags to riches stories in that last chapter.
\n
\nComing from NYC public education, most of my teachers are democrats and would share their position without actually stating the reasons why just as Loewen suggested. Similarly, the differences between the political parties were not clear- this could be because our notions of democrats and republicans switched from the 19th century to the 20th century. It could also be distorted by the individualized viewpoints of today\u2019s politicians some of which are not the typical view of their represented party. I believe that discussion of the goals of political parties offer a guide into meaningful discussions about social class. What happens when Congress passes a law for a tax cut for the rich (which is what happened under Reagen and Bush)? Examine what policies do today\u2019s political leaders hold or those of the runners for the next presidency?
\n
\nOn another note, I really love KayCee\u2019s response: \u201cthe way we retell history to our children plays a large effect on the way they rationalize the lives that their parents lead as well as the lives that they will lead is very valid.\u201d This really hit the nail on its head for both chapters. If students of poor backgrounds perceive that it is their fault for all their poverty, then they will put themselves at a lower self-confidence and blame themselves or their family for limitations that stem from social and institutional oppression. In reference to Chapter 4, a more secular means of informing children of Native Americans and the tension between them and European colonists strengthen their minds to think of various meanings and the complexity of historical events. As Chrissie stated, teachers should teach America\u2019s history with Red Eyes such that students can grasp a better understanding of Native American resistance and genocide. This is not to say that children shouldn\u2019t simultaneously get the historical perspective from the European side. Only with multiple perspectives can we get a better picture of what happened and why the result is what it is.
\n
\n
\nChapter 4
\n
\nWe often overlook how Native Americans did survive with the European invaders. For example, some Native Americans became translators for the various European languages and American Indian languages. They also traded for tools and weapons, worked in conjunction with Whites and Africans, and fought many wars with colonists. Even the very notion of liberty, fraternity and equality from famous philosophers were influenced from beliefs of Native Americans; yet they never receive any recognition for this contribution. All of this serves as a great example of how syncretism (the combining of various beliefs) occurs rather than cultural imperialism (the domination of one culture). I am also really thankful for learning the term syncretism as a person who belongs in two cultures that differ from each other.
\n
\nAs I read about White individuals who chose to live a Native American lifestyle, I remembered reading an essay from Writing the Essay course about how white children were kidnapped and raised with Native Americans. Often, even upon forceful unification of their group of origin, these individuals would feel such strong connection to the culture of their upbringing. Adding to this is Loewen\u2019s argument that many Whites joined the indigenous people, which demonstrates this immeasurable value of Native American culture.","dateCreated":"1322484976","smartDate":"Nov 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46277148","dateCreated":"1321306562","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ahoriuchi05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ahoriuchi05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46277148"},"dateDigested":1532760406,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Forgotten Wars & Disappearance of Recent Past","description":"I felt like I was guilty of not having thorough knowledge about the recent past. I do like watching the news, looking into current events here and there but asked about the recent wars for example: korean war, vietnam war, persian gulf war, or the happenings after 9\/11, I probably wouldn't be able to give a clear, full explanation.
\n
\nIt was interesting that Loewen noted how textbooks are hesitant to cover the recent past than historical events of long ago. This realization is interesting because when something bad or sad happen in our lives, don't we find it easier to talk about it when it happened long ago and find it harder to talk about it when it had just happened?
\n
\nWhat stuck me the most is what Loewen said on page 279 in Chapter 10. She states, "Its theft by textbooks and teachers is the most wicked crime schools perpetrate on high school students, depriving them of perspective about the issues that most affect them...Leaving out the recent past ensures that students will take away little from their history courses that they can apply to the world."
\n
\nStudents being able to apply what they learn and connect to our world today is key to teaching history in an effective, appropriate way.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46738588","body":"I completely agree with your statement that you feel "guilty of not having thorough knowledge of the recent past." Every so often Loewen will make a comment along the lines of 'It is amazing that our students now do not know such important terminology as... Or facts like... that were so important during this event' and all I can think to myself is wow, I have no idea what that is either. The truth is, we are as much as product of the poor history education Loewen argues against as the students we teach today are.
\n
\nI think that I always viewed poor history education as the misrepresentation of what really happened in the past, showing only one side of the story instead of both. While this is most definitely true, reading about the Vietnam war and how it is represented in History textbooks made me realize that more often than not it is a matter of not including certain parts of history at all. I don't remember much about the Vietnam war other than what I saw in that movie with Robin Williams (I believe it was called "Good morning Vietnam"). I definitely remember learning about a lot of seemingly unimportant wars, as Loewen points out.
\n
\nReading into chapter 10 we are presented with a second reason why history is sometimes excluded. Asides from wanting to exclude any history that may put the US in bad light, we are also provided with the argument that the writers of these textbooks want their presentation of the past to look incontestable. By excluding recent history or writing very little about it they avoid the risk of those who have lived through it finding fault or being able to provide a different perspective. It is a lame excuse and seems to only be a mean through which to feed their egos as history gods instead of feeding the minds of children.
\n
\nAnother important point that the chapters bring up is the idea of censorship. At what point is certain information too descriptive or a picture too explicit? Do children need to see a burning man, a naked girl running down a street, or find out that perhaps the stories they heard from their grandfather were not always fact? I don't know if I am prepared to really answer that question. Loewen mentions that one of the problems with teaching the recent past is that parents can take issue with what is taught much more easily. And when you are teaching something that seems unpatriotic you are bound to face even more opposition. In reading this book I think I am trying to take away what my students absolutely need to know that is not covered in textbooks and the best way to present that information.
\n
\nIdea of censorship","dateCreated":"1321890790","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"klb409","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/klb409","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46760640","body":" I really love Loewen\u2019s comments about History textbooks because I had to endure them for all of my Social Studies classes. I still recall how I had to stay up to midnight in 5th grade trying to finish my history homework and working with a textbook weighing roughly seven pounds. In Junior year of high school, I read The Americans from end to end and simply complied with the massive information thrown at me. I still recall thinking fondly of Woodrow Wilson for his presidency and thinking about how the 9\/11 incident summed up what happened very well. But I didn\u2019t learn a thing about 9\/11 and none of the information acquired really stuck with me. At the time I didn\u2019t feel any anger from probably being brainwashed to be a nationalist and conform. This is completely different now that I have read Loewen\u2019s thoughts.
\n I am so shocked and angry that I have been denied an accurate presentation of history and wasted those years of high school to reading mindlessly without ever being challenged to why the course of history happened. History happens to be the subject I dislike the most because it was very disengaging and viewed as omnipotent. Textbooks portrayed the USA to be the \u2018good guy\u2019 all the time and that all of our wars are justified and victorious. Inevitably, we are being brainwashed to be ethnocentric individuals that follow our nation without judgement or criticism.
\n
\nChapter 10 was incredibly an outrage for me to learn all of the following facts\/ summary of the events:
\n- To prevent communism in Afghanistan, the United States gave military advisors and anticraft missiles to fundamentalists and helped Saddam Hussein gain power over Gen. Qassem (p269).
\n-Under President Reagan, US gave military equipment and chemical weapons to Hussein and aided Iraq\u2019s war with Iran.
\n- While US leaders put on a front of spreading democracy, our history (especially against communism) demonstrates our support of many dictatorships.
\n-Clues of the hijacking prior to 9\/11
\nAround June 2001, German agents warned CIA of the potential of terrorists using commercial airplanes to attack America. FBI agents also suspected people of training to fly commerical planes in US flying schools. President George W. Bush received intel of how bin Laden might attack (p270).
\n-The 9\/11 Commission began from advocacy from families of the victims.
\n-After 9\/11, the Taliban offered to give bin Laden to a third nation.
\n- Many companies had connections with Bush and Cheney and gained a lot of money from Iraqi oil in the war.
\n-After the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi had a very weak military including a no fly zone since 1991. UN investigators had confirmed (or was about to do so in a month) that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction since their nuclear weapons were dismantled.
\n-Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are not on the same team. Hussein is the dictator of Iraq and bin Laden is a leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
\n
\nChapter 9 about the Vietnam war brought me to tears because of the dramatic pictures shown in the book. I do remember seeing the picture of the burning monk and the girl running naked from the napalm. These are probably impossible to show to young children. While overcome with emotions, I do agree that I would have a lot of trouble teaching this material. I must do a lot of research first and then consider what essential understanding I want to convey.","dateCreated":"1321907490","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46766066","body":"I agree with you Colleen, when I was reading chapter 10 I was seriously getting angry at the amount of information that were hidden from us.
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\nWhy don't I know that The U.S. helped Saddam Hussein seize power in the first place? Why don't I know about how the U.S. suported Hussein when he invaded Iran? How about how President Reagan purposely removed Iraq from the list of known terrorist countries so we could supply Hussein with supplies and equipment?
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\nWhy are students and people hidden from the truth? These history books purposely hid parts of history so we can't use history to understand what happens today. We are like naive and dumb fools that just nod our heads along at what's happening to the World. We are purposely blinded from our history with Iraq so the injustifiable acts U.S. commits to would be seen as justified. We never get to see the whole picture, we only get to see the tiny bit and pieces. We have so little clues as to what happened that we're naturally made to not care or to question.
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\nI truly believe that textbooks don't include the truth about the past because, "readers bring it to their own knowledge and understanding, so they may not agree with what is written. Therefore, the less said about the recent past, the better," (p.260).
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\nIt was astonishing to read how on average, textbooks give forty seven pages to the 1930s, forty four pages to the 1940s, and fewer than thirty five pages to each later decade. The most important and turbulent decade (1960s) have less than thirty five pages?! This decade is the one that includes the cicil rights movement, the Vietnam War, etc. These events are not only important for children to learn more about but they're important for children to connect to. These textbooks don't want the students to be able to ask, "why" questions because it might "taint" the U.S.'s reputation.
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\nI think as future teachers, we need to ask about the "why" question. Students should ask themselves about the consequences of the attacks of September 11th, the response of Americans and the government and the causes of the attacks.
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\nIn chapter 9, "See No Evil," I thought it was especially important for teachers to simply provide many different kinds of photographs that were taken of the Vietnam War or other was in general because I believe that pictures speak louder than words. found it ridiculous how textbooks rarely include these photos and instead they include pictures of President Johnson visiting the American base at Cam Ranh Bay. With the pictures of the Buddhist monk and the little girl running naked down highway I, the students would be able to feel the intensity and significance of knowing the war. IThe emotions that are pressed with these pictures will drive their desire to learn more.","dateCreated":"1321911767","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"chrissiechua","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/chrissiechua","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46220102","dateCreated":"1321241120","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ahoriuchi05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ahoriuchi05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46220102"},"dateDigested":1532760406,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Columbus","description":"I'm not sure about the specific historical information I would want to share with students but I do want to address something that made a big impression on me. On page 47, Loewen shows how textbooks glorify Christopher Columbus and how they try to make readers think of this grand hero with all the dramatic details that make him "heroic". The italicized part shows what we can believe to be true but all the rest of the information, we have no evidence of validity. This was really surprising for me because there is a lot of information that cushion the truth.
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\nTo rephrase the question, what are the benefits of teaching children that Christopher Columbus was a hero? Not much. We can shield them from knowing an inconvenient truth, a person who we all thought was this great discoverer of new worlds turned out to be not such a good person. I believe teaching history is teaching the truth. There really is no need to make the truth hazy. Teachers and students both need to come to a realization that not all events in the past are favorable and we can't change what has already happened.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46276426","body":"There are many historical information I've learned from this chapter about regarding Columbus that I would definitely incorporate into teaching especially the most known and false facts about what happened during Columbus' journey. For instance, ever since I was young, I learned that Columbus was the first explorer to discover America and that he also discovered that the Earth was round. On page 33, it says specifically that the textbooks' first mistake is to underplay previous explorers that reached Americas many times before 1492. Moreover on page 49-51, it talks about how actually "a few people on both sides of the Atlantic believed in 1492 that the world was flat," (p. 49). I mean how ridiculous is it to teach our students something that is completely made up?
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\nWhen reading about the herofication of Columbus, I couldn't help but feel passionate about teaching my future students the truth about what happened in 1492 when Columbus "discovered" America. It is definitely unjust that textbooks purposely creates a fictional background and story about Columbus to build a good image for themselves ("Clearly textbooks are not about teaching the history of Columbus. Their enterprises seems to be Building Character. They therefore treat Columbus as an origin myth: He was good and so are we," (p. 60). What about the mass suicides that took place due to the unfair living conditions and demands set by Columbus? What about the inhumane punishment received by the Native Americans whenever they disobeyed Columbus' orders? What about the fact that Columbus forced hundreds of thousands of Natives to mine gold for them? As future teachers, we need to reveal the truth to our students about Columbus instead of continuing to celebrate Columbus as a hero.","dateCreated":"1321305942","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"chrissiechua","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/chrissiechua","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46277354","body":"This is my comment on Ayaka's post.
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\nI really agree with you on how surprising it is that there is so much cushioning of the truth around Columbus (and other American heroes). I wonder if what you mean by teaching the truth is more like presenting multiple lenses so that we can see accomplishments simultaneous with criticisms of these iconic Americans. Frankly, my belief is that children (and I do mean the young ones) need to hold onto some idea of a hero or an inspiring individual who overcame challenges, but to not simply see that this individual is a perfect being. From family development, children generally hold their own parents as heroes until pre-adolescence when parents do come to a more realistic light. Personally, I can lecture on a lot of topics and depend on repetition to get students to acquire information, but this doesn't build upon what will stick with students nor equip them with skills on seeing multiple perspectives.
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\n-Colleen","dateCreated":"1321306718","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46397630","body":"I greatly agree with my peers that we need to present the martyrs of American history in their actual beliefs such that the children learn their contributions and controversial beliefs. In this way, children realize that no individual or system is perfect, and to not to strive or expect perfection. While they do learn to be more accepting of people\u2019s mistakes, it is important to look into alternatives and better courses of action. When teachers present Columbus as a hero, the children become used to just assuming whatever material is presented without ever questioning. They miss a chance to practice being critical thinkers and viewing something in multiple perspectives.
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\nTo really present Columbus\u2019s injustices, we need to use a curriculum unit that leads to correcting the misrepresentation of Columbus\u2019s \u201cdiscovery\u201d of America. I bet the idea of teaching Columbus through this huge fabrication stems on giving an explanation that is kid-friendly and stirs nationalism. However, this does not excuse teachers to use instruction that blatantly lies to children. Information that I would use to teach Columbus include:
\n- Many people already believed that the Earth was spherical (50)
\n-The journey took one month and was fairly smooth sailing in weather and obedience (52)
\n-Columbus\u2019s Journal to show his depictions of the indigenous people and that he knew he wasn\u2019t in Asia (51)
\n-Upon Columbus\u2019s order to spread terror, Columbus\u2019s men performed cruel acts including whipping, releasing dogs, and chopping off hands if the person did not gather the amount of gold required. (I will mention raping depending on the maturity of the class)
\n-Columbus had a few voyages to the Americas. In his first voyage, he brought 10-25 Tainos who all died except eight (54) and the kidnapping of 500 Native Americans in the second voyage.
\n-Actions of Native American rebellion including the 39 men of Columbus\u2019s left on the island and acts of resistance especially in Haiti (59).
\n-Presence of European people who disagreed with the maltreatment like Bartolome de Las Casas.
\n-Decrease of the Native American population
\n-How the deaths of Native Americans and failure of their enslavement led to the use and trade of Africans.","dateCreated":"1321413751","smartDate":"Nov 15, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"colleen.ouyang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/colleen.ouyang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46739520","body":"Let me just first say that I LOVE this book!I lover her honesty, her sarcasm, the comparative approach she uses to support her arguments,and so much more. I was so intrigued that I accidentally read on through most of chapter three, which by the way broke my heart and was very difficult to read through at times. If her goal in using descriptive language was to affect her readers at an emotional level to really help them see the importance, well then she succeeded.
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\nI happened to be on this exact subject of Columbus and what the Common Core Standards identify as the collision of three worlds: the colonists, Africans, and Indians. I can definitely tell you that our first grade textbooks do not even slightly mention half of the hardships the Indians were made to go through. It mentions slavery with regard to the first colonists in all of two paragraphs. In fact, the textbook had the audacity to define the the first Ducth colonists as being tolerant and lovers of Diversity, with a whole page devoted to this. Thankfully the students are not being tested on this year on Social Studies so I have the freedom to take some time and explore the topic even more in depth but I can only imagine the frustration of teachers who only have so much time and who's students must learn only certain facts to pass the test. In a way, if we teach students to think critically their answers to moral questions created to put the US in good light will most certainly be answered wrong. This is a centuries old problem only now we begin to see just how much this kind of knowledge shapes the ideas our students will grow up with. How can they learn from the past if they don't know the truth about it?","dateCreated":"1321891624","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"klb409","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/klb409","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}