{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46536082","dateCreated":"1321556232","smartDate":"Nov 17, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"KimKonopka","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/KimKonopka","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46536082"},"dateDigested":1532760325,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Chapters 5 and 6 ","description":"While reading Chapter 5 in Loewen\u2019s text I was struck by the lack of accurate facts provided by history textbooks concerning the issues of racism in the 19th century. A lot of what Loewen stated echoes what we discussed in class about our own knowledge of slavery in the north and even in New York City. Most textbooks downplay the presence of slavery in the north so as to make slavery more of a sectional problem rather than a national issue. Loewen also writes, \u201cwhile textbooks show the horror of slavery and its impact on black America, they remain largely silent regarding the impact of slavery on white America, North or South. Textbooks have trouble acknowledging that anything might be wrong with white Americans or with the United States as a whole. Perhaps telling realistically what slavery was like for slaves was the easy part. After all, slavery as an institution is dead\u2026 Without explaining slavery\u2019s relevance to the present, however, its extensive coverage\u2026 (becomes) just more facts for hapless eleventh graders to memorize\u201d (142-143).
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\nAnother piece of Loewen\u2019s chapter that struck me most is best quoted from page 143. Loewen writes, \u201cto function adequately in civic life in our troubled times, students must learn what causes racism. Although it is a complicated historical issue, racism in the Western world stems primarily from two related historical processes: taking land from and destroying indigenous peoples and enslaving Africans to work that land. To teach that relationship, textbooks would have to show students the dynamic intervplay between slavery as a socioeconomic system and racism as an idea system...\u201d I never considered this connection before, but it makes perfect sense. Students learn about slavery and its economic effects, but never are they taught about the subject in relation to racism when in fact, racism itself was a major cause and justification. Very few textbooks connect history and racism or address racism as a cause for other policies such as segregation laws.
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\nThe fact that I never learned about Thomas Jefferson or Patrick Henry\u2019s slaves was mind-opening. Loewen points out the extreme irony of these men who fought for the \u201crights of man\u201d when they in fact took away the rights of thousands of people. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were only applicable to some people, not those who were black. History books shouldn\u2019t be a shrine where students are encouraged to warship Jefferson. Students should be taught to understand him, wrestle with problems he wrestled with, grasp his accomplishments, and also acknowledge his failures.
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\nIdeas surrounding the Reconstruction were extremely enlightening. In all honesty, I didn\u2019t know a lot about the time period, and regretfully, I did share similar ideas that Loewen mentions as part of a typical understanding from general textbooks. Keeping these feelings in mind, I will forever be conscious of how I teach the events of the past to my future students. \u201cEducators justify teaching history because it gives us perspective on the present. If there is one issue in the present to which authors relate the history they tell, the issue is racism. But as long as history textbooks make white racism invisible in the twentieth century, neither they nor the students who use them will be able to analyze race relations intelligently in the twenty-first\u201d (171). This is why it is essential that teachers relearn history and offer their students a fuller perspective of past events and motivations.
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\nChapter 6 continued to shed light on my misconceptions. For me, the most significant part of this chapter revolved around the discussion of John Brown. I am ashamed to admit that I didn\u2019t even know who this person was before I came across this text. I think discussing him in classrooms would show students that not all White Americans during the mid-1800\u2019s were advocates for slavery. In fact, John Brown was an abolitionist who opposed notions of slavery. I wonder why textbooks choose to portray him as a \u201ccrazy\u201d individual or simply a \u201creligious fanatic.\u201d Exposing students to this type of ideology is so important. One man chose to disagree with the treatment of a group of people and fought adamantly for change. I found it appalling that America would then justify his execution because of his views against the oppression and mistreatment of Black Americans. My question is why did my teachers choose not to even mention John Brown? Is it because we are embarrassed to admit that America wanted to slavery so much that we were willing to kill those who disagreed? I think this type of discussion would help students learn from the past and further analyze events in our nation\u2019s history. Sheltering them from this is not going to help students understand our nation\u2019s past.
\n Loewen writes that textbooks downplay slavery as the core of Confederate purpose because they don\u2019t want to offend white Southerners today. However, by downplaying this truth, we are offending blacks who have a history of being oppressed and mistreated. I think we could even go as far as to say that textbook writers value the feelings of whites more so than blacks; the same principle applies to textbook discussion of Native Americans. This is the message they are sending by being careful not to offend only one race. With this in mind, I think it\u2019s important that future teachers are aware of this type of bias in textbooks and seek out information that provides more complete and unbiased historical accounts.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46630620","body":"The first thing I can say about this week\u2019s chapters is man, I wish I saw Gone with the Wind before I read this. I\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll never be able to see the movie\/read the book without feeling incredibly hopeless about all the racist remarks. Wompwomp.
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\nAfter reading the text and Kim\u2019s response as well, I think it\u2019s fair to say that slavery is a much more complicated issue than we had all thought. There are so many components to it. It\u2019s not just about racism or White supremacy. Loewen writes in the beginning of Chapter 5, \u201cRace is the sharpest and deepest division in American life.\u201d That being said, I believe slavery and racism are issues that we will always be \u201cwrestling\u201d with (as Kim so put). Loewen proves through Thomas Jefferson, Gone with the Wind, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin, and several other sources that indeed, history and slavery ARE connected, whether textbooks care to show it or not. As educators, we need to be comfortable wrestling with this idea and unveiling uncomfortable truths so we can then teach our students how to do the same.
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\nA particular resource from Loewen\u2019s book that made me consider the connection between history and slavery was, \u201cThe New National Anthem: Nigger Doodle Dandy\u201d found on page 155. Now, I would never consider exposing an elementary class to this but I would definitely show this to a high school class. To see a song like this and actually view it as a piece of American history weighed heavy on my heart. It doesn\u2019t make me feel proud of being American and certainly makes me question our ancestors. As shocking and horrible as this song is, I do see a piece of value in in it. This song will never be found in a textbook. As a result, a textbook will never elicit the reaction I had that encouraged me to learn more. A textbook will never elicit a strong emotional response like mine that could lead to a great whole class discussion on the topic. As Loewen demonstrates in the text, from one hard to swallow truth to the next, our nation has quite a corrupt past. However, we don\u2019t do ourselves or future generations justice by hiding this corruption or sweeping past it.
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\nIn Chapter 6, Loewen writes about textbooks that are unwilling to introduce uncertainty. This is something I see as incredibly unfortunate. A classroom is a place of discovery and a strong part of discovery is uncertainty. As educators, it\u2019s our job to teach children HOW to deal with uncertainty. We must teach how to examine resources and to weigh the good against the bad. I too am embarrassed to say that I had no idea who John Brown was prior to reading this chapter. It\u2019s unfortunate that textbooks wrote him off as a crazed man, one against the masses rather than viewing him as someone heroic who stood up for what he believed was right. As I read this chapter, I really began to value textbooks less and less. As we read with Helen Keller, textbooks have once again taken away the opportunity for students to connect with a historical figure. Textbooks, at most, remain neutral to Brown\u2019s beliefs and attempts at equality. I find that textbooks rob students of an even playing field. If we could at least portray events and historical figures accurately than we could give our students the chance to judge the situation for themselves. If there was an accurate representation of Brown in textbooks than they could judge whether his beliefs were too radical and therefore unhelpful to the cause or if his actions were progressive and just. In my classroom, this is how I would like to handle history. Textbooks try to void history of emotion but that obviously needs to change. The issues we \u201cwrestle\u201d with are serious and sometimes extremely corrupt. Once we\u2019re comfortable acknowledging this, than we can go about teaching history accurately.
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\nThere were many other themes touched upon in the chapters but these were just a few thoughts that I had to get off my chest. What did you guys think about the chapters?","dateCreated":"1321657645","smartDate":"Nov 18, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46689700","body":"Like Kim and Rachel, I was struck back by the lack of facts in American textbooks about racism in the 19th century and moreover, the invisibility of antiracism in American history textbooks.
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\nTo begin, I was particularly shocked by the depiction of John Brown. I too did not really know who John Brown was before reading this chapter. I remember reading about him in history class, but my impression was that he was a \u201ccrazy person.\u201d In fact, this is the impression that most students do get from John Brown because of the way that history textbooks choose to portray him. I was shocked that out of all the 18 textbooks that Loewen reviewed, only one, Pathways to Present, portrays Brown as neutral. Most textbooks are completely hostile towards John Brown, using language from \u201cfanatical figure\u201d and \u201cdubious dealings\u201d to \u201cfiendish butchery.\u201d American History (textbook) openly writes, \u201cJohn Brown was almost certainly insane.\u201d Moreover, twelve of the eighteen textbooks do not even provide a phrase that he spoke or wrote. Brown\u2019s words, which were inspiring, cannot even move most students today because they are not included in textbooks. Not one author, old or new, has any sympathy for the man or takes any interest in his ideals or actions. Furthermore, depictions of Brown in textbooks portray him as gaunt and deranged. I learned that John Brown was a white radical abolitionist who strongly opposed slavery, yet he was executed for these ideas. I find it shocking that \u201cnot until the civil rights movement of the 1960s was white America freed from enough of its racism to accept that a white person did not have to be crazy to die for black equality,\u201d (179). As Kim said, \u201cExposing students to this type of ideology is so important.\u201d So, why don\u2019t teachers talk about John Brown in the correct way? Is it that most teachers just do not know the true story (and did not read Lies my Teacher Told me?) Or, are we embarrassed to admit to the truth?
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\nI completely relate to Rachel\u2019s statement that, I wish I saw Gone with the Wind before I read this too! I don\u2019t think I will be able to view the movie in a positive light after reading this book. Gone with the Wind suggests that slavery was an ideal social structure whose passing is to be lamented. This chapter struck me because it revealed just how connected history and slavery are, and the importance of shedding light on the misconceptions of the past. I found it interesting that while textbooks NOW show the horror of slavery and its impact on black America, they remain mostly silent regarding the impact of slavery on white America, North or South. They do not acknowledge that anything might be wrong with white America or the US as a country. We may acknowledge that slavery as an institution is dead, but do we acknowledge the legacy that it left, I wonder? - The legacy is the social and economic inferiority that it conferred upon blacks and the cultural racism that it instilled in whites. I agree with Loewn that, \u201cunlike slavery, racism is not over yet.\u201d
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\nI think it is crucial that students learn what causes racism. Loewen describes that although it is a complicated history issue, racism in the western world stems \u201cprimarily from two related historical processes: taking land from and destroying indigenous peoples and enslaving Africans to work that land,\u201d (143). As Loewen posits, to teach this relationship, textbooks must show students the interplay and connection between slavery as a socioeconomic system and racism as an idea system. Whites have inherited the belief that it is appropriate and even \u201cnatural\u201d for them to be on top, blacks on the bottom. Yet, this white supremacy must be challenged and I feel that change can start in the classroom. As Kim and Rachel write, we must wrestle with these uncomfortable truths and unveil them to our students.","dateCreated":"1321817678","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ErinFitz509","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ErinFitz509","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46711126","body":"It's funny because I was wishing I saw Gone with the Wind before too...I think if I watch it now I will only be analyzing it the whole time.
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\nAnyway, I have to agree with what's been said before my post.
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\nI didn't realize until I read these chapters, that it's so true that American textbooks today do show the horror of slavery and its impact on black America, but they fail to acknowledge that something might have been wrong with White Americans or with the United States as a whole. Textbooks consistently present slavery as a tragedy, rather than as a wrong perpetrated by a group of people on others.
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\nI had no idea that slavery affected the United States' foreign policy so decidedly, or at all. I always viewed slavery as an internal issue in the country, which caused the Civil War and eventually the Civil Rights Movement. I thought it was a struggle between two races in the country, but it had actually influenced much of USA's relationships with other countries.
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\nBy making white racism invisible in the nineteenth century, racism is taught as something in the past that is no longer relevant today. By doing that, "history textbooks shirk a critical responsibility" of the white Americans and now the students.
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\nI was very struck by Loewen's statement: "Unlike slavery, racism is not over yet." Because racism is still an issue today, it is even more crucial for students to learn about its history, its causes, and how to fight it. It is important for students to learn about role models who did fight racism and slavery, but real role-models, not the constructed "role models" of the history textbooks.
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\nMost of all, I was disturbed when I was reading about John Brown. Loewen talks about how textbooks portrayed him: He was insane from 1890 to 1970. Before 1890 he was perfectly sane, and after 1970 he regained his sanity again. The inconsistency in the textbooks was deeply troubling. Loewen also stated that "textbooks are unwilling to introduce uncertainty," as Rachel paraphrased.
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\nAfter reading all of this, I find myself wondering what else has been fabricated in the history textbooks that I learned from. How much of it is really the truth? Were we educated in a specific way to make us think a certain way?
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\nAs everybody else wrote above, as teachers, we must not twist history by omitting or veiling facts. People say that we must learn from history so that we do not make the same mistakes in the future. Teachers can make this statement true by actually teaching the unaltered truth.","dateCreated":"1321845664","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ejs412","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ejs412","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46742198","body":"Hey everyone,
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\nI hope you all had a great weekend.
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\nAfter reading the chapters and what you all have written in response, I want to start off by saying that I also didn\u2019t know much about John Brown before reading this book. It shocked me that many textbooks refer to Brown\u2019s sanity and don\u2019t focus more on his actions as an abolitionist who opposed slavery. Addressing how textbooks have portrayed Brown in the past, Loewen writes, \u201cSince Brown himself did not change after his death \u2013 except to molder more \u2013 his mental health in our textbooks provides an inadvertent index of the level of white racism in our society. Perhaps our new textbooks suggest that race relations circa 2007 are not much better than circa 1987\u201d (173). This really saddened me. While some textbooks seem to silence Brown because of his violent acts, they are leaving out an important piece of history. \u201cBrown\u2019s words, which moved a nation, therefore cannot move most students today.\u201d (182). I think that teachers should teach about Brown because students, and adults, should know about this white man who strongly opposed slavery. I enjoyed learning about him because I felt as though I was learning about an important part of history from a perspective that I had no idea existed.
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\nI was completely taken aback by the reality that textbooks shy away from teaching how slavery also existed heavily in the North. I remember learning about slavery and the Civil War when I was in elementary school and memorizing how the North was against slavery and the South was for it \u2013 how freaking messed up is that? One fact that stood out to me was that \u201cIn 1720, of New York City\u2019s population of seven thousand, sixteen hundred were African Americans, most of them slaves. Wall Street was the marketplace where owners could hire out their slaves by day or week\u201d (142). While I\u2019m more aware about slavery in New York City after our visit to the African Burial Ground, I feel that this information was almost \u201chidden\u201d from me as a child. I think it would\u2019ve been interesting to learn how slavery existed close to my own home a few centuries ago. Again, for me it goes back to relating history to our present day lives. Instead of having kids, like my younger self, memorize these facts about slavery, why not teach our students real facts and relate them directly to the leaves we lead today?","dateCreated":"1321893893","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"rmd326","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rmd326","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":[]}}