Recent discussions about revising the textbooks used in schools all over the country is enough to make a person rethink everything they learned in history class. Advocates believe that students are taught insufficient or incorrect information, but what does this mean to us?
History is defined "as the systematic narrative of past events as relation to a particular period or person." This definition has caused many controversies for schools around America, as certain nationalities and demographics demand that students learn more about their past. The discussions have played out in several states, especially California.
Many groups, such as Korean Americans, have accused the schools of teaching students "a whitewashed version of history." One of the main points they want revised is the issue of "comfort women."
This historical issue involves the use of Korean women who were said to be forced into becoming sex slaves to serve the Japanese Imperial Army that occupied the territory during WWII. The groups created petitions and continuously brought the issue to California educators.
"Omission of the truth is, in fact, a form of lying. I would offer that the purpose of teaching history in schools is to create critical thinkers capable of meaningful participation in a democratic society," explains a California teacher.
It is not only the Korean Americans that are speaking up about their national history. Some group of Vietnamese Americans, Voices of Vietnam, stated at a public hearing that the systematic rape of innocent Vietnamese girls during the Vietnam War by the Korean military should be acknowledged as a historical fact. The fact that some women were murdered after being raped can cause a discrepancy in the total numbers, but it is said that the number of women who were raped can be as high as several thousands to tens of thousands.
In addition, some historians have suggested replacing "India" within the text with "South Asia" depending on the context. The reason for this is that, once upon a time, India used to encompass areas that were outside of the India that we know today (Pakistan, Nepal, etc.). Indian Americans have shown their opposition to this proposal at public hearings and other public events.
The revisions are a milestone for the educational system. Until now, history and social studies classes have focused on European history, but it is time for students to learn about the rest of the world. Especially now that the majority of students are from immigrant families from these countries. It is important that people understand history and how the events from the past continues to affect us. Obviously, this has been a very emotional fight for these activists.
"People were angry, people were pleading. People were excited, happy. Every emotion you can think of," said Nancy McTygue, a former teacher who has taught high school history and one of the educators responsible for the curriculum changes. "History is an interpretive discipline, and everybody's got their own interpretation."
Knowing that everyone is going to interpret historical events differently is even more of a reason to make sure these children are taught objectively and thoroughly. Despite the emotion-filled battle, immigrant parents say in the end they just want their children to know the truth about their nationality. They want them to be proud and know their heritage.
"We want our kids to take pride in what was good, and learn from what was bad," explained one parent, Jaleh Niazi. "This is not only about my children. It's important for California as a whole to know the world they live in."
It's true what they say, history repeats itself. However, if we educate ourselves on the transgressions of our past, we can make sure society does not make the same mistakes. We can make the world a better place by knowing what happened in the past.
This is why it is so important that we understand that it is more than textbooks that need to be revised. We need to rethink our entire understanding of the world. There are events in our history that have been so warped by years of misinformation, such as the story of Christopher Columbus. America celebrates a holiday with his name, but is he really a hero? Many believe that he was a brave explorer who discovered new lands.
However, that was very far from the case, "He actually led a lot of devastating movements against indigenous people," explained Native American Community Development Institute President Jay Bad Heart Bull to MPR News
Columbus arrived at a new land and discovered that the Indians had already cultivated that and the indigenous people greeted him with hospitality, but Columbus and his men were very hostile. Their land was taken and the majority of them were killed. The publicity of his violent acts has led many cities to rename Christopher Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day to help commemorate his victims.
However, there are still many who do not know the truth about Columbus. It is because of reasons like this that we must teach our children about the world's history with a real and unbiased approach. After all, they will be the one to write our next chapter of history.