Recent posts here and over at Mes Deaux Cents and The Angry Black Woman clarified something I've been thinking for a while: Learning the history of our country and the world should be a major focus in homes and in schools. I know...I know...this is a techie world, where math and science rule. But here's the thing, all our new gadgets and conveniences won't mean a thing if our society lies in ruin, because we repeat the mistakes of our ancestors again and again.
I love learning about history. I read books about it. (A favorite is Lies my Teacher Taught Me by James W. Loewen. Check it out.) You can always find The History Channel on somewhere in my home. I love American Experience on PBS and the series Pioneer House. I like touring historic homes, especially those that offer a peek into the lives of the former occupants--how they lived, loved and what they believed. (If you're ever down in Louisiana, visit the Laura Plantation, a sugar plantation run by generations of Creole women. You can also look inside a slave cabin and learn how those women exploited the expertise of skilled slave labor.)
I find learning about the past--politics, culture, wars and personalities--empowering. It puts the present in context for me and helps shape my views on modern challenges. It makes me a better citizen of my town, state, country and the world. Knowing the history of my family--what my forefathers and foremothers struggled through to succeed--makes me stand a little taller and not want to let them down.
These days, though, we suffer from a profound case of historus stupidus (that's Tami Latin). If we had learned the lessons of Vietnam, would we be in Iraq today? If we understood the insidious history of fascism in the world, would we be more vigilant about our freedoms? If white Americans knew more about The Tuskegee Experiment , the Indian Removal Act and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, would they understand why so many people of color are mistrustful of the government and the mainstream? If Melyssa Ford knew Sara Baartman's story, could she call exploiting her sexuality for public consumption "just a job." If Sherri Shephard had ever cracked a history book, learned about Constantine I, or, heck, read the Old Testament, would she have embarrassed women, black women and Christians everywhere on national television? Speaking of religion, if we understood what religious fundamentalism does to societies, would we be more concerned about growing fundamentalism in this country?
If we knew our history, I mean really knew it, wouldn't we all be better off?
James Baldwin has a great quote about this country's history that I think can be applied to history as a whole, "American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it."
He's right. Know your history.
6 comments:
historus stupidus LOL, I'm a fan now Gurl ;-)
Thanks! I hope you will come back again.
Tami, Tami, Tami! Thank you for this post. It is so important that we as a people never forget about our history. By the way I am also a voracious reader and a history lover myself. My mother and I watch many programs on the History channel. We'll have to talk more about this in the future. Thank you again.
Mr. Shadow,
The History Channel is awesome, though they could air a little less World War II and Hitler docs in favor of more examination of other parts of history, especially more cultural stuff.
Great post, Tami. I have many more comments but so little time... Thanks for the info though and book reccs, I will definitely check those out.
One of my favorite lines in this is from Excalibur where Merlin charges the Knights to take note of the moment as he says, For it is the doom or men that they forget.
Sometimes even with knowing history there is the problem of making proper choices based on that knowledge. It also a problem if people remember history, but feel that they are somehow much smarter than those who came before them. Often we as humans repeat the mistakes of the past. Sometimes our mistakes come from thinking that we have the past figured out.
History can be a complex thing, which is why think children should be taught how to analyze it. For it is the doom or men/women that they forget.
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