So is it ever too early to start teaching our children the truth about history? Particularly when this truth reveals the horrors of our nation’s “discovery”? Hmmm. I don’t know. I am far from an authority on early childhood development. But conventional thinking seems to suggest that telling young children the truth about violent conquest of the early settlers, the genocide of Native Americans, and the blood-stained land on which this nation was built would be too damaging for young minds. Hence, we must dress them up as “benevolent” Pilgrims and happy-go-lucky Indians every year at this time to teach moral lessons about sharing, hospitality and generosity.
Yet are such revisionist narratives about protecting the young minds of children or extending the myths of a noble national identity? Its not like this nation is particularly concerned about sheltering school-age children from images and narratives of violence any other time.
Think about it: tragically, most American children grew up on a steady play schedule of cowboys and Indians and/or cops and robbers in the backyard. According to statistics released by the National Institute on Media and the Family, an average of 20-25 violent acts are shown on children’s television an hour and 61% of kids’ programming contains violence. And as a proficient play-date father myself, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have been attacked by a lightsaber or sword-wielding six-year-old!
So why is it only when preparing the Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, or even Martin Luther King Day programs that we get all skittish about violence and conflict around our kids? Columbus Day becomes a celebration of “discovery.” European conquest gets framed as dinner party between Pilgrims and Indians. And American racial apartheid becomes the story of how Martin King simply wanted children of all colors to share ice cream on the playground.
It’s time for us to stop acting like little Johnny and Sally can’t handle the truth of their past at school. Especially if these are the same children who watch Star Wars and X-Men on the weekend! Besides, I doubt the truth could be anymore dangerous than inundating and abusing their young minds with untruths and tall tales about festive gatherings arranged by the indigenous Martha Stewart of the 17th century. I think its time that we all grew up!!!!
Tags: american indians, children, martin luther king, native american, pilgrims, thanksgiving, violence
When will the world be ready for Truth in Religion? Jews a.k.a. Hebrews and such
No one talks about the "Indians" that were captured and taken back to England and brainwashed and taught them english and came over with the pilgrims 9 years before Plymouth Rock and were used to subdue their own people........Plymouth Rock, Africa, Iraq, same principles,same policies, same results.....
Okay, so let's celebrate Thanksgiving with a recital of historical horrors. Then let's draw a pic of the US on the ground and have everybody stamp on it.
The truth about history, and historical events, is that they are usually a mixture of good and bad. Unfortunately, concentrating only on the good or only on the bad, can in turn only result in a distorted and inaccurate picture of what really happened.
It's about time we started teaching a more accurate and dynamic picture of history; as an admixture of the good and the bad. This goes for all of history and not just that of north America. Some of the colonists were idealists trying to build a "utopia," but at the same time, many of them also could be crude opportunists who brutalized native Americans. On the other side of the coin, while the native Americans were often taken advantage of, stolen from, and attacked with little or no provocation, some of them also got the colonists involved in their own internecine struggles and used them as leverage in their own conflicts.
Granted the native Americans for the most part got the worst of this ... but does that mean we ought to concentrate solely on what was done to them, in order to convey this? I don't think so. It serves no one to paint them as hapless and helpless victims. An accurate view of history will, inevitably, still convey the horrors of what happened to them, even if (say) points out the idealism of some of the colonists. The fact of how the native Americans were treated, can and will emerge even from a more balanced presentation. The idea that horrors can be glossed over by a mixed presentation -- hence, ONLY the horrors should be presented -- is simply crazy.
I'm not convinced children cannot handle an accurate view of history. On the other hand, I'm not convinced we're capable of presenting them with one. There is way too much historical-revisionism all around, used to promote various agendas and propaganda. It really needs to stop.
History should not be a weapon one carves up and uses to bludgeon others into submission or to establish one's apparent superiority. But I guarantee it will continue to be used that way ... because there is a strong compulsion, based on sanctimonious outrage and a sense of "entitlement," to do so. (In this case, both "sides" are subject to that sanctimony.) And future generations will suffer for it.
Thanks for this! As much as it provided some answers, it raised just as many questions. I currently teach preschool and have wondered how to discuss Thanksgiving (and other cultural/religious holidays celebrating or covering up oppression of marginalized peoples) in a way that's accurate, decenters privilege, and/or allows space for those at the margin while still being age-appropriate. It's hard. I think preschool is still a little young for lots of the gory details, but that doesn't mean I have to repeat ad nauseum the propped up story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans. I've used books like The Ugly Pumpkin (a retelling of the Ugly Duckling via pumpkin-to-squash ending with a Thanksgiving dinner) and Thanksgiving With Me as books about Thanksgiving without delving into the historical background. After all, there's only so much a 4 year old will care about.
I think we should really tell our history accurately so that we will really know what happened in our history to people who are matured enough. In the past, I would travel when holiday is near bu with recessions, it change drastically. Recessions tend to lay waste to ideas of vacations or recreation, and that may have been the driving factor behind the Six Flags Parks Corporation filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Perhaps not, however – Six Flags Parks has been in trouble as a company since the early 2000s, and had a somewhat shaky history prior to that. They consistently lost money every year since 2002, and perhaps this was a long time coming. There was a shareholder revolt in 2005, and they are looking to exchange debt for ownership stakes to creditors. If you're looking to get payday loans to visit an amusement park, maybe you should get to a Six Flags Parks location before they're gone.
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