BY: Daniel Nardini
History in the United States is truly a double-edged sword. Most Americans have little or no idea about the historical facts about the country they were born and raised in. If an average American were to take a U.S. citizenship test today (which includes a good deal about general American history), the chances are they would fail. This sad reality is making many educators wonder where the school system has gone wrong. I think part of the problem is that the federal and state governments just do not finance history studies in our schools. Another problem is that Americans as a whole rarely read about American history and we find almost nothing about it in the U.S. news media. One will never find a TV series on any part of American history at present (even our westerns seem devoid of history as to when they are taking place), and movies about parts of American history are rare. In Great Britain and almost every part of Europe as well as in Asia, programs on history are not only common but popular. Another reason why so many Americans are extremely limited in their knowledge about American history is because they believe, as was stated by leading car manufacturer Henry Ford, that “history is bunk.” In other words, history is not worth studying nor worth considering how it affects our daily lives.
This is in my view a serious national dilemma that not only academics but the politicians should address. To not know the history of the country one was born and raised in is a very, very serious shortcoming that will haunt not only present but future generations. That all said, the other side of the sword is that at least no topic of American history is forbidden. What I mean by this is that if you want to talk about, for example, the mistreatment of the Native Americans by the U.S. government in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there is no problem. If you want to talk about the discrimination against Asian immigrants you can do so. If you want to talk about the Mexican forced emigration back to Mexico in the 1930’s, no one can tell you to not do so. No historical topic, whether good or bad or sensitive (and there are a LOT of sensitive topics in American history), is forbidden. You can go to your local library, or to a bookstore, and find or order a book on just about any topic from American history. This is something we Americans take for granted. This is not possible to do in countries like China, and especially North Korea, where a whole range of topics are forbidden by the governments there that cannot be read about or even discussed.
In China, you cannot talk about the 30 million to 45 million people who starved to death in the worst famine in history. It occurred under the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962. Mention of this, research on it, or trying to publish a book on the subject could land you in jail. In North Korea, it is a given that no one can say that the North Korean government was wrong in the Korean War from 1950-1953. In that country you could easily get the death penalty for such talk. In Europe, most countries have no forbidden historical topics either. However, in a growing number of nations, some topics are actually “forbidden” on security issues. For example, in the autonomous Serb Republic within Bosnia’s borders, it is forbidden to actually say that the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica was a war crime or genocide. The true loss of freedom in any country is when we cannot discuss any and every part of our history. This is where the civil and human rights of people truly are affected. As much as I am hearing people discuss the United States becoming a “police state,” I do not see this. Yes, we have some very bad laws and some very bad policies. Nevertheless, we can still about about these bad policies and how they might affect us. In a country where these things cannot be discussed, that is when we are heading down the steep slope to loss of freedom. This is true for history. Because we as a people can and do debate any and every part of our history we are therefore still quite free. As long as all history is on the table, then we are assured of our basic freedoms. Now we have to help Americans know what their history is.
Where All of History is on the Table
BY: Daniel Nardini
This is in my view a serious national dilemma that not only academics but the politicians should address. To not know the history of the country one was born and raised in is a very, very serious shortcoming that will haunt not only present but future generations. That all said, the other side of the sword is that at least no topic of American history is forbidden. What I mean by this is that if you want to talk about, for example, the mistreatment of the Native Americans by the U.S. government in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there is no problem. If you want to talk about the discrimination against Asian immigrants you can do so. If you want to talk about the Mexican forced emigration back to Mexico in the 1930’s, no one can tell you to not do so. No historical topic, whether good or bad or sensitive (and there are a LOT of sensitive topics in American history), is forbidden. You can go to your local library, or to a bookstore, and find or order a book on just about any topic from American history. This is something we Americans take for granted. This is not possible to do in countries like China, and especially North Korea, where a whole range of topics are forbidden by the governments there that cannot be read about or even discussed.
In China, you cannot talk about the 30 million to 45 million people who starved to death in the worst famine in history. It occurred under the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962. Mention of this, research on it, or trying to publish a book on the subject could land you in jail. In North Korea, it is a given that no one can say that the North Korean government was wrong in the Korean War from 1950-1953. In that country you could easily get the death penalty for such talk. In Europe, most countries have no forbidden historical topics either. However, in a growing number of nations, some topics are actually “forbidden” on security issues. For example, in the autonomous Serb Republic within Bosnia’s borders, it is forbidden to actually say that the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica was a war crime or genocide. The true loss of freedom in any country is when we cannot discuss any and every part of our history. This is where the civil and human rights of people truly are affected. As much as I am hearing people discuss the United States becoming a “police state,” I do not see this. Yes, we have some very bad laws and some very bad policies. Nevertheless, we can still about about these bad policies and how they might affect us. In a country where these things cannot be discussed, that is when we are heading down the steep slope to loss of freedom. This is true for history. Because we as a people can and do debate any and every part of our history we are therefore still quite free. As long as all history is on the table, then we are assured of our basic freedoms. Now we have to help Americans know what their history is.