Lies My Teacher Told Me Ch 1

Lies My Teacher Told Me Chapter 1

History structures the world today. It seems like a true statement, but this book made me realize it is the other way around. The world today structures history to its convenience. For example, had the United Nations lost the Second World War, history text books would not have shown the glory of them, but would have been written to convince us how they were wrong.

 All these years, through Junior High School and High School, we were taught that Wilson suggested making the League of Nations, later leaving the league due to the disagreement of the U.S government. However, after reading about Wilson and his foreign interventions and what not, it made me wonder whether he backed out of the league because of the country’s government, or just used that as an excuse to leave. I now think that Wilson only suggested the league to seem as though he cared, to be portrayed as a hero. As Loewen says, hero figures are a necessity in history. They help convince their country’s citizens that their society is one to be proud of.

 This brings me to my next point. History textbooks avoid anti-nationalists, or rebellious people so as to keep a faithful understanding of the citizens today and their country’s background. As shameful as it is, I did not know about Helen Keller’s life after she became able to pronounce the “wa” of water. I had no clue what she had gone on to pursue in her adulthood. The fact that I only knew of her childhood testifies how historians and teachers try to cover up inconvenient truths.

 Although I am not too much of a fan of history, I feel that every student should read this book in order to realize that history is made up of past events, but made up so as to fit the modern society.