Lies My Teacher Told Me Essay

The book Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen, was written with the intention of informing anybody that has ever learned about United States history using a textbook published in the United States has, most likely, not received the complete history of events. The textbooks and information found in classes of all educational levels,are often skewed by patriotism. Loewen wrote the book to fill in many gaps in the education of our nation's history which makes Lies My Teacher Told Me an enriching contribution to our collective knowledge. It also helps with our understanding that not everything has always worked out for the best for the United States and there was some inevitable trial and error that has lead our country to its uprising. On numerous occasions, our founders and leaders have been idolized for their victories and not their failures, and the many attempts it took for us to reach this
freedom we currently hold. The overall argument the author is making is that United States history is much more enriching and nuanced than is currently portrayed in our educational curriculum. The untold story of American history includes struggles, oppression, and bigotry that we tend to repress in our textbooks and teachings; Loewen hopes to tell these stories and spread his own knowledge of the truth. Race has played a major part in American history; it is our “American obsession” and it has been the grounds for the most controversy in our country. Even today, on social media, in politics, when it comes to jobs, etc. people feel they are not treated equally due to racial differences, which can lead to violence. In earlier textbooks, slavery was not portrayed as a bad thing, but it was merely just what happened. As the years go on it becomes more apparent that those practices were belittling and cruel to Africans. Americans typically do not think of it that way because it is hard to believe white people could do that, just because they do not look the same or come from the same background. Textbooks still do not go into much detail when explaining how horrific slavery was. The good thing coming from slaves is that they have brought many things to our country that we would not have without them. Music styles, fashion and many other things brought from the cultures and minds of slaves have helped shape our current America. Teachers tend to skim over the end of textbooks which contain more recent events. This may be because there is not enough time in the year to finish teaching the entire book, but it’s also possible that teachers tend to neglect these subjects because they can be controversial, especially if it happened in or around their lifetime. Surveying the books shows that more recent decades in our textbooks contain less than half the amount of pages than a chapter taking place in the 1930’s. However, it is possible that these chapters are shorter because there has been less time spent studying current events. Studying more recent events in classrooms seems like a good topic for discussion considering the students and teachers could understand different opinions about a topic they or someone they know have lived through, hopefully giving them a better understanding. Not going into more detail about *_ current events leaves us continuing to believe our country is “a nation without sin” with a lack of understanding why other countries dislike us so much. History classes should be teaching about the United States action and the effects it has on other countries, rather than just focusing on ourselves. The United States, holding about 50% of the world’s wealth, is clearly targeted with envy and resentment from other countries. Having relationships with these countries could be beneficial in the future if we are not able to uphold our current state. Now more than ever our country is living without concern for the well being of other countries. Textbooks show that if America has done wrong it is just a misunderstanding on the other countries part or we misunderstood the situation, making us out to be the “international good guy,” implying there is no way America would intentionally do wrong. Textbooks tend to symbolize our countries altruism rather than hegemony. An example of this altruism versus hegemony would be how we spend far more on our military than any other country, while having bases in 144 countries. In addition to showing our support and helping others’ well being, it also highlights our dominance. History in high schools today has turned into teachers just going through the motions day by day, and students spending minimal effort to learn, short term, information for a test they have that week.
History books today are flooded with pointless tasks for memorization, which is just an easy fix to get students a good grade on a test, without them actually retaining the information in the chapter. Not being properly educated on past events gives the future more opportunity for mistakes, considering they will not be able to compare past and present problems in hopes to not make the same mistakes again. It is easy for students to brush off this information because it is taught in such a matter of fact sort of way, not showing any passion, just information does not make a person interested in a subject. When a student can have actual feelings regarding an event, that is when it sticks. When they can really understand what is going on, through real stories and encounters, they have a more thorough understanding of the world and are better prepared to participate in
it. This book is important for anyone to read, because it opens your eyes to what we are being taught and what actually happened. The United States has numerous faults when it comes to the teaching in our history textbooks and classes, giving students not only a false representation of the past, but a boring one. This book offers a fresh perspective on events we thought we learned all about in classes throughout our time in school. The book has challenged our misconceptions of history, broadened our understanding, and now make us question everything we thought we knew about history in the United States.