Who, in the world, would ever want to grow up hearing his own birth stories, mom's and dad's and family stories that are not entirely true, but are more like myths?
Loewen was precisely making such a point in claiming the American history textbook's sculpting with fallacy a statue of the origin of USA in his analysis, 'Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong'. The author drew a multitude of examples as evidence from extensive theses and historical studies established by historians and alike. Loewen explained in great details how textbook-dominant history education in high school has failed to its mission to present, credibly, American history, and to educate with integrity of truth to her own student citizens. Loewen, actively, made his case to his readers expressed with many forms of reasoning, such as synthesis and cause and effect. He used all three types of claims in this essay: claim of fact, claim of value and claim of policy. The tone of his voice was rational and professional; he made both emotional and evocative appeals.
Growing up in Taiwan, I was aware, even at a grade school age, that history textbooks didn't tell me all the truth there had ever been to be told. The political atmosphere was of a constant and vivid tension between the government and certain people groups of Taiwan, mine included. I remember whenever my dad and his friends discussed politics and history, I always nervously kept a watch at the window, and hoped for no eavesdropping from next door.
History was always an ugly sore in the rear, like a bag of unpopular hot, but not sweet, potatoes for me. I was always confused and frustrated. My people, especially my dad, would tell me things of our past that totally contradicted to what the textbooks taught, and vice versa.
I was confused, not knowing what really was truth, or who was telling the truth. It was actually so bad that I secretly hated my dad for a while, thinking he was entirely responsible for my problems for studying and making sense of history. But, my dad was right, the teachers did lie to me. I was never taught truthful history in my history class.
My ancestors voyaged to Taiwan, the Beautiful Island--Formosa as the Portugal declared, about 400 some years ago from mainland China. Like many other east southern Chinese seeking a better life without severe oppression, such as heavy taxes and corrupted imperial rule, they sailed through the ferocious water of the Taiwan strait, and eventually planted their root in Taiwan, where they buried their sorrow in the past just as the meaning of the name, Taiwan, articulated and read in the Fu-jian Chinese dialect. My family belongs to one strong people group in Taiwan, the Yams. If you pick up any piece of yam, or sweet potato at a produce stand, you'll see it likely resembling the shape of Taiwan on your world map. Oh, that is if you could see Taiwan on the map. Yes, we are the children of Yams, those of us that identify ourselves as Taiwanese, while the ruling government strive to maintain a omni-Mainland Chinese portrait of the entire entity of the country.
The Chinese government that came only at mid 20th century to Taiwan didn't want to address many many true historical facts and events, for example, the 228 Incident which was a taboo and without official and public acknowledgement for 5 long decades. Needless to say, 228 Incident never made to print in history textbooks, and if it ever did, it was not of all truth there was to tell. And there are countless examples of half truths told in textbooks in order to create propaganda and a false sense of patriotism among the citizens of the land.
On the same note, I have no doubt my Taiwan aborigine friends could tell me similar stories about how the early Chinese immigrants, my ancestors and alike, robbed the natives and treated them unjustly without ever reading the true stories that happened in the history books, either.
Therefore, I related very well to what Loewen addresses in his essay. Even though I was not familiar with how history has been taught with the textbooks, I clearly see the resemblance that correlates with my own experience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Taiwan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident
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