Columbus Day 2013.
In New York, today is a picture perfect fall day.
Bright sun.
Blue skies.
Cool fall temperature.
Trees displaying their fall colors.
Beautiful.
I should be content to leave it at that and not spend time thinking about the fact that it is Columbus Day when so much of what I learned about Christopher Columbus (and other European explorers) was and is wrong. Or, at least woefully incomplete.
Someone famous once said, “History is written by the victors.”
That is certainly the case with Columbus Day.
We have written and told and taught the story in a way that highlights the values of courage and perseverance and dreaming of a new world, and legitimizes the conquest that followed and the decimation of the indigenous populations.
Maybe if we are serious about wanting to increase understanding between peoples and nations, we need to rethink how we teach history. Rather than teach it from the victors point of view only, we need to begin helping children and youth understand history from multiple points of view. Then, maybe, as history unfolds as they are living it, they will approach situations and circumstances with a greater understanding and sensitivity and insight.
But, with the way decisions are made about what is included (and excluded) in textbooks used in our public schools I am not holding my breath.
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