Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not quite at the Zinn baseline but pretty darn close. A solid B+ at a minimum.

This should be required reading for every American. (As should Howard Zinn.) It’s always been stunning to me how much American history is left OUT of our history books, though I’m not so naïve as to wonder at the reasons — there are many and most are predictable. But when I’ve asked people if they knew how Hawaii became a state or why Puerto Rico is not (or why we have anything to do with Puerto Rico from a governance standpoint), or what their feelings are on the big US/Filipino war roughly 120 years ago or their knowledge of the potential significance of the Lusitania sinking, how and why the US entered WW I, how and why elements of the US Army were sent to and stationed in the Soviet Union AFTER WW I, for how long and what they did there, and so on and so on. Most Americans know about the Native American and African American experiences — it’s largely unavoidable and can’t easily be deleted from the history books. But the importance of Kansas before the Civil War? Not so well known. What is the meaning of “Jakarta” in the second half of the previous century? No one can answer that. Or what happened to Pol Pot after the Khmer Rouge were driven from Phnom Penh? When and how did he die? One can find out but someone who may have grown up hooked on “Mom, Chevrolet, apple pie,” “Get prayer ‘back in the schools,” etc., might start feeling a bit disappointed and/or disillusioned as they continue to uncover ugly truths. It’s important to ask questions but frankly, also important in how and when one does, from a pragmatic standpoint. A lot of people don’t like, won’t accept and don’t want to hear anything that reeks of criticism of the country, but I ask what country in history has been perfect? What country in history has never merited the occasional criticism? I would wager none. For that reason alone, people shouldn’t fear or disregard potentially suppressed histories known and confirmed by many, but largely left out of history books in various countries.

This book, and ones like it, are essential so that citizens can understand both the good and the bad about our history, and sometimes “ugly” is ugly but that doesn’t delegitimize facts and reality, nor should it. Americans have much to be proud of, but sadly, there are many other issues and events we might not feel proud of — if we were to ever learn about them! Finding out truths doesn’t necessarily make one less of a patriot — it simply can provide a broader perspective on a larger scale, for one thing. Information can be freeing while ignorance — even while we’re ignorant of our ignorance — can be stifling. Strongly recommended.

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