This category was created by CrystalWind.ca.
History Book Bias
"History is the memory of states," wrote Henry Kissinger in his first book, A World Restored, in which he proceeded to tell the history of nineteenth-century Europe from the viewpoint of the leaders of Austria and England, ignoring the millions who suffered from those statesmen's policies. From his standpoint, the "peace" that Europe had before the French Revolution was "restored" by the diplomacy of a few national leaders. But for factory workers in England, farmers in France, colored people in Asia and Africa, women and children everywhere except in the upper classes, it was a world of conquest, violence, hunger, exploitation-a world not restored but disintegrated.
My viewpoint, in telling the history of the United States, is different: that we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities and never have been. The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners.
Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in history, I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as seen by the New York Irish, of the Mexican war as seen by the deserting soldiers of Scott's army, of the rise of industrialism as seen by the young women in the Lowell textile mills, of the Spanish-American war as seen by the Cubans, the conquest of the Philippines as seen by black soldiers on Luzon, the Gilded Age as seen by southern farmers, the First World War as seen by socialists, the Second World War as seen by pacifists, the New Deal as seen by blacks in Harlem, the postwar American empire as seen by peons in Latin America. And so on, to the limited extent that any one person, however he or she strains, can "see" history from the standpoint of others.
Excerpted from the book "History is a Weapon" by Howard Zinn
Source Here
Spirit Animal Totem Of The Day!
Crystal Of The Day!
CrystalWind.ca is free to use because of
donations from people like you.
Donate Now »
Who is Online Now
We have 778 guests and no members online

ॐ Namasté - Blessings!

Featured This Month
Abalone Shell
Echos Of The Ancestors Abalone strengthens the structure of the body and th... Read more
Lugh - Celtic God Of The Sun
The god Lugh was worshiped in Ireland as a deity of the sun. This connection... Read more
The Holly Tree: July 8th - August 4th
The Fire Festival Of Lammas Celtic Symbol : The Unicorn And The Flaming Spe... Read more
Sun in Cancer
An Overview of Sun Sign Characteristics for Cancer The name derives from La... Read more
Birth Totem - Woodpecker
Birth Totem Woodpecker Birth dates: June 21 - July 21 Birth Totem is: Wood... Read more
Chrysoprase
The Courage Stone The Greeks named this stone “golden bloom” due to the golde... Read more
Strong Sun Moon
Flicker – Carnelian Agate – Wild Rose – Pink June 21 – July 22 The Strong ... Read more
Lughnasadh (Lammas) - The Celtic Harvest Fes…
The Celtic harvest festival on August 1st takes its name from the Irish god ... Read more
Lammas by The Hedgewitch
Although in the heat of a Mid-western summer it might be difficult to discer... Read more
Lughnasadh Meditation
The Seventh Sabbat of the Wheel is Lughnasadh. Lughnasadh is celebrated on A... Read more
Cancer Mythology
The Hidden Myth Behind the Zodiac Sign Had the Scriptures of Delphi never b... Read more