Writer’s choice
Heroification in the American history refers to the process in which details both trivial and vital concerning leaders and other icons in the society omitted or changed to fit into human heroes. In most of the historical books that used in the educational systems, various facts have been omitted to make some ancient leaders to appear more heroic in nature. The main aim of usage of heroification in the historical books is to ensure that the students only grasp certain good qualities from the heroic members of the society.
However, hiding the facts from the student is only making the teachers to appear like clowns in front of the students. However, it almost becomes impossible for the teachers to teach the truth concerning the history of America. Since the authors of the books, who in most situations are white, already terminate the facts, the teachers have no option but to pass the same information to the students.
Making the situation at hand concerning heroification even worse, the students taught lies would one day become teachers and pass the same false details to the students. This degenerating cycle will always continue and the actual details concerning the facts of the real true information will always fade away. Loewen in his book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong identifies that; the degenerating cycle will always turn the “flesh-and-blood individuals into pious, perfect creatures without conflicts, pain, credibility, or human interest (Loewen 19).”
In the first chapter of the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong written by the author, Loewen, James, a vivid example of heroification is depicted using the illustration of Helen Keller. Helen Keller deaf and blind girl who struggled with the challenge of being handicapped and still learned to speak, read and write just like the normal people. However, this is only but the first two decades of her life as a young girl whose entire life is basing on coping up with the disability. In most of the historical books that use Helen Keller as a heroic example, the discussion of her life mostly ends at the age of twenty-five. The later life experience that Helen Keller experienced is not supported in most of the historical books. Most of the historical leaders omit the later life experiences of Helen to indicate the heroic part of being disabled yet capable of struggling and later learns to read, write and speak (Loewen 20).
Loewen in the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong reveals the hidden life of Helen Keller in the later life. In accordance to the first chapter of the book, the life of Helen identified in the early 1990’s and brought out as being one of the chief socialist in Massachusetts (Loewen 22). Helen is devoted to be a socialist and passionate woman among the women aspiring and rallying for the communist’s nation. The nature of socialism in Helen is not discussed in details in most historical books. In the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, the author, James identifies that her socialism nature was rooted to her various experiences with other disabled persons. Her nature of socialism forced her to understand that her social class and other handicapped people are not only controlled with the opportunity available in life but also disability.
However, these factual details omitted in most of the school textbooks since exposing the radical socialist’s nature of Helen would change the perception of the students. Most of the historical authors in an attempt to make Helen Killer into a heroic figure, omit the last sixty years of her life experiences hence hiding the truth from the students. This turns Keller into a “bland source of encouragement and inspiration to our young” rather than revealing to the students that she also had feelings, emotions and wanted to show the world her excitement. In hiding the truth from the students, James suggest that the young “remain uncontroversial and one-dimensional” because of lack of factual details of history (Loewen 26).
An additional example used by Loewen in the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is President Wilson. President Wilson is identified and appreciated for having lead Americans into fighting the First World War. He is also noted for having playing a significant role in the women’s suffrage and influencing the League of Nations. However, Loewen reveals various factual details concerning President Wilson that are hidden in the historical books. One of the unfolded truths concerning President Wilson is that he took part in intrusive of the politics and promoting war in Russia during the intensive civil wars in the nation. Loewen also identifies that president Wilson took part in sending of troops to Haiti, Panama, Dominican Republic and Mexico to promote fighting and killings. President Wilson is also known for segregating the blacks from the government positions and promoting racial discrimination (Loewen 31). However, hardly do historical authors bring these facts to the knowledge of the students through the textbooks.
Works cited
Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New Press, 2008. Print.
