What makes a good American? This question is often at the forefront of political campaigns and debates, as well as in our schools and households. In raising a child, whether as a parent or as an educator, one must consider the ideals they hope to instill. Oftentimes, these ideals reflect those of a hive mind culture that insists we protect “American” values. Thus, curriculum geared toward nationalism, rather than historical accuracy, is prominent in American education. Unfortunately, this innate desire to cherish the perceived values of America can and does lead to the erasure of history, corruption of memory, and censorship of knowledge.
Nationalism, defined by Merriam-Webster as “loyalty and devotion to a nation,” is, in and of itself, not a bad thing. In fact, it is even easy to argue that nationalism can be a good thing. However, the utilization of nationalism in schools has proven to be harmful to the preservation of accurate and unbiased history. James W. Loewen observes in his novel Censoring History that history textbooks often strive to “indoctrinate nationalism.” This “indoctrination,” an unshakable need to ingrain pride in American students, very often obstructs education. As seen through Loewen’s study, nationalism in the schools even goes as far as erasing significant parts of history, such as the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was an internationally-recognized human rights catastrophe. Yet through Loewen’s study, he discovered a shockingly small number of American students were receiving accurate information about the Vietnam War, if any information at all. This national epidemic of teachers incapable or unwilling to accurately portray the Vietnam War has led to a generation of students, myself included, who can recall very little information about what happened. It is not only shocking but deeply disturbing that a global atrocity occurring less than fifty years ago is not being appropriately taught, or taught at all, in our middle and high schools. This erasure of history does not only express a detrimental bias in the name of “nationalism,” it serves to produce students who will inevitably recreate the same mistakes, because they were never taught any better.
The history taught in our public schools is not only excisive but incredibly corrupt. This can be primarily seen through characters in American history that are heroized or villainized. The polarization of historical figures creates an environment in which we are taught that those who worked against the “American dream” are inherently evil, and those who worked toward it inherently good. This is especially exemplified in the way history teachers and textbooks pit Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X against each other. Jennifer E. Fisher writes, “Little is taught regarding Malcolm X and the limited amount said usually portrays him as Dr. King’s violent alternative who marginalized whites while contributing little to the movement’s success as a whole.”
The extreme way in which we fictionalize history is erosive. The concept of “nationalism” as constructed by white America shows those who were agreeable and willing to uphold a positive relationship with the white man – the untaught oppressor – were beacons of hope in an otherwise tough time. Conversely, those who refused to submit to a culture that committed repeated atrocities against them were savage or aggressive or, most surprisingly, “black nationalists.” Once a group other than the white majority becomes active in expressing pride for their culture and seeking protection thereof – once the minorities become “nationalists” – the word takes on an entirely different meaning.
In allowing our educators to use “nationalism” against the vocal minorities, both as a label for and a concept against, we are effectively teaching children that when the majority wants rights, it is good and worthy of pride. But when the minority wants those same rights it is dangerous and wrong. This corrupts the way we view how historical figures impacted America and, consequentially, our students pay the price for this bias.
The corruption and therefore censorship of knowledge is a tool used by authority to limit the public’s understanding of a country’s negative role in history. Thus, it is a common trope in dystopian literature that the people in power restrict the knowledge of those beneath them (as in Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale, and 1984). In 1984, Orwell wrote, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the future controls the past.” Why are we, as Americans, not concerned that an enormous amount of dystopian literature is chronicling our reality? Our need to achieve total nationalism is turning America into a dystopia. The censorship of knowledge is the ultimate injustice and it is being committed regularly in classrooms across the country.
This censorship can be seen not only in the way we discuss America’s role in American history but also in the history of other countries. Speaking again to the Vietnam War, Loewen notes that many history textbooks cite the cause of the war as “democratic” or preventing the “domino theory” and rarely discuss countering views. Additionally, history in public high schools rarely teaches the effects of Japanese internment on American culture or Japanese culture. America’s international relations are often taught as very strong and noble, always being the martyr, the protector; never do we see America’s role in international relations taught as the antagonist or the aggressor. This sugar-coating of America’s misconduct throughout history allows students to be proud of their country, but also to continue denying the ways in which we’ve hurt so many people. American history classrooms are becoming the breeding grounds for intolerance and unwillingness to change. We cannot put our future in the hands of those who do not have access to the past.
Why is nationalism an accepted excuse for forgoing accurate historical education? Penelope Trunk writes, “we have a … system where public school kids sit through nationalism diatribes masquerading as history so that they will be better at sacrifice.” This idea that kids must learn to sacrifice for their nation is very scary. Perhaps, after the significant opposition to war drafting, authorities are using public education as a way to groom children into joining war efforts if need be. Or maybe this concept of sacrifice applies within societies; sacrificing wealth to an unjust rich, sacrificing knowledge for a majority opinion, sacrificing freedom for an institution. Although these musings may seem extremist, the fact of the matter is that, through a heavily-biased nationalist curriculum, those in power are encouraging our kids to do something, and the main goal of that something is not education.
Generally speaking, America is a good country and being proud of your country is a good thing. But being proud is not the same as being blind. One must be able to look at the entire history of the country, wrongdoings included, to truly understand what it means to be a good American. Being proud of an idealistically veiled country does nothing for progression. No matter how proud of America students may be, if they do not truly know America then their pride is worth nothing. Raising nationalists with systemically corrupt curriculum is raising nationalists who become exclusionists. We are conditioning our students to blindly follow a path so rutted by injustice that it is as demolished as the lands we pretend we didn’t destroy.