When I was a junior in college I learned that some of the history lessons I had in the past were about events that never actually happened. Professor Ramirez gave a great explanation. He taught us that America was in its infancy, it needed people who were loyal as any other country does. So poets, song writers, and story tellers created tales to inspire patriotism. We now know that Paul Revere never actually had a midnight ride, the Pilgrims and Indians never had a friendly feast, and Columbus didn’t “discover” this wonderful land. Before we put America down for this, we can consider the other countries around the world who have told similar urban legends, myths, and tall tales to inspire loyalty from their citizens.
Instead of spending our time on condemning, we can move forward. When we know better, we can do better. We can teach the children in our classrooms the facts, we can teach them how to analyze an author’s intent, and we can still celebrate traditions in patriotic ways.
Examples:
- Reading several accounts from reliable sources about events in history and allowing children to form their own opinions about them.
- Talking about why it is important to love the land we are living in. We can learn from the people who came before us and leave a better place for the people after us.
- We can get insights from members the cultures we are teaching about instead of relying on opinions from outside sources
- We can share traditions with each other while simultaneously teaching tolerance and acceptance
Sources to find the truth about American History:
I also love listening to the Big Fib podcast with my students. In a nutshell, they bring in two people to interview. One is an expert, the other is pretending to be. The kids love listening and trying to figure out who is telling the truth. It's pretty tricky and a great life lesson because the kids will be immersed in the culture of "fake news" for the foreseeable future. (Heads Up: the LISA character can be a little irritating in the show.)