"In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Christopher Columbus sailed in from the blue." We could all probably regurgitate this saying as we have heard it from elementary school. Each year, we celebrate Christopher Columbus day. He has been formed into "America's first great hero," but what makes him a hero? Sure, he sailed the ocean blue, but why are parts of his story fabricated or omitted? Christopher Columbus can be tied back to the last post on heroification; everyone likes a hero, so why not give them one?
As having taught this topic to fifth graders, I noticed something: the ones who know who he is, are mostly white students that view him with such admiration. This was the initial response from students, but I presented the information in a different way. Now, I am not going to say that I presented all of the information about the previous explorers that Loewen presented to my fifth-graders because quite frankly, I didn't know it all myself; however, I did attempt to present them with the fact that there were explorers before Columbus and about his interaction with the native people. This brought the topic to life for my students. They were engaged with the material because they felt social injustice happened. One thing I know, kids can always tell you if something is fair or not. This changed the way the class learned; the kids were asking questions left and right-some of which, I had to seriously think of!
Even though new research findings have been released, textbooks have not been changed from the classic story of Christopher Columbus. Instead, textbook writers are presenting him as the first one to "discover" the Americas and falsely presenting the details that led him to his exploration. It would greatly benefit students to understand the reasons WHY he went on his exploration and what conditions in Europe led up to this? All descriptions of this are vague in textbooks, but why?
Archetypes are preserved through this type of selective wording. Also, students could see parallels between past policies and current policies if texts were written clearly and without bias omissions. Instead, textbooks choose to create a hero through elaborating or fabricating qualities to make him more likable. Once again, this is usually written from a "white perspective" that eliminates readers of color. Why eliminate our students, why not show all parts of history, and what each group has contributed? Instead, we choose to ignore certain parts of history to make it more enjoyable to read. However, I strongly disagree with that statement; I feel that students react more strongly to stories of conflict and stories that they are able to relate with.
From my reading of Loewen's Chapter 2, 1493.
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