Welcome to Litsy!

This was a very enlightening read. There are parts of the text that were confusing because they didn‘t get an update from the 1993 original version, and I wish that more than just the introduction had been updated again in 2018 (although an update in the next couple years would be fantastic). My biggest complaint is that I feel like there should be recommended reading somewhere.

Since the structural problem in the government has not gone away, it is likely that students will again, in their adult lived, face an out-of-control federal executive pursuing criminal clandestine foreign and domestic policies.... To the extent that their understanding of the government comes from their American history courses, students will be shocked by these events and unprepared to think about them.

Um, right on the money, Loewen.

Discussing the US role in the Chilean coup against Allende: “...Kissinger openly says that the United States should not and will not respect the electoral process or sovereignty of another country if the results do not please us.”

Or, in light of recent events, even of our own country. 😳

Thank you Simon & Schuster. 4,000 people died in one day due to Covid. And a political coup was attempted that will be a super spreader event. I watched Hawley speak during the certification process and was disgusted by his role as a supposed leader in egging on the traitors who filled the Capitol.

Pick with disclaimers. This is an important read with much content to think about and discuss, but even though I read the most recent edition - 2018 - much of the data is just too out of date (original written in 1995). I found one sentence that clearly had not been updated for 2018 (saying war of 1812 was almost 200 years ago), which made me uncertain about less specific references (this century, last century). But there is new, updated content.

I found this book riveting. Where it touches on matters that I know something about, I don't always agree with Loewen's conclusions, but one of his main points is that history isn't set in stone and reasonable people can disagree.

For all that it's 25 years old, this book is timely, especially the chapters on racism and antiracism. Highly recommended for Americans who haven't thought much about history since high school.

More blather below...

“Americans need to learn from the Wilson era, that there is a connection between racist presidential leadership and like-minded public response.“

This book was last revised in 2007 and, well, clearly we didn't learn this lesson from the Wilson era.

My #BookSpin book for this month is Lies My Teacher Told Me. This is a reread - I read it when I was in or just out of high school, and at the time my main takeaway was a sense of smugness that *I* knew some of these things that aren't typically taught. I'm excited to revisit it now that I'm older, less self-centered, and further removed from the educational system.

Finished but going back to re-read the Columbus chapter. What a monster. Great read -- gripping, horrifying accounts of history that strip away the white supremacist narrative superimposed on all our history textbooks.

I learned many falsehoods in this book based on the theme of total American exceptionalism that is taught in US History textbooks. Without the honesty of analyzing American policies, we get a history that‘s whitewashed, inaccurate, and boring. My one complaint is the author had an off-putting tone which, even though I agreed with his points, was hard to take after awhile.

Note to self from gregcorbinspeaks on Instagram #blacklivesmatter

I was almost done reading this a few years ago when it became a casualty of overdue library books. I haven‘t finished it yet but what I read was excellent. I think it should be required reading with every high school American History course. It makes a case for not using textbooks to teach history at all but rather primary documents to get the truth and not the official press release of history.

#SummerSchool #Educational #Riotgrams #Bookstagram