I have always enjoyed studying history. I find it fascinating to learn about the people who came before me. When I was still a student I generally excelled in history classes because of my curiosity about the past. I find so much that we humans might learn about ourselves from honestly gathering factual information about the way our ancestors once lived. Sadly in my fascination about history I came to realize that most of what we learn in the limited and hurried classes that we take as youngsters is akin to reading a generalized synopsis of what really happened in the past. It takes much more study to become genuinely informed.

There were no College Board approved Advanced Placement courses in my high school. I’m not even sure if such a thing existed anywhere at the time. The result is that my encounter with courses on the United States and the western world were watered down recitations of a few fact here and there without many details as to why things happened the way that they did. Studying the Civil War that broke the union of the United States is a perfect example of how shallow the information actually was. 

My teacher swept through that era with a listing of dates and battles and leaders on each side of the conflict. We did not read primary sources of the time that would have enlightened our beliefs. I did not know about the articles of secession that each Confederate State used to outline reasons for breaking away from the rest of the nation. If I had encountered such documents I would have learned that slavery was very clearly stated as the main source of the conflict. With primary source material I might have found out that the Vice President of the Confederacy bluntly outlined his belief that the black slaves were inferior human beings whose only purpose on the earth was to be used for labor. I would have immediately seen that the Civil War was totally predicated on keeping people enslaved to boost the economy of slave owners who had mostly justified the imprisonment of people with horrific beliefs about race.

The Advanced Placement History classes of today provide students with first person truths garnered from the writings and speeches of the players in the stories of the world. They also consider writings from contemporaries of the times. No longer do students have to simply take the word of those who have written textbooks. They learn how to parse the actual thoughts and ideas of people living in different times. It is an enlightening experience that also pushes students to think critically about our historical evolution. It focuses on provable facts insofar as it possible.

I have taken a number of continuing education history classes at Rice University. The professors use primary sources that come from the mouths of people who actually lived in particular times. With writings of an era they produce a glimpse into the minds of the movers and shakers of history. I vividly learn about their prejudices, philosophies and foibles. I can see the imperfections along with the wisdom or courage that has led to and shaped the world that we now know. With the gift of hindsight I almost want to have a super power that allows me to warn the heroes and villains of the past about the problems that their follies will ultimately create. Such mind exercises prompt me to think more carefully about the consequences of the future that our present day decisions will determine. 

I am truly saddened when I witness politicians and people who are quite ignorant of history attempting to silence those whose research has uncovered evidence of grave errors in the past. They want to enshrine heroes without admitting that none of them were perfect. They protect their own philosophies and ideals by ignoring the truths that might lead them to question the ways that we have always done things. They do not want to hear honest critiques or debate ideas for progress. Instead they preach a doctrine of rock hard stasis in which nothing ever changes even when the evidence indicates that it must do so. They fear admitting that maybe the heroes of the past had the same clay feet that most of us do. 

As a Dean of Faculty at a high school that was lauded for its excellence in academics I sat in many Advanced Placement history classes. I was awed by the knowledge and honesty of the teachers. I was excited by the depth of the discussions that they initiated with their students. They were dedicated to showing their pupils how to parse and research and write about the past. Their students eagerly engaged in critical thinking. I always felt that by demanding debates and searches for truth these teachers were preparing their charges to make far better choices for the future than most of us know how to do. Those young people learned how to look back, consider the present and prepare for the times that are to come. 

There is a time when adults use fairytales to teach the very young. Stories and fables can be quite powerful, but ultimately those children must also learn how things really work. My experience with adolescents and teens has shown me that they are ready and eager to be treated as the intelligent people that they are. They not only want to encounter honesty in their classrooms, but they actually need to do so. The teaching of history is critical to debunking the myth that prejudices of the past were somehow more benign than they actually were. Anything less than confronting truths will keep backward thinking alive. Let our students read the actual words of the people that they are studying. It will be an extraordinary experience.