Brown And Abraham Lincoln: The Invisibility Of Antiracism In American History Textbooks

In the chapter titled ‘John Brown and Abraham Lincoln: The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks’, Loewen’s thesis is that American textbooks choose to omit information and concepts, such as antiracism, from their telling of history; even if by doing so, they are excluding ideas they might even agree with. In order to support his thesis, Loewen showcases times when textbooks have neglected to share vital information with its readers or when textbooks have used biased language without giving the reader the full picture.
One such way that Loewen supports his thesis is by touching upon the case of American abolitionist John Brown, and his future treatment by American textbooks. Throughout the chapter, Loewen repeatedly points …show more content…
Why is he not given the same treatment as many other figures in American history who committed similar acts? Loewen suggests that the reasoning for this may be that due to his violent acts, textbooks believe that future generations may not be able to view Brown in a sympathetic light. However, is this idea really true? Would students be unable to view Brown sympathetically, just because some of his efforts led to bloodshed? Looking at how many young students view historical figures who have committed horrible deeds, I would say no. For instance, historical figures such as Christopher Columbus are regarded with sympathy or even admiration, and textbooks have had no problem identifying Columbus, who was also by definition a murderer, as a heroic and commendable figure. This is all due to the fact that textbooks allow and frame the stories of individuals such as Columbus, in a way that portrays them as human beings who are capable of making decisions that are considered immoral or violent, actions that you may disagree with and view as wrong. By choosing to instead omit the full information, textbooks are not allowing students to fully recognize and understand the people or the actions behind the history they are learning.
To contrast with John Brown, Loewen refers to the fact that another historical figure, former President Abraham Lincoln is portrayed in a sympathetic …show more content…
Instead, American textbooks have portrayed Lincoln in a way that makes it seem as though he was actually uncaring towards the rights of African Americans and instead suggest his only true agenda was keeping the Union together. Loewen also brings to light that American textbooks often apply degrading terminology to refer to certain individuals in history without telling readers the true meaning or history behind the words. For example, Loewen points out that many textbooks use the term ‘scalawags’ to refer to Southern white Republicans, but do not bother to explain to the reader what these words mean, who the words were being used by, and to whom they refer to. By not explaining to students the history behind the words, while instead using them as if they were an unbiased term for the time period, it normalizes the use of the language and does not allow for students to realize these words were, in actuality, used to slander and discredit certain individuals. Thus, Loewen’s main point goes back to the idea that by continuing to exclude certain portions of history from American textbooks, society is choosing to deliver a retelling of history that, when examined closely, proves to lack genuine, gritty conflict, or any type of unpredictability to American