Lies My Teacher Told Me Summary

Lies My Teacher Told Me (Ch7-9)
In Chapter 7, Loewen claims that current American class structure has not been well represented in high school history text books and after reading this chapter I agree with him. Class structure is something I have not thought a lot about until this moment. I come from a middle-class family that has always had to work hard for everything. Which had lead me to actually believe the fairy tale that America is “The Land of Opportunity” where everyone is equal and has just as good of a chance to make it here as anyone else. In all of my previous history courses I can remember only a few cases where the class system has been discussed and in those moments, it was always talked about as a past event that has since been remedied. Meanwhile, many in the lower class continue to struggle to earn money and as a result cannot afford a better life with nicer homes and better schools for there children. As a result of this children of lower class families are at a distinct disadvantage compared to middle and higher class children. The saying the rich get richer and the poor get poorer comes to mind.

In Chapter 8 Loewen

calls out History textbooks for the portraying the American government as a “international good guy” while in reality it is more of a story we tell ourselves so we sleep better at night. American history textbooks should not be made by Americans. That may seem a bit harsh but the fact is that an American author writing about American history is naturally bias and therefore unethical. The audacity for Americans to believe that they are morally superior when compared to other countries it’s no wonder Americans are generally disliked. Textbooks emphasize our meager humanitarian efforts to make Americans feel like we are a caring and compassionate country when in reality it’s highly exaggerated. It’s no wonder Americas doesn’t attempt to be more altruistic we believe that we lead the world in that category. So why continue our charitable efforts when we already do more than anyone?

Chapter 9 Loewen discusses the commonly neglected recent past.

Loewen claims that History text books devote less time to recent events because some parents, teachers, and publishers were still alive during the events and would be highly criticized, controversial, and difficult to publish. Although all of these may be true I believe there is much more to be learned and taught that are arguably more relevant, applicable, and relatable than (for example) the war of 1812. There would be drawbacks however. If History classes began teaching about the Iraq war, there could be children whose Mother or Father fought in that conflict and could trigger PTSD. While Loewen claims that recent past events are not being taught like they should this book was published in 1995 and I believe schools have since adopted to teaching more recent

events.