Lies We Learn In School
The ever-changing facts of history, science, and society
Most adults are cynical about all the facts we learned as children. In the USA, beginning with the myth of Christopher Columbus ‘discovering’ America, and right on through to the questioning of systemic racism and sexism in our shared history, we are understandably skeptical about what we are taught.
The fact that we celebrated Columbus as a national hero with a holiday cannot be changed, but as with all dynamic systems history can be updated, and so it is.
In the year 1800, a man named Mason Weems invented a rather twisted version of honesty.
“I cannot tell a lie,” says a young, repentant George Washington who inexplicably cuts down a cherry tree. But little George almost certainly didn’t say, or do this. We ought to learn a lot from the idea that a story meant to praise honesty is itself, a lie.
That we teach children about honesty by creating myths and misinformation should be a true lesson to us all.
Whitewash, greenwash and hogwash
People today are far more concerned with revised history, such as sanitizing slavery. What is left out of the narratives has become just as important as the stories told to cover up for past sins. A small…
