2007-10-06

Some People Seem to have a Problem with This..*.


I, for one, love it.

As do a majority of the people in Denver who wonder why this shirt was taken from the Colorado History Museum gift shop shelves.


Oddly, Colorado was the first day state to celebrate Columbas Day and the place in which its celebration is still hotly contested.

Hey, have you ever read the book: Lies My Teacher Told Me? I read it when it first came out in 1996. It is being re-released on my birthday.

"What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one's heroic ancestors. - James Baldwin "A Talk to Teachers"

At the very least, this book will make you think. It could also inflame you, fascinate you and incite emotions about a topic you'd thought you put to bed when you graduated.

Mr. Loewen begins his critique with the pantheon of American heroification and dives right into his vilification of common textbook versions with well-footed noted documentation. With Helen Keller, he discusses her membership with the Socialist party and her championing of women's suffrage. It speaks of Woodrow Wilson being a very outspoken white supremacist who, during his bid for the presidency, promised to work towards civil rights. With his second chapters' treatise of Christopher Columbus, you'll begin to question not only his "discovery" of America but find out what gave rise to the "Black Legend" of Spanish cruelty. The Truth about the First Thanksgiving decimates everything ever taught about this event.

You will hate this book, or you will love this book. You will believe it, or you won't. It could seem like anything from a rebuttal to socialist propaganda. But, it will make you think, and that is very important.





*when, really, more attention should be paid to paid grammar and cyber idiocy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One of my all-time favorite non-fic books right up there with Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do ("the absurdity of consensual crimes in a free society") by Peter McWilliams. Required reading, folks!