I do believe that “heroification” in American History textbooks is a problem. I think the two examples that James Loewen gives of Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson are perfect examples of how some things about our legendary Americans are silenced. I know that the only thing I ever heard about Helen Keller, whether it was the things she went through or her quotes, were from her childhood. I honestly thought that she died at an early age since I never really heard of anything from her older years. Reading this article is the first time that I have hear of Helen Keller living til 1968.
As far as Woodrow Wilson goes, the only thing I could really remember about him was that he was one of the presidents. I’m not saying that he was a boring president, but it seemed like he kind of blended with the other ones. Some stood out cause of things they did or things that happened to them while they were the president like Nixon and the Watergate Scandal, JFK’s assassination, Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, William Howard Taft getting stuck in the tub, Bill Clinton and his alleged affair, etc. I don’t remember ever reading about his racial segregation of the government and the military interventions in different countries. Wilson would be much more memorable if textbooks actually talked about those points in the higher grades without trying to shift the blame to someone else other than Wilson.
I think it’s important that if we are going to think of somebody as a legendary American, than we should know everything there is to know about them, even the bad things or the things we find socially incorrect. I don’t think it needs to be introduced right away, but it should be gradually introduced. I think middle school would probably be the appropriate time to start administering the truth to students. That way the students won’t be so young to need “protection” but gradually introducing them to these things would be more realistic then having most of the people seem perfect.
Another point that Loewen brings up is that the people that we study in the history books aren’t looked to as role models. I know many kids who look up to popular stars of today that have their mistakes and indecent behaviors posted all over magazines and the TV. I have not heard of many kids today whose role models are people that they have studied in their history books, the perfect American icons. Showing the mistakes of people from the past that we still consider legends today will make them seem more realistic and easier to relate to and make learning about them more interesting.