According to Lies My Teacher Told Me (which I think is a fantastic, fascinating book that I read excerpts of in high school philosophy), heroification is a pervading problem in American schools that leads to several negative consequences for students. For example, the excerpt suggests that the blemish-free portrayal results in “pious, perfect creatures without conflicts, pain, credibility, or human interest.” (p. 9) This contributes to statistics I remember reading elsewhere in the book, which reveal that history is the least-enjoyed academic subject especially amongst students who are not white males, as the majority of historical heroes are. The worshipful portrayal also leads to unrealistic standards for role models in the eyes of children.
As may have been evident in class, I have been on the fence throughout the semester regarding the value or lack thereof of the idealized legendary American, but this excerpt solidified my opinion. Loewen perfectly argued why heroification is a negative influence on learning, and I found that all of his points rang true with me. I had no idea that Helen Keller was such an extreme socialist, as the 20 page biography I read of her “held her up” as the “blind and deaf girl who overcame her physical handicaps” (pg 10) and little else. Similarly, I was shocked to learn about Woodrow Wilson’s extremely racist and un-democratic politics, as I had always been told that he was one of the ‘nice’ presidents–wanting to be lenient on Germany after WWI, trying to ensure the peace with the League of Nations, etc. Not only did these revelations make Keller and Wilson more interesting to me, but they made me feel more engaged, as the omitted details referenced ongoing problems and conflicts in our country that needed and still need to be addressed, rather than portraying America as a stagnant result of years of gradual bureaucratic progression. I also agree with Loewen that current textbooks’s glossed-over content results in “intellectual immaturity” among students. (p. 25) I feel this myself, as I am usually disappointed and saddened when I hear of some negative aspect of an American Hero that I learned about as a child. Why, though, when it is clearly unrealistic to expect perfection from anybody? I feel that the unrealistic expectations taught by history have also bled into my personal life, as I tend to expect too much from authority figures such as my parents. Loewen’s assertion that we have been given a “Disney version of history” seems very accurate. (p. 25)
As far as solutions are concerned, I think the answer is simple: textbooks and teachers should be more forthcoming about the faults of historical figures. Just as I don’t believe religion is necessary to having morals, we do not need history to give us ideal figures. We can use fairy tales and utilitarian, logical ethics for that.