It's Time for U.S. History Textbooks to Get Honest

I have always been quite fascinated with how schools teach history and have wondered who or what forms the past that I am taught. Textbooks serve as the main source of curriculum design in the United States. However, I, and many others, have noticed that these textbooks take a Euro-centric and White-American point of view. This issue stems from the fact that publication sites are mostly based in Texas and the consumer market is practically owned by the Texas educational system. Publication companies are nearly forced to establish their topics and information around the Texas curriculum to make sales, taking a predominantly White-American view in accordance with Texas’ predominantly White-American demographics. The absence and underplay of certain events in American history alter students' understanding from textbooks and ultimately shape their biases and perspectives as future members of society, as authors like Dana Goldstein have written about. 

The "joyous" American tradition of Thanksgiving is a prime example of this issue. Across American schools, most students are taught from textbooks that Thanksgiving was a celebratory feast between Indigenous peoples and pilgrims. However, this is factually incorrect and morally wrong because it erases the historical treatment of Indigenous people, such as the Wampanoag population. Before the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, the Wampanoag had interacted with American colonists, dating back to the 1500s, with whom they had peacefully traded and communicated. However, the arrival of Captain Thomas Hunt in 1614 had a completely different outcome than previous encounters; he ended up kidnapping a group of Wampanoag when they set foot on his boat to trade. Captain Hunt sold them into slavery, and those Wampangoag people never returned to their homeland. The arrival and communication between American colonists and the Wampanoag meant the Indigenous people were also plagued with various diseases that killed tens of thousands. 

With this in mind, it wasn't a surprise that the Wampanoag people kept their distance from the Pilgrims when they initially arrived. Once they finally met, the Pilgrims needed the Wampanoags' help to survive because they had no idea how to harvest crops. Therefore, under the first peace treaty between Indigenous peoples and American colonists, the Wampanoag would help the Pilgrims crop and plant as long as the colonists allowed the Wampanoag to maintain their autonomy. The treaty created the first Thanksgiving in 1621 to celebrate this accomplishment. However, not long after the feast, the leader of the Wampanoag, Massasoit, died along with Governor John Carver, who had led negotiations as a representative for the colonists. Their successors did not carry over the peaceful relationship between the groups, and both engaged in a series of minor conflicts that ultimately led to King Philip's War (Massasoit's second successor's name) and ended in the capturing and deaths of thousands of Indigenous peoples.

Thanksgiving was a far more complicated and devastating event than many learn about in their history textbooks. The more that Americans continue to gloss over the history of Indigenous people while indulging in turkey-filled dinners, the less awareness is raised for Indigenous people's issues and history. More people should advocate for the rights of Indigenous people today on reservations and take the time to educate themselves on issues they are facing today, such as the clean water crisis in many Indigenous communities. It is wrong to celebrate such an event without understanding the history, because Thanksgiving today is celebrated only for the part of the story we want to see it as. Instead, the event should recognize the Indigenous peoples who sacrificed themselves for us to enjoy such a feast, and the event should praise those Indigenous people today who carry on the legacy of the Wampanoag tribe and any Indigenous tribe.

Textbooks need to include the perspectives of those with different identities to tell many stories instead of forwarding a single narrative, such as the White-Christian male norm. Like many others, I don't fit the White-Christian male norm and believe that changing the table of contents in history textbooks is a start in the right direction of demonstrating a more diverse narrative of the history of America. Including factually and morally correct American history while highlighting the voices of marginalized communities would lessen the subjectivity in the telling of America and broaden our understanding. 

Deven Paresh Chitkara is a sophomore at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and a Next Generation Civic Fellow. In his free time at school he is the co-founder/co-leader of the Automotive club, and the founder/leader of the student athletes of color club. He is also a member of the academic integrity board at Fieldston and participates in programs at Fieldston such as ACTIVE (Asian American affinity group) and Bridge to Bridge (mentoring program for students of color). He also plays for the school’s basketball team and the school’s golf team. Deven enjoys spending time with friends and family and writing for his Automotive blog outside of school.