American History

I think that these activities of imperialism and racism are offshoots from the very human instinct of survival. When people decided to group together and form communities, of course there is always a pariah or someone left out. That desire to live and to continue to survive progressed to civilizations when the existing civilization has experienced for example, a drought or a food shortage and someone else has the upper hand, war or armed conflict would break out for civilizations fear of being destroyed or to end. Adolf Hitlers concept of Lebensraum called for an aggressive, armed expansion of Germanys borders, which was one of the triggers to World War II. But Hitlers concept of Lebensraum stems from the Germanic peoples suffering from lack of space in Germany long before Hitler and the Nazi Party came in to power (Germans moving to Eastern Europe was called Otsiedlung). Germany was close to imploding during the Weimar Republic due to the strains on them after WWI. Hitler desired for Germany to become a global power again, like the days of Otto von Bismarck, yet unlike Bismarck, he had his own agenda as well He used the Jews and other peoples of Eastern Europe as scapegoats so that the GermanAryan race can grow. Its a desire to survive, which is in the instincts of every animal in the planet that eventually grew into racism and imperialism.

1. Its an even bigger distortion of history if teachers omit the contributions of women and minorities in history. A more holistic view of history is being cultivated by adding the contributions of women and minorities, in my opinion. There are always two sides to every story, and its up to the listener what to get from it. Is Rosa Parks involvement in the Civil Rights Movement with Rev. Martin Luther King downgraded because shes a woman Well she was one of the triggers for the whole movement to rally upon Is Mao Zedongs last wife Jiang Qing not part of the Gang of Four that took Communist China to a wild tailspin at the Cultural Revolution that took decades to recover from How about Queen Boudica, queen of the Brittonic Inceni who fought against the might of the Roman Empire Omitting the contributions of the women and minorities in history is looking at history from one angle. History is meant to be taken at many angles.

2. Focusing on resistance movements will lead to lionizing them. It does not give a more holistic view of what is happening if there is only a focus on one side, in this case resistance groups who are fighting against oppression. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was a spontaneous revolution of the Hungarian people against Soviet rule, was more well known due to  the brutal suppression of the revolutionary government  and the subsequent repression by the Hungarian people by the Soviets afterward. A lot of literature and testimonies taken from Hungarians were taken, but not much from the Soviet side (though the Soviet Union was reluctant to share) and The Hungarian Freedom Fighter of 1956 was even called Time Magazines Man Of The Year in 1956 The history of oppression still needs to be seen at the point of view of all the people involved. The resistance, the oppressors, the oppressed. Why the Rwandan Genocide Why did the Hutu-led Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi militias kill thousands of Tutsi and Hutus who did not agree with their Hutu Power ideology What was the trigger for these groups What did the Tutsi do to earn the ire of the Hutu to make them kill Looking at oppression from the resistance groups point of view is incomplete and inconclusive.

3. Egypt has a very vibrant history, even before its conversion to Islam. But after the last of the Pharaohs, Egypt found itself under Roman, Byzantine, Arab, then Ottoman, then French, then British rule. Egyptians then lacked the identity of a nation during those times. When they finally broke off from Ottoman rule with the help of the British,  they never really had someone from Egypt in charge until the arrival of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. However, the leader they were proud about was actually a British puppet. The alliance with the Soviet Union was created to keep France and Britain out, but the newly formed state of Israel made that alliance stick. Egyptian nationalism was formed under centuries of foreign rule and oppression, and that they were able to persist and survive made them proud.

Its your classroom
1. Yes, it can be done. It will show to my class the perils of subjugating people under the threat of force. Be it by armed conflict or even by art, subjugation and oppression by any form is not welcome in a civilized, modern society.

2. Yes, there are connections to these songs. Oppression does not last forever, as history is always glad to point out. People will find ways to bring it down. A sad and rather morbid connection is that lives will certainly be lost in the quest for freedom. There is always a price people have to pay, and if people wanted freedom badly enough they will make that effort to get it.

Join the Multicultural Debate
1. James Banks and Maxine Greene has the right idea, its all about empowerment of people to be more knowledgeable, active and caring citizens,  and the ability to look at things from different angles and perspectives to see the bigger picture. Both of them come close due to they give priority to openness and understanding between people whatever race, creed or culture they belong to, which is basically multiculturalism.

2. Most of the statements are agreeable, they all preach the most important thing and that is to become more open and understanding of culture and other people. Though Albert Shankers statement that multiculturalism is also a form of separation, it is from the notion that multiculturalism separates from a common set of values and a rigid adherence to a single code can lead to bigotry and isolation.

3.   The implication is that people are now slowly but surely being more exposed to other people and other cultures, and its high time that people recognize them and learn from them. Social Sciences should be able to process these kinds of information taken from various sources and turn them to concrete action meant for students to become more well-rounded. The acceptance of the contributions of different cultures and peoples are being repressed by old, colonial and outdated paradigms, and multiculturalism is a paradigm shift for both educators and students. Not just looking at one angle of the story, like in fairy tales, but in other angles.