The Hidden Aftermath

Dark aspects of the past are often deliberately or unconsciously covered up, giving the world an incomplete and biased perspective of history

Text by REYA HADAYA, SUKHMAN SAHOTA and LIBBY SPIER Design by SUKHMAN SAHOTA • Illustrations by SAM MUTZ and SUKHMAN SAHOTA

History is written from the eyes of the conquerors. The absence of historical events and perspectives in history textbooks has created a scattered and bent understanding of history for the average student. The lack of diverse perspectives and historical events can be detrimental to those who have never heard the other side of the story.

History curricula help create a personalized depiction of what has happened throughout time. But what we see is a fragmented picture of our history, generating a biased understanding of the authentic story.

Analyzing every bit of history for elementary, middle and high school students can be an extremely challenging process. Charles C. Mann, an award-winning journalist and science author of ‘1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus’ and ‘1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created’, understands just how difficult it is to create a textbook.

“History textbooks are the product of large groups of people. They must cover huge swaths of history and be written in a way that children can understand,” Mann

said. “This is a recipe, in most hands, for glib generalization. But even the best such survey by the best historians would have to leave out some important stuff.”

In some states, the teaching of history has become a tactic that is used by political groups to sway the younger generation’s political views.

“History textbooks are supervised by political bodies in states like Texas, which authorize which books can be used in Texas classrooms. Very often, those political bodies don’t like things that they see as critical of their area or their country,” Mann said, “Instead, they like to focus on progress, rather than problems.”

Covering a massive amount of history inevitably leads to the omission and neglect of important and critical history that would benefit students’ understanding. “Unfortunately, what is left out often reflects the biases of the historian, their beliefs about what is important and not important [and] their understanding of the kind of story they are telling,” Mann said.

Many history teachers make difficult decisions to compress their designated section of history into 180-day courses. Justin Cronin, a Paly History and Ethnic Studies teacher, makes those critical decisions to keep his students interested and informed. “History is the one subject that gets longer every day that passes by,” Cronin said. “When you’re talking about a finite amount of time to teach students about United States history, any time you add something new, you have to follow that with the questions ‘What am I getting rid of? How does that change the narrative? Does it change it enough in a positive way or am I losing something by having this piece removed?’”

Even though leaving out aspects of history is unavoidable, the choices on what to teach and what to exclude have legitimate consequences.

The portrayal of historical events in textbooks can either provide an accurate and diverse point of view or it can glorify and uphold the white narrative of U.S.

History. “If you start the story of a group of people with the institution of slavery, it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as the Founding Fathers, or the coming over on the Mayflower or Westward Expansion,” Cronin said. “You’re talking about a story of a people who begin as chattel.”

Noelle Burwell, Paly senior and the co-president of the Black Scholars United Club, recognizes the lack of diverse viewpoints throughout history curricula, particularly for those who are a part of non-white ethnic or cultural groups.

“A lot of what our current history revolves around doesn’t really focus on the struggles and obstacles that minority groups or underrepresented groups have faced,” Burwell said.

If minority groups are highlighted as an integral part of history, the stories and experiences of people of all intersecting identities are recognized. “That would be my goal,” Burwell said. “To present a holistic perspective of American history.”

"IF WE DID NOT HAVE A TIME SPECIFICALLY DEDICATED TO

CELEBRATING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF BLACK AMERICANS AND THEIR HISTORY, THEN OUR COUNTRY

WOULD NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE SUCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS." NOELLE BURWELL, co-president of Black Scholar Society "THE PROBLEM IS THAT WHEN WE PICK UP THESE STORIES, WE ALSO PICK UP THEIR NARRATIVE FRAMEWORK, USUALLY WITHOUT KNOWING IT." CHARLES C. MANN, journalist and science author

“THIS WAS THEIR COUNTRY, TOO, BUT THEY WERE TOLD THEY DIDN'T BELONG.”

Steve Staiger, Historian

"BELIEVE THAT THE HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICANS, ALONG WITH THE HISTORY OF MANY OTHER MARGINALIZED ETHNIC AND RACIAL GROUPS IN OUR COUNTRY, SHOULD BE CELEBRATED EVERY DAY."

Noelle Burwell, co-president of Black Scholar Society

Black history

“Black History Month takes place during February and the concept of the month is to spend time celebrating, appreciating and sharing Black history,” Burwell said.

While the increased attention of Black history and the influential roles that Black Americans have played throughout history is a step in the right direction, many

think it is not enough.

“Although I think that the month is necessary, I am not content with simply having a month to reflect on Black history,” Burwell said. “The history of Black Americans, along with the history of many other marginalized ethnic and racial groups in our country, should be celebrated every day.”

While a completely integrated history curriculum would be ideal, at this point, the reality of it seems unrealistic. That makes this month even more important to listen to and learn from the history of Black Americans. “I believe that if we did not have a time specifically dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Black Americans and their history, then our country would never acknowledge such accomplishments,” Burwell said.

This recognition of Black history is fundamental for the understanding of world history, and that change in what students learn starts in the classroom. “Ultimately, if curricula were more diverse, we wouldn’t need a Black History Month, we wouldn’t need an Indigenous Peoples Month, we wouldn’t need an Asian American History Month,” Cronin said.

One of the most evident ways people notice the effects of not fully explaining historical events is the well-known story of women’s suffrage, particularly Black women’s right to vote. “In the case of Black women and their right to vote, many writers—overwhelmingly white writers— simply believed that the fact that 15-20% of the nation’s women didn’t win the right to vote was not especially important,” Mann said. “After all, they may have said to themselves, ‘80% of US women did gain voting rights—a profound change— and that’s the main story.’” Once again, the unconscious bias that the writers hold makes its way into textbooks and feeds people’s ignorance. “In a way, historians that fail to mention how Black women didn’t get to vote then reinforce the narrative that U.S. citizens of African descent are somehow not as important as everyone else,” Mann said.

The lack of diverse perspectives can influence students who are learning about groups of people that are not represented. “The problem is that when we pick up these stories, we also pick up their narrative framework, usually without knowing it,” Mann said.

“IF CURRICULA WERE MORE DIVERSE, WE WOULDN’T NEED A BLACK HISTORY MONTH, WE WOULDN’T NEED AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MONTH, WE WOULDN’T NEED AN ASIAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH.“ Justin Cronin, Paly History and Ethnic Studies teacher

Modern-day anti-Semitism

Although in history classes we learn about the modern world, an unfinished and often disregarded story is modern-day anti-Semitism.

Seth Brysk, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is dedicated to exposing and putting an end to anti-Semitism and all discrimination.

In history classes, students are taught about the Holocaust, but fail to learn that even though the Holocaust ended, the persecution of Jews did not. For this reason, modern-day anti-Semitism is often overlooked.

“There is a popular misconception about anti-Semitism, which is that it has largely disappeared because the horrors of the Holocaust ended,” Brysk said. “There’s much more to anti-Semitism than just the Holocaust, similar to how the civil rights movement and the end of Jim Crow laws didn’t eliminate [anti-Black] racism.”

From anti-Semitic jokes told in school hallways to white supremacists saluting the Nazi party, modern-day anti-Semitism exists everywhere. “During the [Unite The Right], Charlottesville Tiki Torch March, a couple of years ago, the marchers started by saying ‘You will not replace us,’ but changed the chant to ‘Jews will not replace us,’” Brysk said.

“Jews, as opposed to other groups that are targeted, are more broadly successful in society,” Brysk said. “Having Jews in leadership positions in politics and business creates the impression that, if Jews are successful, then perhaps they’re not being discriminated against.”

The reality is far darker than this illusion. “In all the years that ADL has been tracking hate crime in the United States, Jews are the most targeted religious group and are more targeted than all other religious groups combined,” Brysk said.

For the past two decades, the ADL has conducted attitudinal surveys that measure people’s perspectives on and hatred towards Jews. “Every year, around 12% of the American adult population hold deeply anti-Semitic views,” Brysk said. Twelve percent of the United States adult population is over 25 million people.

There is a general lack of awareness of anti-Semitism across all groups of people, including the Jewish population. “When I talk about the prevalence of hatred and attacks against Jews, many audiences, including Jewish audiences, tend to be surprised to hear those facts,” Brysk said.

Many students were never taught the history of anti-Semitism or the aftermath of the Holocaust. The ADL was founded to fight this issue that so few people acknowledged.

“It certainly was in the minds of the people who founded ADL to both stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” Brysk said. “They understood that even though there was rampant discrimination against Jews in this country, this was a fight that required all of us to fight against all forms of hate.”

camps,” Staiger said. “The government took special care in making sure that their rights were disrupted.” These Americans were robbed of their rights and privileges. “This was their country, too, but they were told they didn’t belong,” Staiger said. In Palo Alto, many non-Japanese resPalo Alto’s forgotten history idents took care of people’s properties,

Steve Staiger, Palo Alto Historical As- homes, and businesses until they returned. sociation’s lead historian, recounts his first “Many [non-Japanese] people in local impression of Palo Alto’s culture. “When communities were shocked and upset beI moved to Palo Alto, it was surprising cause these people were their neighbors,” how few of the people in this town knew Staiger said. much about its history,” Staiger said. “EVERY YEAR, AROUND 12% Any community member should know OF THE AMERICAN ADULT the history of their POPULATION HOLD DEEPLY ANTIcommunity. “Learning your local history helps you understand why things look the SEMITIC VIEWS. Seth Brysk, Regional Director of ADL “ way they do,” Staiger said. “Whether you’re in Palo Alto or “They were truly Americans in all Walnut Creek, just two generations ago, senses of the word,” Staiger said. “These these places were very different.” were people whose only problem was that

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a na- they were of Japanese ancestry.” val base in Honolulu, the United States In a liberal town like Palo Alto, we begovernment decided to round up Jap- lieve ourselves to be saints in respecting all anese and Japanese Americans on the minority groups, but the narrative we tell West Coast and send them to internment ourselves fails to include our own town’s camps. discrimination against Japanese Ameri-

“At the start of World War II, they cans. “Overall, it was one of the great emwent out and rounded up a bunch of Ital- barrassments of US history,” Staiger said. ians and Italian Americans, German and It is imperative to recognize and speak German Americans and Japanese and up about the biases in the reporting of Japanese Americans who were suspected history and the ways in which people fall of being disloyal to America,” Staiger back on this incomplete and harmful narsaid. rative. “It’s important that we understand

To sway public opinion of per- other people’s perspectives. It’s about beceived-enemies, widespread propaganda ing comfortable with being uncomfortdehumanized and vilified Japanese people able because, otherwise, we won’t have and, to a lesser extent, Germans and Ital- those conversations,” Cronin said. ians. “I have seen numerous propaganda While the future of racial prejudice posters from the WWII era with very neg- in American is unknown, one thing is for ative attitudes directed towards Germans certain. “History is important. If we look and Japanese [people],” Staiger said. at contemporary issues, a lot of times,

Japanese Americans faced a doomed they can be linked to the past and contexfate, unlike their European counterparts. tualized,” Cronin said. “We can under“Only for the Japanese did they round up stand what has not worked in the past and three-year-olds and young families and try to figure out what will work to move sent them off to essentially concentration through and past some of these issues.”