Illustration by Kathrine
Snow Pederson | Washtenaw Voice
By Kevin Gerych
Staff Writer
It seems there is an ever-increasing widespread issue with clear-cut historical interpretations.
From my own experiences in the past, much of the Michigan eighth-grade history curriculum paints the vague and generalized picture of “North: good; South: bad,” in regard to the topic of the Civil War. A huge focus is on slavery and most eight-grade students, as well as those who have moved on, can tell you how President Lincoln freed the slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation.
Sadly, that did not happen, and it’s pretty clearly spelled out in the document. The Proclamation only applied to the 10 states that rebelled. It did not include the nearly 500,000 slaves in Union border states.
Right here in our area, history is being sanitized. The Dearborn Historian, the publication of the Dearborn Historical Society, was recently suppressed by Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. when it raised the question over Henry Ford’s anti-semitic views.
In the words of the Historical Society of Michigan’s executive director and CEO Larry Wagenaar, “History is not an exercise in public relations, and not all people and stories are positive.”
This spreading of misinformation helps motivate some people like Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who opened fire in a predominantly African American church, to associate the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia with images of white supremacy and hate.
As a reaction, Confederate statues and monuments are being torn down in cities such as New Orleans, where the removal of such statues is sanctioned by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Cemeteries, such as the Screven County cemetery in Sylvania, Georgia, where Confederate soldiers lie, are being desecrated.
The graves of Confederate Soldiers are protected by several U.S. Codes dealing with veteran affairs and are considered U.S veterans by Veteran Affairs. The federal government and the V.A. have spent, as of October 2018, nearly $3 million to protect and secure cemeteries with graves of Confederate veterans.
Jim Crow era segregation is being laid at the feet of Civil War soldiers, the majority of whom never owned a slave or engaged in the practice of slavery. Reminders of history, both good and bad, are needed, so as not to forget and not repeat. Just visit the Holocaust Memorial in Farmington Hills for an example of this.
In no way do I condone the ideologies of slavery and acts of cultural genocide of the past. I do believe that there is a need to teach legitimate history, not political narrative, in our public schools—uncut and uncensored from both sides. Provide a good education, and we will produce generations of people who are able to freely discern right from wrong. Fail to do so, and we will produce generations who are so offended by the mere sight of what they believe to be wrong that they advocate for the complete removal of said history.
Once again though, the general public is most likely not prepared to go all in and “cleanse” us of all of the said historical “evil.” For example, Coca-Cola was created by Confederate cavalry Lieutenant Colonel John Stith Pemberton—are we going to get rid of it? Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts of America, grew up the daughter of a slave-owning Confederate Captain during the Civil War. Should we turn our backs on the cookies?
Michigan’s own U.S. Sen. Gary Peters’ family members were Confederates who housed John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Perhaps he should resign because of this? The Assistant Secretary for War of the Confederacy was from Pennsylvania and made Michigan his home. He is buried in Genesee County. Should his body be removed?
Finally, there’s our nation’s pride, Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington exists today because of the generosity and honor of the Lee Family. The little known fact of the matter is that Arlington was the estate of Robert E. Lee before the war and the Union buried the dead there as a sign of disrespect to the Confederate general. After the war, the Lee family sued the federal government and won. Yet they decided to allow the majority of the land to remain a cemetery for the fallen of this great nation. It has a confederate section and the Lee homestead is a U.S. National Park site.
That is history. It is complex and rarely black and white. It contains stories of people on all sides of conflicts doing great things and terrible things. I feel it’s best that it’s taught that way; with as many resources available, not as a political narrative to indoctrinate generations into group think.
