Revisionist History

I have just completed reading a book that dealt with Eugenics in America. The creation of a Master Race and a war against the weak was not something that Adolf Hitler dreamed up all on his own. No, he got the idea from the United States of America, and was even lauded by these American "scientists" for his work in the realm of bettering humanity.

Wow! I was flabbergasted. I was stunned. I was appalled. I was enlightened. I was upset that in all of the years that I took history in school, in college, I never once heard of this. I had heard mention of it a few years back and did a little web searching, but even most of those glossed over this.

So I got to thinking (yes, as always it hurt, but it generally is worth the pain), how much of our history has been glossed over? How much has been given a veneer? How much has been extracted, twisted or bent?

I will grant that a concise history would be the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and be of no use in a classroom, but still...if learning from hitory is supposed to prevnet us from making the mistakes of the past, how can we learn of those mistakes if they are kept hidden or minimized to such an extent that they don't even appear to be mistakes at all, but some minor glitch in the fabric of the tapestry of history.

I currently work in a school for children with special needs, and I also have a brother who is severly handicapped by cerebral palsey. Eugenics had it been implemented to its fullest extent would have most likely eliminated these children, one of my own blood, for being born as defective. The few that might have been allowed to survive, would have been sterilized without anyone's consent to prevent the possibility of their contaminating the gene pool. When I attempted to discuss these possibilities with a couple of my colleagues, they to a one asked, "What is eugenics?" While I don't expect everyone to recall history, especially a horrible period of it such as WWII, nor a "science" that lived much longer than it ought to have, but I would think that it would be beneficial to those who educate and care for our disabled would at least be aware of certain ugly parts of our past that dealt with the population of which they now serve.

Regardless of how it may tarnish some of our hero's repuations, or possibly even show the possibility that the villians in our history had good sides, no matter the feelings that it may engender, I believe that we need a true and unbiased work of our history. I know that there are things that I am disappointed that our country has been involved in. That there have been times when our nation, the bright shining beacon of republican democracy that it is, has not always lived up to the standards and ideals of what she represents. Not because of her own failings, but because those in power at this or that point in our story have taken upon themselves to do things which they believed to be in our interests even if it was later deemed to be detrimental to it instead. I want to know, you should want to know. It may not always be pretty, but I know for me, it will give me an even greater voice in making sure that those in government do NOT repeat the mistakes of our past, because at least some of us have learned and do not want to see those mistakes made again.

Thanks again for your time and look forward to discussion.