I volunteered in a seventh grade English class. The lesson: identifying credible news sources. Students were being taught to distinguish fact from fiction and how amplified claims affect our ability to discern the truth.
Separating fact from fiction extends beyond the news. It can reshape past memories and whom we choose to honor. Why isn’t the profile of Ulysses S. Grant etched on Mount Rushmore? Our nation wouldn’t be the same without General Grant’s leadership. His formidable war strategies overpowered Confederate General Robert E. Lee and saved the Union. Grant was a hero yet Lee received monuments. Southern historians wrote the Lost Cause narrative, a contrived response to the Confederacy’s defeat. Authors cited states’ rights over slavery as the war’s cause. Lee was heralded as an infallible soldier, betrayed by subordinates, while Grant was branded as a brutal leader using barbaric tactics. The United Daughter’s of the Confederacy campaigned to bake these powerful platforms into school curriculum and the heroism of Grant was lost to fiction.
Efforts to rewrite history abound. Government websites have removed references to the prosecution of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol and assaulted police on January 6, 2021. Baseless claims of a stolen election to discredit the process still permeate news.
Were people paying attention when Grant’s leadership was discredited by fictional truth? What history are we losing today that will modify our country’s future? Let’s not lose sight of what’s going on lest we allow history repeat itself.
I’m Anissa Kuhar and that’s my perspective.
