I found this activity to be very eye-opening. The first time I took the quiz, I could barely think of people in any of the areas besides the white males and females and a few in the black males and females. Regarding most of the other ethnicities, the people I remembered were leaders of nations that the United States had gone to war with or been in conflict with, for instance Kim Jong-Il and Saddam Hussein. In between taking the two quizzes, I did some research to fill in the blanks that I had in my mind. Even after doing so, I still had some unanswered questions.
The easiest group to come up with answers to was by far the whites. This is because this ethnic group is the one taught about the most in United States history. They are the most prominent because they have written most of history and chosen which facts and names to record.
The male gender was by far the easiest gender to come up with individual names. Males have been the prominent leaders of nations and therefore their names have come up more often in history classes. Also, for most of history, males were the only ones who were educated and therefore the only ones who could write. As a result, history tends to generally be presented from a male perspective.
This quiz showed the flaws in how the history of the United States is taught. The majority of United States history focuses on white males. However, there are other histories mentioned. White females, black males, and black females are also mentioned throughout, but not to the same extent. Most of these ethnic histories in the United States are still developing as more research is being done. These are hidden histories that are begging to be uncovered.
The groups I found that were not discussed much in the United States history were Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern. With more and more immigrants coming to the United States from Hispanic countries and with more of them gaining political power, Hispanic history in the United States is just beginning to be uncovered. The Asian history in the United States has been a hidden history in part due to the treatment of the Asian population after World War II. Even though this was a big atrocity, it is something that is skimmed over in many history books, as is the influx of Asians from Laos after the Vietnam War and their impact on America. The Middle Eastern history in the United States is also hidden. After September 11, 2001, more people became interested in that history out of fear as they became more aware of a Middle Eastern presence in America.
This experience was very eye-opening. I didn’t realize how United States history is skewed toward white males. It is very easy to see how the prominent ethnic group and gender can affect national history. However, like the book states, just because histories are hidden does not make them unimportant. If it wasn’t for these hidden histories, America would not be what it is today.
In what ways have the hidden histories of different ethnic groups affected the United States national history?
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I think not knowing the histories of other races has made us very ignorant of how people really are, and because of that historically we've treated "others" very poorly. I think there is a lot to learn from other people and when I've traveled to other countries I've learned so much about culture and traditions and it's so much fun to be outside of my little bubble. We could all learn a lot from different cultures and I feel like it would make us all more understanding and accepting of differences. I do believe racism and the like have improved but they still definitely exist and perhaps learning about different ethnic groups would change some peoples' minds.
ReplyDeleteI think that yes, white male is the dominant gender/ethnicity. We have given them a lot of power, obviously even over our country without showing much about other ethnicities. I think this may be way we have a lot of racist people in our country or why a lot of violence happens. I feel that if we would have learned more about other ethnicities in school or wherever I don't think so many people would be so ignornant or show hate towards other ethnicities.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the hidden histories of other ethnic groups has made people not as well rounded in all of the areas of our past. It is one thing to know and understand our own ethnic background, but we are not the only ones that make up the US so we need knowledge of all ethnic backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, I agree with what has already been said or implied. I think that the "hidden histories" of ethnic groups other than "white" has resulted in slightly more subjective historical viewpoints. However, I do think one should keep in mind that the subjectiveness sometimes (not often, but sometimes) goes both ways. For isntance, one can graduate college without ever listening a Bob Dylan song, but one cannot graduate college without ever reading Zora Neale Hurston. In the end, I think everything is subjective. After all, I am a believer that there should be an entire day devoted to appreciating Bob Dylan's accomplishments as an artist in the 1960s. But that won't ever happen.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point Anthony about everything being subjective and that sometimes history is slanted away from “whites”. I would have to agree with you that the subjectivness can go both ways. This being said, I think the subjectiveness is slanted highly toward whites and not other ethnicities as demonstrated by everyone’s difficulty finishing the quiz.
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