When history is whitewashed, it is filtered to hide marginalized groups and oppression. Recently on the news, textbook company McGraw-Hill stated that the company will rewrite a portion of their book which referred to African American slaves as workers and immigrants (McAfee, 2015). I was offended by the fact that McGraw-Hill even published a book that slaves were called workers and immigrants. To say that African Americans were workers and not slaves changes the whole fundamental history of enslaved populations; workers implies a willingness, when in fact, African American slaves were not willing participants. When you change the wording in textbooks, you change people’s views and perspectives of historical events and their everlasting effects on cultures. …show more content…
One way he does this is in the story of the Zoot Suit Riots. I prefer that we call this story the Solider and Sailor Riots and here is why. During WWII the War Production Board banned zoot suits because there was too much fabric being used in the production of making them. Zoot suits were high in demand and were sold illegally to patrons. The government reacted by labeling people who wore zoot suits as hoodlums. Mexicans and Mexican Americans wore zoot suits anyway because the zoot suits had become a part of their identity. This was Mexicans and Mexican Americans