Racism Exposed In Joyce Appleby's The American Journey

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The American Journey was published by Glencoe and National Geographic in multiple cities (New York, New York was the first listed). The authors are Joyce Appleby, Alan Brinkley, and James McPherson, all of whom have PhDs. Appleby was a professor and historian at UCLA before she passed away. She was also involved with the American Historical Associated, and was also a writer. Brinkley attended Harvard and Princeton and later taught history at Columbia University. McPherson received his college education from John Hopkins University. He is a Civil War historian and professor at Princeton University. He also received a Pulitzer prize. All three of the authors are white and come from fairly privileged backgrounds, judging from the universities …show more content…

He would notice, however, that the book did include an actual slave owner's quote, but would mostly likely dislike the heading used. Additionally, Loewen would notice that racism is not mentioned, nor is the process and specifics of slavery. By not mentioning racism, this textbook makes slavery seem like a thing of the past and nothing to worry about, but it does have lasting effects that this book ignores. Although it was not in the excerpt I photographed, Loewen would also note that the book did not address any presidents having racist tendencies and remarks. Loewen would say that by not addressing racism and white-washing the abolitionist movement, that students would be ignorant to the effects of slavery and racism today. Johnson would also notice the heading where the textbook seems to refer to slavery as possibility compassionate – an idea Johnson would not approve of, judging from his strong adjectives used to highlight the horrors of slavery. I think Johnson would also say that this book fails to relate slavery to the present-day and racism. The book makes it seem as though slavery and the racism and power struggle surrounding it are items of the past that no one has to worry about