History is the root of unity for any given country. It is something irrefutably precious to every citizen, and yet the true historical record of United States history seldom goes unscatched by censorship. To a certain extent, censorship is necessary; there is violence and poisonous concepts that do not need to be taught. But sometimes, censorship does more than just suppress offensive ideas; there is a fine line between protecting young eyes and promoting propaganda, and America definitely toes it.
The primary goal of censoring history textbooks should be to shield students from things that are not appropriate for them, but often, there are other less noble motivations that go behind censoring. Many of these said motivations involve pushing political agendas and forcing personal values and morals into the text (Brunner). The general guidelines for textbook censorship vary from place to place, but the American Textbook Publishers Institute tells publishers to “avoid statements that
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Curriculums that are intended to shape students’ mind into whatever the current majority’s values and morals are are not for “the land of the free”. Knowledge based on anything other than objective fact does not belong. No one can erase history, nor should anyone try. When it comes down to it, what is done is done; the logical way to proceed would be to learn from past mistakes. However, the only way to learn and advance would be to know these mistakes in the first place. If nothing else, the records of oppressed peoples in history deserve to see the light. The truth of the genocide of Native Americans, the unedited reality of the life of a slave, the bigotry of racism that keeps its perseverate grip on this country, deserves to be known. No justification, no sugar coating, just the plain truth with no weak excuses to try and cover things up. That is the history American students deserve to