The harsh side of history: a comparative analysis of teaching about national shame in the United States and around the World

ABSTRACT

As the debate over Critical Race Theory (CRT) rages on in the U.S., it is important to revist the different ways other controversial topics have been covered both domestically and internationally. In this article, we posit that there are successful and unsuccessful pathways for teaching about issues of national shame such as slavery, colonialism, and other difficult issues. We use comparative analysis to review how other countries have taught students about their own issues (e.g., Holocaust education in Germany, climate change education in Italy) and how the American education system (s) compare. Ultimately, we argue that the most successful and comprehensive way to teach about painful histories is with honesty, transparency, and empathy, with the opposite route (denial, shame, diversion) only deepening the wounds.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Texas U.S. history textbooks downplayed slavery and referred to the slave trade as ‘Atlantic triangular trade’ (Isensee, 2015; Moser, 2015). Many other textbooks have come under fire for avoiding discussions of racism and slavery.

2. Pousa and López Facal (2013) note that the textbooks they studied fail to mention colonial violence and frequently give euphemistic characterizations of violent colonialists like Belgium’s King Leopold II as ‘entrepreneurs’ (Pousa & López Facal, 2013, p. 109).

3. Black, Blanc, Beur was made famous in France’s 1998 World Cup triumph. The final, played in France, was won thanks to contributions from French-African players, white players, and especially Zinedine Zidane, born to Algerian parents. Black, Blanc, Beur was popularized as a celebration of French multiculturalism. However, in later World Cup losses in 2002, 2010, and 2014, French-African players were demonized in French media as outsiders and ‘un-French’. The Black, Blanc, Beur slogan returned in 2018, when France won the World Cup behind Antoine Griezmann (white), N’Golo Kante (Black), Paul Pogba (Black), and Kylian Mbappé (born to Cameroonian and Algerian parents in Paris). The multicultural mentality has evidently been easier to embrace when it is accompanied by national success.

4. Andrew Solomon, whose book Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity was redacted in China for mentioning his childhood struggles with coming out as gay. Solomon was disappointed to learn this same title was recently the target of a book ban in Texas, in the same district where his 14-year-old daughter resides.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Troy Washington

Troy D. Washington is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Social and Cultural Sciences Department at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Email address: [email protected].

Max Herteen

Max Herteen is an alumni relations professional at Northwestern University. He helped author this paper during his time as a Ph.D. candidate and researcher at Marquette University in the College of Education. He holds bachelor’s degree in English and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in educational policy and foundations at Marquette University.