A People's History of the United States, by historian Howard Zinn
is a groundbreaking telling of U.S. history.
It provides a new perspective not in typical school textbooks,
It provides a new perspective not in typical school textbooks,
because
as U.S. author Richard Rodriquez wrote of the usual textbooks:
"American history books I read as a boy were all about
winning and losing, contest, vanquishment.
One side won; the other side lost...
Only the score is remembered....
The progress of a nation, as of a life, is a litany of
conflict, score ...."
"American history books I read as a boy were all about
winning and losing, contest, vanquishment.
One side won; the other side lost...
Only the score is remembered....
The progress of a nation, as of a life, is a litany of
conflict, score ...."
The rhythms of real life are absent in these history books.
"Not the circlet of hair in the oval locket.
Not the early frost in the letter,
not the breakfast chucked up,
not the barometric pressure;
the droplet of sweat upon the rib cage;
the concussion of the earth,
the translucent centipede scrambling for cover," says Rodriquez.
But it is these microhistories that show our humanity
and uncovers something more profound about ourselves.
The individual affects the whole.
Not the early frost in the letter,
not the breakfast chucked up,
not the barometric pressure;
the droplet of sweat upon the rib cage;
the concussion of the earth,
the translucent centipede scrambling for cover," says Rodriquez.
 |
| 18 C. Queen of France Marie Antoinette's hair in a locket, British Museum, London. |
But it is these microhistories that show our humanity
and uncovers something more profound about ourselves.
The individual affects the whole.
In the search for truth,
we have the Right to History, even microhistory,
and this supports the Right to Knowledge---
and this supports the Right to Knowledge---
more knowledge than we may find in school textbooks.
Revision: thanks to commenters BRM, TL.
Revision: thanks to commenters BRM, TL.
