Book Review: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

Why do Americans see themselves as separate from history? James W. Loewen attributes it to the way we learn about the past, through passive and overly patriotic textbooks that care more about being published than creating a critically thinking public. I liked how this book didn’t just explain what those textbooks got wrong about history, but how the myth of American exceptionalism affects modern political behavior. When America is always on the path to progress, when fairness always wins, when heroes always come at the right time, there is no need for the average American to step up and become involved. Loewen proposes a new approach to teaching history that is reflective, participatory, and inclusive without harboring further resentment. While I agreed with this approach, I didn’t like the occasional generalization of how minorities are affected by the exclusion of certain histories (and I cringed when someone was referred to as “a black”). For a book published in 1995 by a white male sociologist, it does at least explain how the distortion of history affects all classes and races of Americans. Regardless, I did appreciate the discussion of how cognitive dissonance is required for patriotism in American classrooms and society. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of how the way Americans think begins with what (and how) we are taught about the past.