I have to say, that is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever heard. I know that history is in the eye of the beholder, but to literally change it so that children will not see themselves in a bad light is inane. I thought the point of teaching history was so that we could learn from past mistakes.
I just had a nice conversation with my son over a similar issue. Basically it came down to pride in being related to or knowing someone important. The short version is, "You can't bask in the glory of someone else's hard work." Don't try to look important by who you know or are related to, earn your own prestige for yourself. (i.e. don't brag about your daddy)
Kids would be better off working hard and making their own "roles and contributions" rather than sitting around pretending they have something to do with someone else's hard work. Not only is there no place in this in a history curriculum, it's simply not a good way to raise a child to think in general.
If you're looking for a US History that doesn't gloss over flaws in America's character, but puts them in perspective, check out "Patriot's History of the United States". I've read some good reviews of the book, though I will admit those reviews come from folks who share my more conservative views of politics. Folks on the other side don't like it at all. ;o)
Here's the web addy for the Amazon.com page for the book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product...ng=UTF8&
s=books
This is a very important issue that I believe few are even aware of. It's much bigger than just "teaching history" - there is an entire political and social agenda behind it. For a "bigger picture" on what is going on, you might want to read this article:
http://www.freedom-force.org/
pdf...urecalling1.pdf
It's well worth your time. There is a section called "The Strategy to Control the Teaching of History" that outlines how powerful world leaders are actually conspiring to alter history books, and the reasons why.
In the best case, this is self-esteem run amok (and I have little nice to say about self-esteem, which is imposed from without, compared to the wonderful and handy dandy thing that is self-confidence, which comes from within), and at the worst, as PHAT Mommy says, a form of political control.
You might want to check out the books of Howard Zinn. He wrote, "People's History of the United States : 1492 to Present"
Then there are biographies. I just read "Up From Slavery," by Booker T. Washington and learned a lot of history from it. Quite an amazing read.
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