"Lie My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen

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What does /his/ think of James W. Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me"?

Originally published in 1995, "Lies My Teacher Told Me" was required reading for my high school's American history class, so the content set the tone for the curriculum. I speculate the time I read that book (2004-2005) coincided with cultural progressivism's gaining traction from the Bush years. Progressives had decades of significant victories, especially in the 90s of which this book a product on that era's zeitgeist. Gore's loss and the outburst of Jingoism post-9/11 galvanized progressives to push for a bigger paradigm shift. They were hopeful Obama would bring back the Clinton years, but failed, especially now with our President elect.

Anyway...

The crux of Loewen's polemic highlights textbook understatement or omission of bloody conflict/treachery between colonists and indigenous people of the New World. Barely any detail is given to the Vietnam War, and the few passages which cover the events omit the atrocities committed by US Troops. In other places, textbooks lie about even the most trivial details, such as the origin of the "Betsy Ross" flag. For Loewen, perpetuating the myth of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America stands as the salient failure of American education. Loewen chalks the poor scholarship up to ethnocentrism and racism, which also explains why textbooks underplay or deny other more credible alternative perspectives.

Loewen's work is ridden with progressive bias, and in some cases, the alternative theories he cites turn out to be absolute bunk, but he challenges the layman by shattering preconceived notions and introducing novel concepts which merit debate.