Remember the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen? Well, I read another of his books entitled "Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong." I've read 250 pages so far. It's set up by region of the United States and then critiques monuments, museums, plaques, etc. found across the country. The truth is that many of the historic sites he writes about are insignificant statues and plaques that very few people would even give a second glance at. There's lots of these things across our country and I'd hardly call them "historic sites." (In some ways, James Loewen would agree as he argues that many of them contain made-up history and are therefore made-up historic sites.)
After reading the first 100 pages, you'll get the idea of the book and once you read the heading for each passage, you'll know exactly what Loewen is going to say. He's obsessed with a) mistreatment of American Indians b) Reconstruction and Segregation and c) The lack of women in the historical landscape of the US. Basically, each entry of this entire book can fit neatly into one of those categories. After a while, you go "yeah yeah, no women in this museum..." and flip to the next entry only to say..."yeah yeah, it was the Mormons who massacred the Illinois pioneers, not the Indians...."
Now, it seems like this is a bad review of the book. But it's not. This is an interesting, insightful book, which explains rather well how America wishes to remember its history. The South rewards segregationists, racists, and continues to perpetuate racism with statues depicting black people as "mammies" and "uncles." The West rewards pioneers who enslaved American Indians, pushed them into poverty, discriminated against Chinese workers, etc. The Middle States (Montana, Kansas, Illinois, etc.) remembers things they weren't involved in or are just plain ridiculous - Abraham Lincoln's log cabin is long gone and no, he never built it. Montana had nothing to do with the Civil War and should not have a Conferate statue. The North - Well, they don't tell history like it is for fear of controversy. (Why talk about the debate about the Constitution and Bill of Rights at Independence Hall in Philadelphia when we could talk about how they all grabbed a beer afterwards...) Or, they make stuff up so that we appreciate a historical site better. George Washington wasn't really all that religious, yet we'll make a church depicting him praying at Valley Forge in stained glass. OOOH, shiny!
For what it's worth, I'll rate this book a 7/10. I'll deduct points for repetition, a lack of really noteworthy historic sites, and for sometimes long-winded entries. Other than that, Loewen provides sound historical truths and really nice explanations as to why these historical markers are detrimental to our national historical consciousness.
