Zinn and The Truth of History

Zinn and The Truth of History

Introduction

This paper offers a critical insight/perspective on Howard Zinn’s article entitled “Speaking Truth to Power with Books”.  The controversial Howard Zinn, come out with new paradigm in changing our thinking.  It’s like a kind of brain wash that Zinn do to the public by his book “A people History of United State”.  He has change everything that we has known on Columbus.  Something that he said is sometimes we only obey the rule without checking the truth first.  Howard changes the balancing of society and influence education system.

His contribution for education and history is much huge, make us think in different ways.  Fact, fact and fact.  He so excited by that word.  He is the important part of constructing history where he thinks what the people never thought before.  Zinn has successful make a new perspective but he also leave unclear marked on his perspective.

Summary

There are several basic points that Zinn wrote on Columbus, whom we ridicolusly percieve as the hero/the discoverer of America. 

First, Zinn said that Columbus is genocide, murderer, a torturer, a kidnapper, a mutilator of native people, a hypocrite, a greedy man looking for gold, willing to kill people and mutilate people.  It is very brief statement on Columbus. 

Second, on his article “Speaking Truth to Power of Books”, he said that books can change our life and book can change our consciousness in many ways

1.      It is introduce the new idea that the reader never thought before.

2.      There is a knowledge comes from book

3.      After reading a book, especially if they are reading unorthodox history. It may strike you by because we are all confronted with language that presumes a common interest for everyone in the nation.

Those points that Zinn want to deliver by showed his book “A People History of United State”. In other hand Zinn want to show his book can change the world and make a new ideology regarding the founding father of United State.

Third, as the historian Howard Zinn see the history from different view.  He found new land of historical history that never though before.  Who know and brave enough to say that Columbus is a murdered, genocide, mutilate and soon?  On this article, Zinn told us about his experience when he read Dickens’s Hard Times and struck by the character of the schoolmaster Grangrind who advises a young teacher to give a fact, nothing but fact.  Also he takes words from Senior Bush, George H. W. Bush that kids must learn fact.  His assumption that all of the people have to know about who actually Columbus is.

Critique

There are five points on Columbus that are neglected in Zinn’s article. 

First, on Zinn’s article “Speaking Truth to Power of Books”, Howard Zinn try to show what the content of his book and his ideology but he began with many books only to show that book change our life.  It seem, he is not brave enough to introduce the main point of his article in very beginning.  Actually he want to stress that his book can change the world. 

Indeed he begin with the book change our life, than the story about Gragrind that give an advice about fact and fact also from Senior H.W Bush teach children a fact.  It seem clear that he need help to cover his argument with people argument.  Why didn’t he put his idea on who Columbus is in very beginning of his article?  It make people uncomfortable with the article, Zinn running around by the explanation of many book before he get to the main point of his article.

Second, Zinn is radically influence the education system in the world.  By his perspective on Columbus, he provokes discussion, controversy, argument. He encourages them to think about whether and how they have the ability to create direction and change.  His book “A People's History of the United States” is 'the textbook of choice in high schools and colleges around the country.  Truly it change the student’s mind set and become radicalism.  Perhaps it will be good for developing their critical thinking but it can also bring the big misunderstanding.  The student also has their own opinion, and they couldn’t receive it directly.

From Stanford University School of Education Professor Sam Wineburg say that over time, however, a problem emerged as Zinn's book became the single authoritative source of history for so many Americans. In substituting one buttoned-up interpretation of the past for another, he finds, A People's History and traditional textbooks are mirror images that relegate students to similar roles as absorbers – not analysts – of information. He writes that a heavily filtered and weighted interpretation becomes dangerous when "we are talking about how we educate the young, those who do not yet get the interpretive game." (Wineburg, 2012, para. 12)

Third, on the article Zinn not put the references, this is become his weaknesses even in his book a president of Purdue University give his critics to Howard Zinn.  Indiana’s former governor, Mitch Daniels, now president of Purdue, “A truly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation that misstates American history on every page” is what Daniels said of the book in a 2010 email to one of his staffers. “Can someone assure me that it is not in use anywhere in Indiana? If it is, how do we get rid of it before any more young people are force-fed a totally false version of our history?” (Schoenfeld, 2013, para. 2)

Forth, Zinn successful to uncover the fact of Columbus, but he never told us who is actually the true of founding father of United State.  Laksamana Cheng Ho has found it a long time ago around 70 years before Columbus, in the 18th century.  There are some evidence show that America continent has found before. (Kristanty, 2013)

Fifth, most of his thinking is point on the mark.  Zinn successful become a great critic.  But, on point that Zinn not give all the explanation, only from historical side and show controversial fact.  In the Washington post book world, reviewer Michael Kammen, a professor of American History, wrote:

I wish that I could pronounce Zinn's book a great success, but it is not. It is a synthesis of the radical and revisionist historiography of the past decade. . . Not only does the book read like a scissors and paste-pot job, but even less attractive, so much attention to historians, historiography and historical polemic leaves precious little space for the substance of history. . . . We do deserve a people's history; but not a simpleminded history, too often of fools, knaves and Robin Hoods. We need a judicious people's history because the people are entitled to have their history whole; not just those parts that will anger or embarrass them. . . . If that is asking for the moon, then we will cheerfully settle for balanced history.

Writing in Dissent, Georgetown University history professor Michael Kazin argued that Zinn is too focused on class conflict, and wrongly attributes sinister motives to the American political elite. He characterized the book as an overly simplistic narrative of elite villains and oppressed people, with no attempt to understand historical actors in the context of the time in which they lived.

Conclusion

There are some points that can be concluded from Zinn’s article.

First, Zinn said that Columbus is not a hero, while Columbus is genocide, murderer, a torturer, a kidnapper, a mutilator of native people, a hypocrite, a greedy man looking for gold, willing to kill people and mutilate people. 

Second, Howard Zinn express people regarding the truth of history even though it was very in disarray fact.  Are we still call Columbus as a hero while he was a murdered, genocide, rapping, and a criminal?  He tries to say the founding father of United State is not a good man.  It show the fact that history can made only for the people who brave enough to show up them self as the important part of the society.

Third, he also said that by book we can make the world changed. He is explain the fact of the Columbus but unfortunately he didn’t show us who the real founding father of America itself is.  We can learn from this, history can made for the people who have good literacy, reading and writing.

References

1.      Stanford University School of Education. 2012. Plotnikoff D. December 20, 2012, from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/december/wineburg-historiography-zinn-122012.html

2.      NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. 2013. SCHOENFELD G. July 26, 2013, from http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/honest-history-howard-zinn-article-1.1410091

3.      Liputan 6 news. 2013. Kristanty EY. October 9, 2013, from http://news.liputan6.com/read/715137/ini-bukti-laksamana-cheng-ho-penemu-amerika-bukan-columbus?wp.trpl

4.      New Repuclic News. 2013. Greenberg D. March 19, 2013, from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112574/howard-zinns-influential-mutilations-american-history