Hidden truths.

What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one's heroic ancestors.
--James Baldwin

In describing our nation's history, many of the things people mention are the people and what they accomplished. This history and these people are the identity of our nation. The ideas and beliefs they supported and fought for define what our country is supposed to have believed. Therefore, all the hidden faults are the hidden identity of America. It is the other side of our people that we know is there, but refuse to display. It is similar to the way Loewen says we hide the more controversial part of people when we make them heroes. We don't want people knowing things that might be considered bad, lowering our opinion of them. We only want to display the things that we want others to learn from or to think that these are the only important acts of these people. Helen Keller being a socialist is not something we want to teach others, but we do want them to learn from her determination and perseverance to overcome her handicaps. Similarly, we hide the fact that Woodrow was racist since at this time, we had abolished slavery and decided our country a place of equal opportunity. It would contradict the ideals that America upheld. I agree with the epigraph, but I don't necessarily think that it is a bad thing. We shouldn't hide things, but we should emphasize our better side. This will show others what ideals we try to uphold. We don't have to deny our past, but we need to show we have learned from it. I only agree with Loewen to an extent however. Once people are capable of understanding the actions of our country's "heroes," we should be taught of the hidden life of these heroes. Before then, we should only teach that which we want people to believe themselves. Children are impressionable and might misunderstand what parts of a hero we want them to follow if they are presented with all the information.