I don't think we disagree. I think his act was noble and honorable in a time of war. What I meant by sacrificing his honor was that he knew, if the confederacy lost, he would be portrayed in government schoolbooks as a villain - and he was correct.
Breaking news, History Textbooks in California and Texas are Different.
- Thread starter Snattlerake
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I don't think we disagree. I think his act was noble and honorable in a time of war. What I meant by sacrificing his honor was that he knew, if the confederacy lost, he would be portrayed in government schoolbooks as a villain - and he was correct.
Yes sir, he absolutely was, as are you.
I don't think it was covered in our textbooks, but it was covered in my 9th grade Oklahoma History class. We each had to do a research paper and presentation on something from Oklahoma history, and one of the students did his presentation on the Tulsa Race Riots.
I wonder if they still teach about the 5 civilized tribes in Oklahoma? That was mandatory.
Richard Feynman covered this in one of his memoirs (Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, I think), relating the tale of when he was on a textbook selection committee for California. That was a disturbing chapter, nearly as bad as the chapter in a later memoir about when he served on the committee following the Challenger disaster...
"We are called 'civilized' because we are easy to sneak up on."
~ Just watched "The Outlaw Josie Wales" a few days ago...
If the Confederacy had won the Civil War then most likely Pres. Lincoln would have either been removed from office or under arrest by the time his assassination would have happened so John Wilkes Booth would have been only remembered by a few as a failed actor.
Not a word about it in our class. I wonder how that student got onto it? Parents? Was this in Tulsa area?
It was in Norman. I don't know how he got onto it; it seems like there was a list of suggested topics, but that was a long time ago. FWIW, this was the "advanced" class where they did things a bit differently, so I couldn't tell you if it was covered in the "normal" Oklahoma History class.
A friend of mine grew up in Claremore, and he knew about it, but he said his grandma remembered it and told him about it (though I don't know if he also learned about it in school). My mom grew up in BA, but the Riots were well before her time (her folks didn't move from west Texas to BA 'til after WWII); Grandma was a schoolteacher, but I don't recall asking her or Mom about the Riots, so I don't know if they knew about it.
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