Growing up in an America that had not been painted with the Political Correctness Brush I think my education in American History was somewhat better then the one being spewed into the heads of today's American Student.
When I pick up a text book today about all I see is evil white European men, evil Christians and evil big businessmen. Which is crap in my opinion as it hides the evil done by many on the left wing side of the spectrum.
Historian Thomas Woods has researched many of the claims of the PC History bunch and found them lacking and has now offered us an alternative to the brain-washing.
In The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, Woods looks at history from the colonial times up to the Clinton administration trying to shed some light on events that most of us over 40 were taught one way and under 40 a different way.
For instance, he seeks to 'debunk' some continued myths concerning this nation's history.
And while I think much of what he writes needs to be examined further by the student, if they do it with an open mind it is pretty easy to discern fact from PC Fiction.
Students have been told for decades that the Puritans were racist who were intent on stealing the Indians' lands. Woods shows us evidence to the contrary, that many Indian tribes understood land ownership and sold their lands and that genocide that did occur happened later when men of all colors and nationalities began to crowd the new lands. It is not a lie that the "White Man" in the form of black men, white men, yellow men and brown men decimated the Indian nations, leaving a very small number to eek out a living on the crappy ground given to them by the government. What is a lie to me is the caveat that to most Indians, 'we all looked alike', and "White Man" was usually defined as anyone who was not one of 'the people.' But that is normally left out of text books because it perpetuates the stereotype that white people are evil.
He also raises the idea that the Founding Fathers weren't the radical revolutionaries many have claimed but conservatives in the true sense of the word, with a belief in the bible, a Creator and the rights of the individual taking precedence over the rights of the rulers.
He takes particular interest in several constitutional readings over the years, mostly in regard to the First, Second, Ninth, and Tenth amendments and tries to make a clear case showing how the rights of the individual and the states have been stomped into the ground by the federal government since the early days of America. For years, I have been saying about the War Between the States (or the war of Northern Aggression) the things I was taught in school and that I was taught by people who had been taught the oral history instead of the 'book learning'.
Learning that it was more about the desire of a central government then the end of slavery will upset a lot of folks, but truth is truth.
Woods claims that the phrase civil was in incorrect by supplying facts showing atrocities committed by Union soldiers to the south, including those committed on civilians. For crimes against civilians including rape and murder Sherman deserved the death penalty based on the 'rules of war' he learned at West Point.
Something that is not well known is what happened at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where "The city was so heavily bombed that the residents had to resort to living in caves and eating rats, dogs and mules," according to Dr. DiLorenzo, author of the "Real Lincoln."
Also glossed over is the treatment of women in New Orleans, where the order was given that any woman out after a certain time was to be considered a whore and Union soldier could do what they wanted with her.
People wonder why the South is still antagonistic over this period. Study the history, dig out old school books from before the 'intellectual revolution' of the late 1960's and early 1970's, read some of the journals and diaries of people who lived during this time that are online or search bookstores for them. As has been said, "The Truth is Out There."
My one regret was that he did not go into more detail about the life of Blacks in the north during the time before the War or even after.
He also deals heavily with FDR's New Deal policies and attempts to show they actually made the Depression worse. And while this is one of the spots that bear a lot of thought, on a personal level I still think the CCC did a good job of training kids in various fields and preparing them for life as an adult.
I wish we still had the program now, building bridges instead of allowing healthy people to stay at home drinking beer and watching TV.
A couple of years ago when Mel Gibson released a film called "The Passion of the Christ" many left wing groups, liberal think tanks and others called for the condemnation of Gibson for one reason or another. But one that stood out and still is bandied about is the fact that "Gibson's father supported Hitler."
My problem with this is multi-fold; first do we condemn the son for the acts of the father? If we do, let me raise another name: Joseph Kennedy, father of Ted Kennedy current Senator from Mass., Robert Kennedy, the first civilian victim of Islamic Terrorism and head of the Justice Department under his brother, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States.
Good old Joe supported Hitler, including his racial beliefs and hatred of Jews. So, why aren't we smearing the Kennedy clan with the Nazi paint brush?
Henry Ford supported Hitler, but we keep on buying Fords and supporting his family. So, why only Gibson?
Could it have something to do with the centerpiece of the film, Jesus Christ and hatred of Him?
According to many, Bush stole the election from Gore and Kerry. Of course this is said without any evidence or confession from any of the parties who would have been involved.
However, one name is never mentioned during this argument; the name of another Texan who won his first major Political job miraculously, since he was losing but 'suddenly' one whole town voted for him. In alphabetical order; before his death the man in charge of elections admitted that he rigged the election so that Lyndon Johnson would be the winner.
Looking at actions claimed and never done has always been something politicians have been good at. One that is overlooked is the John Kennedy's two major books which were 'ghostwritten.' And yet Kennedy won and accepted awards for one of them.
He covers the Stalin atrocities while showing that American intellectuals and liberal entertainers supported Stalin and his brand of Communism (and still do, for many of them) while glossing over and often outright lying about what was happening in the Soviet Union.
Woods also uses something called "Books You're Not Supposed to Read" "PC Today" boxes containing both more reading material and comparisons to different moral and ethical ideas.
The book is biased, the same as all books supporting a personal or professional idea or ideal always will be. But it is only the stupid who close their minds to the possibility of what might be written here or in other places. People are scared of having their political and social heroes destroyed or shown to have feet of clay. Maybe that is what is needed however to make people think.
Do I personally believe or agree with everything Woods says in this book? Not a chance. For one thing, I always liked Kennedy and I still have problems with McCarthy. I had ancestors on the Trail of Tears, so I know the American Indian was murdered, his lands stolen and the people starved almost into extinction. Plus I think he was sort of easy on Hitler and Nazism in general. But that does not mean I reject everything he wrote.
It just means I have to do something a little more difficult. It is called reading other stuff. I have to start thinking, trying to find truth where dust and cobwebs exist after decades of misunderstanding and even out right lies.

Professor Thomas E. Woods Jr. holds an AB from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Columbia. He teaches American History, is the associate editor of The Latin Mass Magazine, and is a prolific essayist on historical subjects. He lives with his family in Coram, New York.