For the past couple hundred years the majority of the population in America has been Caucasian. As a result the story of America has been told according to the events that concerned Caucasian Americans. The history and culture of white America has been accepted as that of the country as a whole. Ignored has been the history and culture of the many minority groups present in this country. Their history and culture has been absent from the identity of America. The image that this country portrays has been false because of this. In order for the true image of America to be revealed the history and culture of its entire population must be accepted as the truth. As diversity and acceptance of diversity in America grows, America's sense of history, culture, and identity will become more diverse as well.
For the majority of America's lifespan its sense of its own history has been biased. This country's story has been told through the viewpoint of Caucasian Americans. This is only one of the many ethnic groups that make up the population of America. Without the stories of all of these groups the true history of this country is incomplete. This incomplete view of America's history can be found in its schools" curriculums. Traditionally in American history class, students first learn about Christopher Columbus and the settling of the New World, then the Revolutionary War, and so on. They learn about heroes like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Over the course of their education, students have learned all the major events that have helped form America, as it is today. While accurate, this story of our country is not complete. Most of the textbooks used in classes are written from the perspective of white Americans. Having not been written by a person of a minority group, these textbooks are unable to convey the point of views that minorities have on America's history. We do learn about slavery, the civil rights movement, and other events involving minorities, but very seldom during school do students have access to the minorities" perspective of these events.
