A History Lesson...

I've learned some very interesting things in my time that have shattered certain ideas.

For instance.

Did you know that Rosa Parks was a plant? That she wasn't just some poor, sad, tired black lady, but a civil rights activist that had planned the entire event out?

Did you know that Harvey Milk wasn't just a gay rights activist, but a marijuana activist? He thought they were the same war. Also, he was incredibly polyamorous, sexing just about everyone around him.

Do you know why we allowed slavery to be in practice? At the time, there was no such concept as "the human race" - we didn't think africans were like animals, we thought they were animals. Considering the social culture and knowledge barriers at the time, it almost made sense.

Did you know that Lincoln only abolished Slavery so that the south couldn't send the slaves in as soldiers, because if they did the North would quickly lose?

Did you know that most historians believe that without eastern interference, Native Americans / American Indians were likely to have killed each other off anyway because they, too, thought of the other tribes as animals?

Did you know that in the South, the Civil War is taught as "Northern Aggression"? Or that in Europe and other countries, they teach the American Revolution as if they'd just said "alright, colonies. Whatever. We don't even want you. Have fun!" instead of the ruthless bloodbath that we're taught here in the states.


History is only as it is taught. If everyone in the world believes something happened a certain way, did it really happen that way? In the novel 1984, this concept is explored. "We were at war with Eastasia. We were always at war with Eastasia." Do things only happen as we remember them or as they affect us, or is there really something more to it? If you tell everyone in the world that we've always been at war with Eastasia, and the entire world believes that we've always been at war with Eastasia, then have we always been at war with Eastasia? Is there such thing as an absolute truth? Or is it all easily manipulated in the minds of the beholder? That's something to think about the next time you hear that Rosa Parks was a sad, little old lady who'd had a long day at work, because maybe, just maybe, history was rewritten.

...So, in the end... who's right?