American Miseducation: Myths, Distortions, and Illusions

Abstract

Unfortunately, most Americans are woefully miseducated about their country. Their beliefs about America are erroneously based on myths, lies, and slick propaganda. Moreover, their miseducation begins very early in their lives and continues throughout their lifetime. They are conditioned early in their preschool years to accept a fictional image of America through fairy tales, which portray imaginary heroes. The great myths in American history are an obstacle to racial harmony. To the detriment of Black people, the reality that the myths about the United States are more widely known and believed than the historical truths point to the crucial problem of miseducation. The United States is a hierarchical society destructively divided along racial and class lines. This essay argues that relations between Blacks and Whites in America began as a relationship based on the White elite's debasement of and control over Black people and that this fundamental relationship has persisted to the present. It maintains that we must acknowledge this profound and obvious relationship to fully understand the political, psychological, social, and economic dynamics of the United States and work to undo miseducation.