Just Something to Think About

Something that really made me think about the Vietnam War involves the brief discussion during Thursday's class about history class. I don't remember ever having a class lesson in history class about the Vietnam War. I never really thought much about the war until entering this class. I remember WWII, the Holocaust, the Revolutionary War - things like that. All these events have a common theme: a bias favoring the U.S. In these events, the U.S. had a positive role which is probably why they're taught in school. I feel like the Vietnam War is a sensitive spot for the government because the public was so against it and America lost. Regardless, this war was such an important part of our history and should be included in the curriculum.

This has made me think about the morals and goals of our education system in this country. I think of a case in which the government is in a way influencing us to be more patriotic. Then again, I did learn about white settlement in the New World and that definitely did not glorify America. This makes me question why that dark time in our history was included in our learning but not the Vietnam. Lack of time? One possibility could be that white settlers successfully drove the Native Americans away which I consider to be a "win" while the Vietnam War was an absolute "lost."

If this is the case, what does that say about our country? That we don't like to acknowledge our mistakes?