My Siester friend has a son who is 16 and I was talking to him about what history they teach in UK in primary and secondary school, I ask him what history have you been taught on genocide he told me they only learnt about the Holacaust and that was it, and I ask him if he ever heard off the Native American genocide which was much bigger than the holacaust in terms of death, I also ask him if he was taught in school about the African slavery genocide or the australia abroiginies which he didnt have a clue. So im asking because in Russia we had books in the school and was taught about these genocides but why are schools in UK and mabie USA and Australia even not teaching children about this? God bless thanks for your input Bella, the boy knows who Abroiginies are but didnt know millions of them were victims of genocide thanks to UK. So why is this?
Other - Cultures & Groups - 5 Answers
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1 :
Because in schools you learn your country's history. I doubt you were learning about Henry VII or Victorians so why want us to learn American history? And actually we do learn about the slave trade. Just because one person you know may not have learned it dosen't mean the whole of the UK dosen't. Your friend sounds like a moron if he dosen't know who abroiginies are.
2 :
Hello, I went to school from 1958 - 1976 (university included). Back then the maps of the world were covered in pink and blue. Initially we were taught from the perspective of the older colonial mentality that you did not take people three generations from the bush or trees, teach them to flush toilets then expect them to run governments and technical infrastructures the next. Much of the old Social - Darwinistic attitudes were still there relfected in many books and cultures and the world threat, communism at the time was strirring up the natives over there and had to be stopped. After the social revolution in the 60's, teaching totally reversed and Colonialism was taught to be evil. Terrorists over a few hundred years from Cochise, Geronimo, Shaka to Kenyetta, not to mention contemporaries like Che Guevera and Castro became fashionable folk heroes. Movies from the 30's to late 50's that showed American Indians and African natives in a bad light, reversed themselves and showed the White man in a bad light. In my country, Canada all this sort of history was covered though I got taught from two different worlds as you can see. That said, most countries have some sort of national pride and like to hide their dirty deeds. Remember the big fight China had with Japan five years back where the Chinese were upset that every year they Japanese cry and remember the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagkasaki but refuse to address Japanese Imperialism and subsequent atrocities in China in situations like the Rape Of Nanking etc? We were also, by the way, taught about the expansionism in Russia under the Czars, Ivan The Terrible to the Great Game (Russia vs Britain in the 19th century), Russian Revolution and Stalin's purges in the 30's which took a tremendous amount of lives. Cheers, Michael Kelly
3 :
For the same reason they don't teach about the genocides committed by the Ottomans against the Greeks and Armenians - or, at the other end of history, the genocide against the English by Guillaume le Bâtard and his Normans. You obviously have some kind of anti-British agenda you are trying to push, and you seem to think you are very clever. I think it is you who should read a few history books - maybe then you won't have such an ignorant outlook on world history.
4 :
A country's schools often does not teach its students about the parts of history that may make them look bad. The Native American and Native Australian genocides are a part of the UK's history, as well as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. By the way, I am reading "Heart of Darkness" which is a story based on the author's real-life experiences in the Congo (Central Africa) in the 1800-1900s when the Europeans took over and were enslaving people. It's disturbing but profound and might be a good read in UK's history classes.
5 :
I understand that these are important issues, but the schools cannot teach pupils about everything. I think that people should learn about these things independently. In the limited time that teachers have to teach about history, only the most relevant things should be taught. The holocaust/ww2 mainly occurred in europe and is therefore more relevant to people in the UK. So many things have happened in the history of the world, teachers do not have enough time to teach about everything (for example, did you learn about the genocide led by Genghis Khan - the biggest genocide in world history?). I do however think that there should be more documentaries on these subjects so that people can learn independently. I wrote my answer real quick so might not make sense. Edit: I guess Britain was the reason why these things happened and everyone should know this...... but I still think that if teaching time is limited, the holocaust/ww2 should take priority
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