I remember learning about Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in kindergarten. His story was taught to us as one of “accidental heroism”: Columbus wanted to get to Asia by traveling west and mistakenly landed in the New World, which he thought was India. They even taught us the cute poem to help us remember the story: “Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in August 1492…” Our early history books credited him with “discovering America” and celebrated him as a hero of history.

We didn’t know that Columbus didn’t even set foot in North America. Or that he wasn’t even the first European explorer in the Americas. Or that he left a legacy of violence, slavery, and proselytism.

We weren’t taught any of that.

Not in elementary school. Not in middle school. Not in high school.

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In school we learned about the Thanksgiving story. We were told a story of adventure and friendship: a group of English Puritans, seeking religious freedom, traversed the Atlantic Ocean and landed at Plymouth Rock. They discovered a group of Natives; one English-speaking native named Squanto taught them how to hunt and fish and grow crops; to celebrate a bountiful harvest and this newfound friendship, the Natives and the Pilgrims had a beautiful, harmonious feast. They called it Thanksgiving. And they all lived happily ever after.

We didn’t know that the Plymouth story isn’t as harmonious and happy as was taught. Or that the first “real” Thanksgiving was in celebration of the decimation of an entire Native American tribe.

We weren’t taught any of that.

Not in elementary school. Not in middle school. Not in high school.

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In school we were taught the history of President Abraham Lincoln multiple times. Teachers absolutely LOVED Lincoln, perhaps even more than they loved Ronald Reagan and George Washington. They taught us that he was honest and virtuous — the greatest president ever. After all, he freed the slaves! That meant that he was an abolitionist and a champion of equality & human rights, right?

It turns out he wasn’t quite as great we thought he was.

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.”

-Abraham Lincoln, 1858

But we weren’t taught that.

Not in elementary school. Not in middle school. Not in high school.

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In school we learned about Western imperialism and colonialism. Other than the settling of North America, we learned about the Age of Imperialism, American Westward Expansion, the Scramble for Africa, etc.

“Westward expansion was the will of God.” “The West is responsible for the world’s industrialization.” “Colonialism has helped improve global underdevelopment.”

Due to this emphasis on positives, we left school with the impression that colonialism was mostly a very positive thing.

They rarely emphasized the exploitations. Or the displacements. Or the famines. Or the diseases. Or the racial segregation.

We didn’t learn much about those.

Not in elementary school. Not in middle school. Not in high school.

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As I reflect on the many years I spent in primary and secondary education, I continually ask myself: why were so many details left out? Why were we fed so many biased, one-sided narratives? What was the purpose of holding back the full story of history? Why did school promote so much propaganda? Why were we taught that America was founded on equality? Or that capitalism was the best economic system? Or that the Civil Rights Act ended racism?

Ironically, it seems that the more we learned in school, the more we ended up needing to learn outside of it.