In recent years, the legend of Christopher Columbus as the heroic discoverer of America has come up against the historical record and emerged with dents, and that鈥檚 also led to changes in how his story is taught in the nation鈥檚 schools.
Eric Soto-Shed, a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, told 草莓传媒 that while Columbus isn鈥檛 a figure to be celebrated, he鈥檚 still one to be studied. And that kind of reconsideration presents an opportunity for teachers to engage in the kind of nuance and context that teaching social studies and history is all about.
Recent histories have documented, often with the help of Columbus鈥� own journals, the atrocities he committed, including slavery, exploitation and sexual abuse of natives.
That鈥檚 led to protests against the holiday 鈥� some 15 states and D.C. use the second Monday in October as a celebration of Native American history and heritage instead of celebrating Columbus. President Joe Biden on Friday become the first American president to mark Indigenous Peoples Day, and even Columbus, Ohio, doesn鈥檛 call it Columbus Day anymore.
Soto-Shed is a teacher educator who works with social studies and history teachers, and he taught high school history for eight years. He called 1492 鈥渁 turning point in world history,鈥� and said Columbus鈥� voyages were a huge part of that. It鈥檚 not for nothing, he pointed out, that the majority of countries in North and South America speak Spanish, the language of the country Columbus sailed for.
His voyages began a trans-Atlantic trade in goods 鈥� and, of course, enslaved people. 鈥淚t鈥檚 bringing goods; it’s also a fundamental part of a deep, long-rooted oppression,鈥� Soto-Shed said.
The key is sticking to the historical record, Soto-Shed said. Teachers have to make judgment calls on how to teach multisided and sometimes controversial topics, but a key part of that call is 鈥渢alking about what is controversial and what is not. And that’s something that changes over time. 鈥� And so you need to use your knowledge of history, and really try to base (your teaching) as much as you can on historical fact.鈥�
That includes the fact that millions of people already lived on this continent when Columbus arrived, and what happened to them afterward, he said.
While Soto-Shed is quick to point out that he specializes in middle and high school education, there鈥檚 an age-appropriate way to discuss these things with younger students as well.
鈥淭he general sort of perspective that, you know, Columbus did some bad things 鈥� I think kids at a young age can engage in that conversation,鈥� Soto-Shed said. 鈥淏ut without a doubt, you’d want to be really thoughtful about how you get into the specifics.鈥�
Soto-Shed added that the evolution of Columbus Day as a holiday 鈥� a movement strongly tied with changing attitudes toward Italian Americans 鈥� constitutes another part of the Columbus story that makes for compelling teaching and learning.
鈥淭he establishment of the holiday is really an opportunity to get much more into the nuances of American history, and how it’s never sort of a simple story of good or bad. 鈥� That is an under-told story, and I think one that would really be nice to add to what we do in schools.鈥�
In his 20 years in the field, Soto-Shed said, he鈥檚 seen 鈥渃ritiques of Columbus becoming much more popular,鈥� even as some states and systems continue to teach his story as one of uncomplicated heroism. But the re-examination of Columbus, he said, fits in with a more complete, realistic examination of American history.
鈥淲e’ve seen various movements to begin to look at American history not simply as this glorified story of progress, but really look at it for its sort of ups and downs, positives and negatives 鈥� giving voices to those who have not often been mentioned in the curriculum.鈥�
鈥淎nd in doing that, I think the critique of Columbus is something that has been propelled by this larger movement to critically examine our past, from multiple perspectives,” he said.
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