Class 3 Reflection: Intro to skills 1

I appreciated the way last night’s Montgomery bus boycott lesson unfolded, showing how our overall picture changed with each additional source. It solidified for me the idea that History is really just someone’s pieced-together story of the past. There are more or less widely-accepted versions, and more or less comprehensive or corroborated accounts. But it is a human endeavor, which inherently includes perspective and interpretation. And, there are many lost or forgotten pieces of the past that will never make it into our historical record. This is somewhat freeing for me: if the whole and unbiased truth about the past is virtually unattainable (or, unverifiable), then there really is no “right” answer. Yes, there are facts and dates and names that can be held as truths, but when looking for the big picture — the ‘why?’ and the ‘so what?’ — there is always the possibility that adding one more perspective or source will change the story. We can never know that we have the “right” answer, but with solid historical thinking skills, we can be assured we’re asking good questions and making some reasonable conclusions.

This idea reminds me of something that struck our group in our discussion of The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963: If the cover had not featured a black boy, and research had not revealed that the author is African American, we would not have known that the Watson family is African American – we were all just identifying with the family in the absence of a racial designation. Curtis does not mention racial tensions (except once in a foreshadowing reference to Birmingham’s segregation), and he does not include it in the descriptions of any of the characters. Knowing some background of Birmingham in 1963, I am guessing that race will be a big theme later in the book, whether stated or implied. Maybe it is not mentioned at the beginning because the book is from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old who may not notice such things…perhaps it would be different from the viewpoint of an adult. Or maybe it’s an intentional omission to juxtapose North vs South in the 60s, or even to lure white people into identifying closer with these characters so they could see the events of Birmingham in 1963 from a new perspective. I am curious to see how the pictures in my mind will shift as the story unfolds and new information comes to light — just as my ideas shifted with each new source from last night’s class.