I am always fascinated by the way Zinn portrays the founding of our country, but i understand why he does so. This chapter focused a lot on the constitution and Zinn’s views of it. He viewed it as an oppressive device that has the sole focus of protecting white, Christian males. While this is a very understandable conclusion given the fact that those are the types of people that created the document; I personally believe that his claim is very far fetched. The document was written to preserve and protect the rights of American citizens, so to answer the question being asked in the chapter that focuses on who the laws apply to, it is Americans. The American people are protected by the constitution and are frankly the most free people on the planet, so I believe Zinn’s opinion is extreme, but i respect it.
There is also a focus on the creation of myths, which reflects the podcast content, and that is what i find most interesting about the reading. I have never heard about all of the lies that are the foundations of our country, but frankly i do not care. I believe that historians and politicians create these myths for a reason; and while there are people who will distrust the history and foundation that our country claims, I believe that the myth creators did what they saw fit to create the worlds greatest country, and they did a good job. I find it incredibly interesting to examine and identify what is true and what is fake just to have the information, but I don’t feel as that it makes a difference in the way i feel about America. I would be curious though to know what Zinn would propose in education reform because he is incredibly adiment about exposing these false narratives that are the pinnacle of our history.
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