history

One of the things I envy my students is their history class. I recall flipping through my American History textbook in fourth grade and distinctly remember feeling a disconnect. There were pages and pages with pictures of, let's face it, dead white guys. Washington, Jackson, even Franklin and Custard as much as they had accomplished, as significant as they were, I wasn't a part of their lineage. There was no connection.

My Corean students learn about their history. Their history is their heritage. Yes, the United States is a vast melting pot, diverse in all its glory. However, it's still not completely my country. The students here, should they wish, can find their way back to their ancestors. Their ancestors whose blood run in their veins and whose language, culture and history are all interlocked, interwoven. Interspersed in the lives of my students are the direct effects of their progenitors.

In no means do I begrudge that I grew up in America. So many opportunities and experiences I was able to have was simply because of the fact that I lived in what some people consider the leading country of the free world. However, I don't know the history of how I came to be who I came to be. The events before my parents' immigration are muddled and lost in this country that I'm still getting to know.

Good thing for lifelong lessons and adult education!