History
is often overlooked when compared to other studied grade school subjects. It
pales dramatically next to topics like writing, mathematics, and science, classes
which hold a clear, immediate use. It is
so lowly regarded that when students are asked to list their favorite school
subjects, history is mentioned at the bottom of the list. Memorizing old historical
events, people, and dates - items that no longer seem relevant in today’s fast
paced society - can be boring and tedious. History, however, is always
implemented in children’s curriculums for very important reasons: so that we,
as a society, can understand what makes up the fabric of our present lives, and
most importantly, to learn from the mistakes of the past. We’re creating
history every moment of every day, improving ourselves with each passing
second. For a thriving future to exist, it’s essential to grasp the importance of
history within society and ourselves. It is absolutely eerie how certain events
have repeated themselves in definite historical patterns. The distinct
abundance of paralleled events throughout time teaches us that it’s important
to understand the past to create a better, more tolerant future.
People often
joke, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Understanding
the past will honor our ancestors’ sacrifices and bloodshed for the peaceful
tomorrow many died for. Our generation, with new technology and a greater
desire for peace, shouldn’t let their deaths be in vain. Unfortunately, we
often fail to see the all too familiar signs and patterns. World War II
occurred with similar beginnings as World War I. Germany tried to take over the
world twice – once in 1914, and another time in 1939. The fall of the Persian,
Greek, Roman, and British empires were eerily similar. The oil crisis has
occurred four times. The world trade center was attacked twice. The economic
crisis of 2008 flashed warning signs similar to the Great Depression’s
beginnings in the 1930s. The list goes on and on; it is fascinating to see the
number of wars, famines, failed empires and political systems, and scandals
which have repeated themselves. It is truly a tragedy if we continue to let the
mistakes of yesterday continue into the present.
Gerorge Satayana
once famously said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it.” It is essential to examine how different events intersect and how
people behave in groups, as human beings tend to suffer similar follies and
commit the same errors. Life is about making choices, whether good or bad, but
it’s our responsibility to learn from these mistakes and improve society for
the better. The events of Ellis Island, for example, act as a constant reminder
to treat people with equality. Millions of immigrants were regarded as mere
tools instead of human beings. Their sacrifices of blood, sweat, and tears should
not be easily forgotten. Many immigrants spent their lives’ fortunes to attempt
the long journey to America. Many died or were sent back due to the horrible,
disease infested conditions immigrants were forced to bear on that island while
waiting for citizenship. As a result, “the island’s history includes reports of
three thousand suicides” (Gordon 433). Leaving everything behind with nowhere
else to go, suicide was not an uncommon route to escape the harsh reality. Despite
that lesson, even today, immigrants are still being treated with no respect.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “the Department of
Justice (DOJ) has proposed a rule that explicitly excludes immigration
detention facilities from coverage under the Prison Rape Elimination Act
(PREA)” (Sexual). In 2007 alone, almost 200 detainees stated that they were
sexually abused. Most of the incidents occurred during transfer to the airport
for deportation, since detainees’ pleas no longer mattered once stripped of
their human rights. It is important to
look upon our history, remember our ancestors as former immigrants, and treat
people with love and decency.
Living in a
transnational world, we must realize that there are different cultures with
sometimes radically different values, so people have differing and conflicting
perspectives. Instead of treating each other differently depending on the
pigment of their skin, gender, or where they came from, we should adapt to
understanding human behavior through the study of cultures and realize the
unique similarities people as a whole share. We must learn to understand each
other through history so that we can avoid doing anything to harm them through
our words and actions. In an article called “Slumdog Tourism” by Kennedy Odede,
a tour group in Kibera, Africa went “into the home of a young woman giving
birth. They stood and watched as she screamed. Eventually the group continued
on its tour, cameras loaded with images of a woman in pain” (Odede 519). In the
US, Americans as a society understand the concept of privacy and respecting
boundaries. As soon as this tourist group stepped outside the borders of the
US, their morals were thrown aside when placed in an unfamiliar environment.
The history of slums differs from place to place, but it’s usually consisted of
the very poor and the socially disadvantaged. It’s great that this group wanted
to support the slums through charity from the tours, although they should have
sympathized a little more to see Africans as human beings and not animals in a
zoo. Peace results from empathy and understanding.
It’s also important
to know where we have been in order to know where we are going. In my personal
experience, I wouldn’t be where I am today if my parents did not journey by
boat through the Pacific Ocean from Vietnam to America. They came here with
nothing but the clothes on their backs, confused on the next step, yet happy to
be on the land of the free. My family worked minimum wage jobs while beginning
their education from the bottom. They were the oldest students in their classes;
even though it took some time, the important thing was that they completed high
school with only each other’s help. My family did not want me to be born into a
world where I had to share their suffering. Growing up, they provided for me as
I needed so that I wouldn’t have to go through their past hardships to gain
happiness. They guided me from childhood to my adolescent years, telling me
stories of the past, differentiating rights from wrongs, and correcting my
choices in life to help benefit me and my future. Knowing this, I’m grateful
for everything my family has gone through for me. It helps build character and
my motivation to educational success. Everything I do is for them. You don’t
know the meaning of living until you understand the roots of your history
because the past helps you appreciate the present and gives it purpose.
A Church
Historian, William Lund, once said “we study the past to understand the
present; we understand the present to guide the future.” This quote can be
interpreted in many ways, but one important translation could be the
understanding of your family’s history of genetic diseases. According to an
article called “Genetics and Family History,” it states that “a complete and
accurate family history is one of the most powerful tools available for
recognizing genetic conditions” and that it “could lead health care
professionals to recommend management that could prevent the symptoms of the
condition from appearing” (Genetics). On my dad’s side of the family, half of
my blood related aunts and uncles have been diagnosed with cancer, of the
breast, lung, and heart varieties. Out of my father and his five siblings,
three are still “healthy,” including himself. My uncle, who has lung cancer,
probably accelerated its onset through bad health choices such as poor diet and
smoking. The frightening lesson I’ve learned is that cancer can happen to those
who were healthy to begin with. Acknowledging my family’s history of cancer, I
have prepared myself by eating healthy and exercising daily. Everything
nowadays has a chance of leading to cancer, so my personal health needs to be
protected; the important thing is that I’m doing what I can to prevent any
mishaps. With that in mind, I can look forward to leading a healthier future
for myself. As for the rest of society, this is an important tool to living a
longer, healthier life and being there for your loved ones. Nowadays there are
records of people still surviving as the world’s longest living human beings. As
a result of learning and studying our past, we have greatly advanced our
medicinal field. History spans the breadth and width of our daily lives,
touching parts we didn’t even know had a connection to it.
It
may not seem as though history is important, but we are making history every
second that passes by. Your history will always follow you wherever you go, so
it’s up to you to decide what kind of person you want future generations to see
you as. Over the centuries, there have
been many catastrophic events marked with tragedy and horror. We try to
remember history through monuments, literature, and teachings, so that we learn
to not repeat our past mistakes. Still, not all history should be regarded as
backward or a mistake. To avoid reinventing the wheel, we must always carefully
document and keep records of our findings to continue to improve our technology
and knowledge to pave the way to a better tomorrow. History is the utter and
absolute astonishment in our world’s culture. We’ve come a long way from living
in caves and hunting with spears. History opens the mind, our beliefs and
perceptions, creating a gateway to a more promising generation.
Works Cited
“Genetics and Family History.” Genetics in
Wisconsin Resources for Families & Professionals. 2012. 2013
Gordon,
Mary. “More Than Just A Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island.”
Reading Culture.
Eds. Diana George and John
Timbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 431-435.
Odede,
Kennedy. “Slumdog Tourism.” Reading Culture. Eds. Diana George and John Timbur.
Boston:
Pearson, 2012. 518-519.
“Punishments.”
Braden & Tucci A Professional Law Corporation. 2013. 25 June 2013.
“Sexual
Abuse in Immigration Detention.” ACLU American Civil Liberties Union. 2011
October 19. 2013
