In the news media and particularly on social media the amount of inaccurate or misleading versions of history is astounding. Statements or conversations about recent events have been discouraging and showcase lack of historical cognizance:

• Individuals not fathoming how a racist person going into Emanuel AME Church, a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and murdering nine innocent people at a Bible study is related to the racial tension and terrorism that has always been a part of our country.
• Comments criticizing President Obama’s use of the “N” word in an honest discussion about race instead of understanding the context in which it was used and the message intended.
• Advocates for the Confederate Flag, continuously claiming that the flag, which is often used by White supremacists, symbolizes “Southern heritage” and that the Civil War started because of states’ rights (slavery omitted).
• News of Black churches burning in the South raising the following questions: What are Black churches? Why do we have Black churches?
• People who are misinformed about the law affecting Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic spreading historical and current misconceptions about Haiti and the Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic.
• Donald Trump whose ancestors were once immigrants commenting that Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists.

This is why in schools, history should be taught from all viewpoints and we should try to be familiar with other cultures in the world. If we have questions about why our society is the way it is, the answers are in the same history that some of us find boring or feel uneasy about learning. Historical inaccuracy breeds ignorance and the explicit and implicit prejudices that carry over to this very day. We live in an inclusive world and we are seeing the impact of that history:

• We remember the Holocaust, but what about the Armenian genocide, the abuses in the Belgian Congo, the treatment of Native Americans in the United States, or the brutal enslavement of Black people in the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America?
• We know that “third world” countries are poor, but what factors in history allowed this to be so?
• The American and French Revolutions were not the only influential uprisings in history. What about the Haitian Revolution that created the first Black republic in the Western Hemisphere, influenced and supported the Latin American Revolution, and also allowed the Louisiana Purchase to happen?

These are a few examples of historical facts that are often not spoken of, but if understood can offer insight in certain discussions in the media. We cannot have proper dialogue if some people are not informed on the facts of our country and world’s past or are rationalizing certain aspects of history as opposed to learning from them (i.e. racism, slavery, and colonization). The information is out there.

Those who do not know history will replicate similar actions and this is exactly what is happening in our society. How can we develop the future if we ignore history?