History is written by who is writing the tales

I was struck by the construction of historical perspectives that are based on the accounts of the dominant race and classes of people and have rarely included the stories of women, minorities, the poor, and other groups of oppressed people. When we look back at the writings of history we have to decipher and configure what the non-dominant groups must have viewed the world at that time. The identities and personal histories of these people are based around the identities of the dominant group who were recorded history through their own voices.

Of course in much of history the dominant groups were the only ones who had the education and resources to read and write and were the only ones able to document history in this way. This is an inescapable truth about the history of the world, particularly in the Western world. The part that bothers me most about the continuation of history is that the dominant world view is still largely taught in history books throughout much of the nation, particularly in children's school curriculum. The accounts of history and contemporary perspectives can only be whole if they view issues from the accounts of everyone affected.