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Through the process of scholarly research, as we historians arrive at an understanding
of truth, it is important for us to resist unconsciously accepting the previous interpretations
of those who produced, sorted and filtered the information. This is true even when examining primary sources. Historians, like journalists, are professionally
trained to recognize unconscious bias, to see through intentional obfuscation, and to detect the willful
spread of misinformation for political purposes. Nevertheless, we can sometimes be duped into accepting a false account of events that well-written and well-documented. As John Tosh pointed out, “The priorities and prejudices in
the written record are evidence of the kind of rule handed down to subjects or
citizens. The unwary researcher may be
led by the hand, taking on board the political perspective and professional
concerns of those who wrote the records.”1 History is full of evidence
that those in power strive to subject others to their own version of events. The propagation of elitist views negatively influences perceptions about truth in the present day, and that effect applies to
artifacts as well as written records. Michel-Rolph Trouillot observed, “What happened leaves traces, some of which
are quite concrete – buildings, dead bodies, censuses, monuments, diaries,
political boundaries – that limit the range and significance of any historical
narrative.”2 According to Trouillot, “the
historicity of the human condition also requires that practices of power and
domination be renewed. It is that
renewal that should concern us most, even if in the name of our pasts.” The recent removal of civil war statues that validated
white supremacist ideology is a testament to growth in civic awareness of the
need to correct previous historic bias. 3
1 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods
and New Directions in the Study of History, 6th edition. (New York:
Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2015), 117-118.
2 Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past:
Power and the Production of History. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2015), 29.
3 Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past, 151.
