Dear Dr. Rhinehart,
Today I am writing to you to address my concern on whether history books used in school should be censored. History class is a very important class. It is also very informational. In the class we all learn about past events that have made our nation the nation it is today. We learn about mistakes Empires made that lead to their downfall. What books don't contain in them however is the horrendous things nations have gone through. Take for example, The Rape of Nanking. Where the Japanese invaded a Chinese city, Nanking, and ruined the beautiful city it once was. The Japanese would play games, games of death. They would compete to see who could decapitate the most people in the time given, Sixty seconds. Believe it or non, they would decapitate as many as 100 people in that time limit. They raped the women. Made children have sexual intercourse with there mother. Made the children watch the Japanese rape their mother. They had no respect for these people. While it may be a really bad thing to talk about, it is best if we learn about it. It is part of our history. Part of World War II. Believe it or not, there was so much more to it. There are moments where the United States have been the bad guys. Moments the United States has surrendered, but when do we ever hear about those times? Never.
Now you may say, "these sort of events only happen in the past, since we were so ruthless." That however is incorrect. Currently in the world there are many situations where genocide is happening. For example, in Rwanda, women have been brutally raped, families have been entirely killed. People suspected of being Tutsi were killed. Just for suspicion, imagine how many non-tutsi have been killed.
Text books, in no shape or form should be censored. Texts books should include the truth. They should include all the times, the good and the bad. Not just from foreign nations, but from our own nation, the United States, as well.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely,
Randy M. Gonzalez
