The underside of American history: other readings

The United States was conceived in a cloud of conflict-conflict of ideas, conflict of economic and political systems, conflict of peoples with different cultural backgrounds, different needs, and different ambitions. Yet traditional history textbooks often trace the development of this country as though it were the gradual, almost natural, growth of a single people into a unified nation. Historians have concentrated on what they considered dominant themes in American life-themes that almost always centered on the dominant groups of Americans. Neglecting whole groups within the nation, today the part of the past that has remained hidden-the "underside" of American history-is forcing itself into the public consciousness. This book provides and introduction to some of the neglected groups and their place in American history. It presents a selection of untraditional readings in American history. The focus is not on the victors, but on the victims. The result, of course, is not a balanced view of our history, but an attempt to correct the existing imbalance. In this work, six different oppressed groups are studied in turn. Each topic deals with a group that is still being oppressed in the United States today. No attempt is made in this book to provide solutions to the many problems of oppression, although some of the readings suggest solutions in particular situations. If the United States is to achieve a truly cohesive national identity, it must be a changed one; it must become a genuinely pluralistic nation, able to acknowledge and accept the rights of different racial, ethnic, religious, and sex groups within its boundaries.