Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
CHANGING HISTORY IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS BY BORYS PROKOPOVYCH A little over a year ago, my son came home from his high school history class with a complaint about the inaccurate portrayal of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the history textbook. Since I had spent a good portion of my high school and college years attempting to correct errors based on Russian misinformation given to the West, this came as no surprise. I was, however, annoyed that three years after becoming an independent country, Ukraine was still being dismissed as a small part of Russia. I was fully aware that the Philadelphia school district did not have unlimited funds for purchasing new text books, yet I found it difficult to understand why the old textbooks, which were still in use after the break-up of the Soviet Union, were not being supplemented by more current information. Simply reading a current World Almanac to students would have been an inexpensive way to illustrate the dramatic difference between the information presented in the outdated texts and the realty of today. Seeking answers, I wrote a lengthy letter to my son’s history teacher, pointing out sins of omission as well as sins of commission in the class textbook. In the sections of the book that covered the history of medieval Europe, for example, there was ample evidence that the prestige and power of a country were often based on matrimonial relations forged with other countries. Yet there was no mention of Yaroslav the Wise whose sons took European princesses for their wives and whose daughters were married to the kings of France, Norway, and Hungary, and who has been called by historians “the father-in-law of Europe”. The textbook contained other glaring inaccuracies. I was particularly incensed by the use of the term Kievan Russia. In my letter, I explained that there was a Kievan-Rus state and that its people were known as Rusyns. I also pointed out that the history book never mentioned that Russia itself was not established or recognized as a country until the reign of Peter the Great and that prior to his reign, Russia was known as Muscovy. The Princes of Muscovy had submitted to Mongol rule for two hundred years in order to keep their privileges, while the Rusyns and their Ukrainian descendants, the Kozaks, fought against the Mongol hordes and were recognized by other European kings and princes as the "fortress” that prevented the Mongols from expanding into their territories. It was Peter who in 1721 declared himself Tsar of all the Russians (Rusyns) and who incorporated the pre-histories and the very name of Rus into the history of his new Russian empire. I emphasized that the confusion in the West between the names Rusyn and Russian was the cornerstone of Soviet historical revisions presented to the West as historical fact. I pointed out that since World War II, a Caryl Levin, World Affairs Council, addresses the Social Stu dies Department Directors. vasy body of data, which corrects the misinformation spread by Soviet scholars and taught for years in American schools as fact, has become available at prestigious schools such as the Harvard Chair of Ukrainian Studies and other educational institutions throughout the United States. Since the fall of the Soviet empire, there is an even greater variety of source materials available and at least some of the glaring errors should no longer be neglected. Following the demise of the Soviet Union and the diplomatic re cognition by the United States of the countries once under Russian rule, I argued, it is increasingly important that today’s student be provided with current and accurate facts about these countries and their history. I insisted that such historical events as the man-made famine in Ukraine, which caused the deaths by starvation of more than 10 million Ukrainians in 1930-33, should no longer be hidden or ignored as it had been in past history courses dealing with Stalin, especially since the Congressional Commission on the Famine in Ukraine had completed its study of this tragedy. I explained that I expected a history department to strive for accuracy when presenting students with historical facts and not merely repeat the mistakes of previous textbook writers whose sources of information were limited to what was presented as historical fact by Soviet historians. The next day, my son returned home with the news that his teacher had been given the letter but had not responded. Rather than writing again, my wife and I decided that it might be more effective to present our concerns to the teacher in person. At a parent-teacher Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
