Sugar Coating our History

Today in class our group discussed Mexican-Americans relations in the school systems.  As we began researching within the chapter, we found that Mexicans that migrated into the United States stood for Catholicism.  This made them distinctly different than other groups of people that migrated into the country.  This was because America's private schools accepted them into their schools because they shared the same religion.  Therefore Mexican-Americans had a place in our school system and were accepted where as the other groups were segregated and forced the form their own independent schools.  I found this to be particularly interesting and obviously unfair.  I mean it is a good thing that America accepted Mexican-Americans but then it made it even worse that they did not accept everyone.  


As we continued to research we also learned that American farmers also accepted Mexican-Americans.  They did this because they used them for cheap labor in their farms.  This then made me think more into it, and I came to the conclusion that Americans only accepted Mexicans because it was in their own favor and directly benefited them.  As we discussed as a whole class, we also found that this was a common factor in all of the various groups that migrated into our country and were viewed as minorities.  As we continue to have discussions in this class based around discrimination, racism, and diversity I have began to realize that our ancestors have not been as accepting and including as they have informed us.  As children, we learned about American history, and most of it was all the positive aspects of all of the stories and events.  Also, what is taught in schools, is only what they want us to know and to learn about.  Therefore everything seems sugar coated and some may not even be completely honest.  As future educators, one of our main goals is to inform our students in the best possible way of the most important aspects of life.  We want them to then use this learned knowledge to come up with their own inferences and opinions.  But, if we only educate them on the tips of these significant facts and information, aren't we coming up just a little short?