Craft Master "A": Howard Zinn: His Words Changed The World (Critical Review-3)

Howard Zinn: His Words Changed The World

INTRODUCTION

This paper will present a critical perception on Howard Zinn’s article entitled “Speaking Truth to Power with Books”. Zinn conveyed one catchy point about the truth through the book is something could change the consciousness of people, I stated that is an interesting but problematic. The argument will be developed by emphasizing on ‘the responsibility of historian’, that collapse undertaken by Howard Zinn, one of the respected radical historian in the world.

SUMMARY

The essential point that Howard Zinn wrote on the article, he was persuaded by the importance of the book directly by his own experience. Howard Zinn declared in his article that the truth through the book is something that could change the consciousness of people, and can change the world. He explained how the act of writing can be shocking the world, through the books produced by the author, until eventually read by many people and implying how it can change a person from their paradigm even to their lives.

He also gave examples of some real experiences almost in each paragraphs of the article, that books can change the world: First, his experience when he was 14 years old. At that time he found a book on the street, and when that happens his parents knew that he was interested in the book even though they do not have books in their home at all.

Second, a student at the University of Hawaii who was reading the book "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker, she stated that the book had changed his life. That makes Zinn surprised, and he thought that a book can change a person's life is indeed, by changing one's consciousness, which then delivered the effect on the world.

Third, which is the most shocking the world in his own writing about Christopher Columbus. When his book, “A People’s History of the United States” came out, Zinn began to get mail from around the country. Most of the gist that they told on the mail is about their aggravation (the people who grew up at United States), who learned about Columbus the hero, Columbus the great discoverer, and Columbus the pious Bible reader. Then they are faced with explaining that Christopher Columbus was a murderer, torturer, kidnapper, mutilator, a kidnapper, a mutilator of native people, a hypocrite, a greedy man looking for gold, willing to kill people and mutilate people - it was shocking.

CRITIQUE

I will develop the critical by emphasizing ‘the responsibility of historian’, which never be shown in Howard Zinn’s thought. First, the major duty of historian to insist upon truth, should not only emphasize the facts that you need and dispose the fact invisible. But Zinn himself discovered history by the losers standpoint, for instance that Zinn wrote history of United States simply by emphasizing the fact of the losers, and dispose of the other facts.

Second, Zinn critical scholarly output is a challenge against the dominant historians who busied themselves with chronicling of events and men of the past. Foremost, he confronted the scientific historian who cherished the idea of detachment from politics, and therefore the need to be ‘objective’ and neutral, not so much on stinging theoretical attack but by presenting another approach of doing history. In fact, his well known axiom of the “moving train”, points to the problem of neutrality which many confused with objectivity. In regards to objectivity in historical scholarship, Zinn saw it as “neither possible nor desirable”.

Additionally, quoted from Howard Zinn on Democratic Education. (Boulder: Paradigm Publication, 2005), p. 198. “It’s not possible because all history is subjective; all history represents a point of view. History is always a selection from an infinite number of facts, and everybody makes the selection differently, based on their values and what they think is important. Since it’s not possible to be objective, you should be honest about that.”

Third, that is not to say that Zinn has not been influential. There are many educators who enthusiastically use Zinn in the classroom. The Zinn Education Project, formed in 2008, designs and disseminates curriculum that supports the work of Zinn; there are currently 33,000 teachers registered to download teaching resources from their website (Zinn Education Project website). Nevertheless, there is no evidence that A People’s History of the United States is the new U.S. history textbook of choice in schools across the country.

Even though Howard Zinn is honest in revealing that he is in favor of the losers bracket. Zinn definitely not as naive they were talking about objectivity in the narrative. He favor and warns the reader from the outset of his position. The first chapter of the book is very confessional, on page 11 of 729 pages A People's History of the United States he wrote: If history is to be creative, to anticipate a possible future without denying the past, it should, I believe, emphasize new possibilities by disclosing those hidden episodes of the past when, even if in brief flashes, people showed their ability to resist, to join together, occasionally to win. I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the past’s fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare. That, being as blunt as I can, is my approach to the history of the United States. The reader may as well know that before going on.

Equally important like many other progressive thinkers, the tenor of Zinn’s writing is characterized by both the persistency of ideological critiques and the consistency of affirming hope that something better can be unraveled. A critical mind warrants us to say the truth but this should never lead to cynicism, hopelessness, nor imprisoned with some kind of ideological determinism. Zinn affirms this eloquently: “I can understand pessimism, but I don’t believe in it. It’s not simply a matter of faith, but of historical evidence. Not overwhelming evidence, just enough to give hope, because for hope we don’t need certainty, only possibility.” Indeed, cautious optimism marks Zinn’s thinking such that if we want a desirable and better future, it calls for our commitment to action, no matter how small the initiatives are.

Zinn once said: “It is very easy to feel helpless in our era. We need, I think, the Existentialist emphasis on our freedom.… To stress our freedom... is not the result of ignorance that we do have a history, and we do have a present environment…. Existentialism, knowing of these pressures on us, is also aware that there is a huge element of indeterminacy in the combat between us and the obstacles around us. We never know exactly the depth or the shallowness of the resistance to our actions. We never know exactly what effect our actions will have.”

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, after the encounter with Zinn’s many important ideas I stated that is an interesting but problematic. Zinn’s concern of history points to the need to real understanding of what we can do in the present. Discerning historical facts should blend with emotion and passion, especially if we want to appreciate history from the views of the marginalized and the forgotten. History teaches us the many possibilities of the human agency, not unlike what Frantz Fanon once said: “…the people are getting ready to begin to move forward again, to put an end to the static period begun by colonization, and to make history.” Zinn had demonstrated that admirably well. The task now is for us to accomplish the same in the context of our time and needs. We can and must plan ahead.