We don’t know what we think we know: Why the dustbin of history needs to be cleaned out

Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

History is messy. It is a crime scene with fragmented evidence, shifting alibis, and corroborated stories. Historiography, the detailed research that one does to write history, is like doing detective work. New evidence and connections appear, forcing us to reconsider old lines of thinking and explore new avenues. All of this occurs while we perform a balancing act, reflecting on our own biases, experiences, frames of reference, and cultural upbringing that we bring to the process of research. Doing history means bringing the tension of how we know what we know to the surface and questioning silences and gaps in the records, leaving no stone unturned as we try to connect the puzzle pieces. It means retracing our steps, uncovering new finds, and stretching our imaginations and sense of inquiry. It is to succumb to the idea that no matter how much research we do, our interpretations cannot possibly capture the complexity and messiness of the past. Nor should it.

“History is not the past. It is the stories we tell about the past. How we tell these stories – triumphantly or self-critically, metaphysically or dialectally – has a lot to do with whether we cut short or advance our evolution as human beings.”

– Grace Lee Boggs

The past is long gone. A more productive route would be to focus on the process of historical inquiry itself in the present and explore why we ask certain questions about the past and not others. To ask: what is at stake when only a sliver of stories are told about the past at the expense of silencing others?; How does this change the way we perceive each other, our institutions, and our beliefs?; What would grappling with this complexity mean for us in the present?; What would it look like in action? As Grace Lee Boggs urges us, it is important that we become better storytellers about the past. That we recognize our common human experience with historical subjects. To move away from black and white thinking, to delve into the gray areas, and lend the same breadth of complexity to folks who came before us, as we would to one another today, for better or worse. It means letting go of neat narratives and embracing the messiness.

History necessitates being critical of the evidence we find, to question how it got there, and to leave room for that which was left out. This is difficult work. It requires us to move outside of our comfort zones, to be flexible, to question the invented traditions and narratives we inherited, and truly grapple with what it means when we say, “history is written by the victors”. This requires a little house cleaning, an emptying out of the dust bin full of old narratives and beliefs. While this may sound like a lot, the best part of doing this work is that it can be extremely rewarding, and dare I say, fun! With every new discovery we add to a better understanding of ourselves, working towards justice for those who came before, those who are here today, and those yet to come. As we approach the upcoming commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to truly grapple with what history means, to wrestle with the idea that perhaps we don’t know what we think we know, to be open to new possibilities. By doing this, I believe we can work towards a more just society that is civically engaged and ready to face the challenges of our day. A fitting legacy for New Jersey’s commemoration of the 250th.

For further reading, please refer to the Reframing History Report by the Frameworks Institute in partnership with the AASLH: https://aaslh.org/reframing-history/