On Howard Zinn
As most people who travel in social studies circles have heard by now, famous historian Howard Zinn died yesterday at the age of 87.
His passing has left a number of my friends, with whom I studied Social Science Education at UGA, numb, upset, and generally a little depressed. More than one person mentioned that they considered Zinn a personal hero, and someone whom they strive to be like. That’s heavy praise. While I heard his name mentioned several times in my classes, as someone who was more interested in economics, I never really gave it much thought. Just another history thing, I told myself.
I am willing to admit that I may have been wrong. One particular feature of our class is that we were pretty diverse in thought; many students held particularly liberal views of teaching and social studies, but there were enough people in there with the opposite viewpoint that it made class interesting. I’m proud of us for having such great discussions, and my handful of classes with these people are, to me, what I was hoping all of college would be like.
So when I saw—on Twitter, which is where I get a lot of breaking news, which is another story—that Zinn had died, I listened to what everyone had to say. Twitter: 100% positive comments. Facebook: 100% positive comments. I know social networking is unreliable and unscientific, and I know how many of my friends lean politically, but for there to be near consensus on Zinn’s achievements is a strong statement in my book.
So I am letting the world know that Howard Zinn is on my radar now. I may be behind the times, but I hope I am not too late. I understand a little more about his background now, and that he was open about his liberal “People’s History of the United States” makes me respect it more, and I would like to read it sometime this year, if only to see what all the fuss was about. I promise I’ll post a review when I do.