The whole story is full of contradictions. With every moment in history comes a corresponding moment that can take accuracy and understanding and change it forever. Over time people add little pieces of information to the big events of our past. This is where we get the misinterpretation of the story. In chapter five of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me, these contradictions are exposed and force us to look at them again. As I learned in my history courses, we can always question the accuracy of a story, but we may never fully understand the truth. There were three important moments that I went through that shaped my understanding of history today, especially the part of history that deals with slavery and racism. The first and most important were the history courses I had to take in high school. It was a very touching topic. Textbooks don't want to talk too much about racism and teachers would like nothing more than to avoid it as much as possible (at least mine did). I was told, "Slavery and racism are a bad thing. It was a bad time in America's history, but it helped us get to where we are now." Never in my life would they have told me that President Jefferson, who ensures that all have an equal right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” enslaved nearly 200 people the moment he spoke those words (Loewen 147). Now, since I have been told very little about slavery, this fact shocked me quite a bit. The last thing that comes to mind when I think of presidents is slave ownership. I remember in elementary school doing projects about our previous presidents. However, the requirements for the projects were only to find out every great deed done for the country, not for… half of paper… We are such friendly people. But if we are told that high level people like presidents could be racist and own slaves back then, what stops the average person in today's world from making mildly racist comments/gestures? Overall, the experiences you have in life will influence how you take into account what Loewen is telling you. If only history classes had taught me about slavery and racism, I would have been amazed by all the information he shares. Because I was able to actually see some of the events that happened as a fallout to what he talked about, I was able to rationalize the chapter as I read it. I also think my high school experience helped me see both sides of the story. Works Cited Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Print.