Loewen identifies several ways textbooks "lie" by misrepresenting the nature of historical change:
Textbooks often frame him as a noble explorer while ignoring his role in the enslavement and genocide of the Taino people. Lies My Teacher Told Me
Instead of showing slavery as a foundational economic and social system that shaped the entire U.S., textbooks often treat it as an isolated, temporary "problem" that was eventually solved. He is portrayed as a visionary for world
While she is universally celebrated as a "handicapped hero" who learned to speak, textbooks almost never mention her lifelong work as a radical socialist and anti-war activist. Lies My Teacher Told Me
He is portrayed as a visionary for world peace (the League of Nations) but his record of intense racism and the re-segregation of the federal government is frequently omitted. Key Thematic Distortions