As I was watching the videos on history for Module 1, I was simultaneously thinking back to the history lessons when I was a grade school kid, perhaps in the fifth grade (I identify as GenX). Sure, we were taught about slavery and the Trail of Tears and World War II and all of those historical events that seemed so far away. However, as I've grown older and have a firmer understanding of time, I realize that these events were not that far away at all. America is a "young" nation, and so of course the ramifications of enslavement, Jim Crow laws, efforts at assimilating Natives, and the incarcerating of Japanese Americans -- amongst other egregious human rights violations -- continue to adversely affect Americans today. This is especially dangerous because as an American society, we have not done enough to address these wrongs, let alone try to rectify them.
