History

John Mcreery (JLM@TWICS.COM)
Sun, 27 Aug 1995 07:04:29 +0900

Richard Spears writes,

"Should
not a People's history and culture be in their own hands?"

Who, pray tell, are the "People"? Shall we say Milosevic (for the Serbs)? Tudjman for the Croats? Chiang Kai-shek or Mao Tse-tung for the Chinese? The complaintthat history has too often been written by outsiders with their own historical
blinkers is just. The idea that insiders have a holy right to say whatever they
like about themselves and insist that other's agree with it is a remnant of
19th century "blood and soil" romanticism: racism sanctified. Does noone read
Boas and Linton any more?

John McCreery