Racism, as defined in our class, is the belief that one race of people is humanly superior to another race of people due to a feeling of superiority that gives them the right to dominate the other group. Throughout the semester, the material we have studied shows the significance of racism in American history, specifically during the time surrounding the Civil War. Also important is the way that racism is presented in American history textbooks, as these textbooks are the primary source by which young Americans will learn their history. The book, Lies My Teacher Taught Me by James Loewen, addresses the issue of oppression and white racism and the ways in which these topics are virtually ignored by American history textbooks. He starts by describing the underlying theme of American history which he says is "the domination of black America by white America." (Loewen 2) This theme is shown by relating events in history such as the formation of the Republican Party, the first override of a Presidential veto, and Reconstruction, to slavery and racism. The relationship between such events and racism are not addressed in American history textbooks and Loewen shows the importance of understanding this relationship in his book. Chapter five of Loewen's book is entitled "Gone with the Wind." In this chapter he uses the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell as a model for the present day interpretation of slavery by many Americans. This novel views slavery as "an ideal social structure whose passing was to be lamented." (Loewen 4) Loewen maintains that until the Civil Rights Movement, this was the basis of our history textbooks. Today there has been an increase in the discussion of slavery and even an admission that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War in many American history textbooks. However, when the issue of slavery is addressed in history, the emotion portrayed is that of sadness and not anger over the evils done to an e...