Who is "we"?

We celebrate Christmas in winter…but not if we’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Or if we don’t actually celebrate Christmas at all. (Australian National Maritime Museum)

My family and I were sitting around watching videos of Space X launches when my nephew asked about the first person in space.

“John Glenn,” I answered without hesitation.

My niece then asked about the first woman in space. “Sally Ride,” I said.

And then I realized…no. I was wrong on both counts. These astronauts were the first American man and woman to orbit the earth.

The first man in space was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; the first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, who I hadn’t even heard of until I looked up the info on Wikipedia.

Thirty years after the end of the Cold War, I still remember what I was taught about how “we” (meaning Americans) prevailed in the “space race,” even when the accomplishments of other astronauts were arguably more significant.

It’s just one example of the bias that we (meaning humans) have to fight against in order to see the world clearly.

And why would it be “we,” anyway? I’ve never been on NASA’s payroll and wasn’t yet born when the Apollo missions took place. I can’t claim even to have offered moral support, in the manner of a New England Patriots fan who starts Monday morning conversation with, “We won!” even though he did nothing but wear a Pats jersey and yell encouragingly at the television.

Teaching history is fraught with confusing or even dangerous uses of “we.” What was the first permanent European settlement in the contiguous United States? Lots of well-educated people will tell you it’s Jamestown, 1609. However, St. Augustine, in what is now Florida, was founded in 1565. Why is this forgotten by so many Americans? Because St. Augustine was a Spanish colony, and twentieth century American schoolchildren were taught a very Anglo-centric version of the origins of the country. And of course, that’s leaving aside the issue of the indigenous people who were here before “we” arrived.

Textbooks are full of choices about who “we” are and through which lens we will view events. Who would have seen China as “the mysterious east"? Who would call the events of 1099 "the fall of Jerusalem” as opposed to “the conquest of Jerusalem”? When does a ruler “expand his empire” and when does he “mercilessly slaughter those in the surrounding territories”?

If I want to teach history, I have to figure out which “we” I unconsciously identify with, along with which “we” the authors of books, videos, and articles might be representing. I can then seek out additional accounts to get a better sense of what actually happened in the past.

And if I want to get uncomfortably honest, I can extend that same scrutiny to my choice of “we” in other contexts. Otherwise, I might be hiding behind “we” in order to justify my behavior and beliefs. For instance, saying “we all struggle to be on time now and then,” is actually a lie I might tell myself to feel better about being late, and even worse, to recruit others to the same point of view.

I don’t know how to be anyone other than who I am, with the experiences I’ve had, shaped by the culture I am part of and the circumstances of my birth. That said, as an educator and a person, I want to always be curious enough to try to see what I don’t see and to question the things I take for granted. It’s hard work, but isn’t that what “we” are here for?

Can you think of any times when a particular “we” was in conflict with another? What are some of the “we’s” that you identify with? Are there any that have changed over the course of your life? I invite you to share in the comments.