I must agree with Deb Fuller on this one.  History is, first and foremost, an
attempt to understand the global human experience, which is sub-divided in
themes for convenience. Living in Québec (Canada), I have had another kind of
experience, mostly based on language-segregation.  With the rise of
french-speaking nationalism since the 1960's, a similar reflex has developed in
our province (although certainly not as acute as the american racial problem)
and has led to social tensions which, among other forums, have expressed
themselves in the way history is approached.  Three years ago, I defended a
Ph.D. thesis which dealt largely with the anglophone élite in 19th-century
Montréal and, more specifically, with the museums this élite created to give
exposure to its idea of a transcontinental Canada.  Many times, I was asked how
I could pretend to understand my topic since I wasn't an Montréal-based
anglophone with anglophone roots (I'm french-speaking).  I've always considered
this assertion irrelevant, as anglophones were an intrinsic part of the
Montréal historical landscape, had a major role in shaping our institutions,
economy and politics and were at the origins of most 19th-century museums.
Being a museologist as well as a historian, I was (and still am) convinced that
I had all the necessary qualifications to understand, evaluate and interpret
this "slice" of history.

I guess what I'm trying to say is what I always tell my undergraduate students
at the beginning of a new semester: there is no Truth in history.  There are
truths, based on the historian's point of views, preoccupations, fears,
opinions, schools of thinking and so on.  Segregating blocks of history so that
only a certain self-designated caste has interpretive rights deprives history
from the variety of views and understandings that makes it rich and
ever-changing according to the current needs of society.

Of course, that does not change the fact that history has been, for a long time
(ans still is today, at times) ethnocentric and has fundamentally deprived
groups of the chance to self-interpret.  I always make it a point to consult
relevant groups when I put up a new exhibition, be they linguistic, religious,
political, native or ethnic.  I find their point of not only enlightning but
absolutely necessary if a museum (or a university historian, for that matter)
is to offer an objective point of view.

Hervé Gagnon, Ph.D.
Director-Curator
Colby-Curtis Museum
Stanstead (Québec)
Canada

Deb Fuller a écrit:

> At 09:43 AM 8/25/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >I was not necessarily angered by that position because I generally, agreed
> >(although I did not discontinue studying American diplomacy because I was
> >not a diplomat).  Nevertheless, the experience has influenced my thinking
> >when it comes to serving in an African-American museum.  I would generally
> >agree that an Anglo is not going to as fully understand that
> >experience--whether it relates to art, music, politics, culture or
> >whatever--as an African-American.  Sure would like to. But....
>
> I might be misunderstanding your point but it seems to me that you are
> suggesting that since whites (or Asians or Aborigines or Native Americans,
> etc.) cannot fully understand what it is like to be Black/African American,
> we should not study it at all or serve in those types of museums.
>
> Thus why study history at all?  I mean as a woman, I was made to study
> white male history all my life.  Certainly I cannot understand all of
> Western history as a white female.  Nor why should we subject non-whites to
> studying Western history as well?
>
> To me, I think we should all have a good base understanding of world
> history, African, Asian, European and South American and a better
> understanding of our own country's history as well.  Then I think people
> should be allowed to study whatever history interests them.  I may never
> understand what it is like to truely be Black, but I can appreciate the
> culture and the history.
>
> And to add, I grew up in one of the most racially diverse areas in the
> world.  (Alexandria, VA right outside of Washington, DC.)  Now while I will
> never been African American/Black, I do know what it is like to be a
> minority and be picked upon because of my skin color.  (Yes, "whitey" is
> just as much of an epithet as other racial slurs.)  This again, won't be me
> the true insight on not being white, but it does give me a bit more of a
> perspective than someone who grew up in an all white town in the Mid-West,
> for example.  I think everyone can gain an understanding of someone else's
> culture on some identifiable level.  Finding the common experiences that we
> all share is the key.
>
> Deb Fuller
>
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