Reflections on Continuity, Change, and Historial Consciousness

Abstract

Adding further insight into how historical thinking can be used as a lens to examine debates about difficult historical events and philosophies, Gabriel Reich's piece on continuity, change, and historical consciousness shifts the focus to the U.S. context. Reich points out that in the case of Confederate monuments, their greatest power may be in the way they have become part of the scenery in cities and small towns in the U.S. South and beyond. Historicizing them can help students to connect the past to the present, to see that what is "natural" is the result of historical contexts, and the choices people made within those contexts. That epiphany, cathartic for some, disquieting for others, is a moment where growth has a chance to begin.