Telling the truth about history @ Olympics 2012

I was looking forward to the Olympics for many reasons. This is the first Olympic game that my 6 year old would watch and remember. I planned to chronicle this moment of his story. This was going to be a great few weeks for our family; like a vacation via the television. This Olympic was also going to be an opportunity to view some of the world’s best athletes. I was going to use that opportunity to discuss good competition and how working hard always ends in best results. But most importantly, the Olympics was going to provide me many geography and history lessons. I was going to show how Africa, the Caribbean and other nations were colonized and enriched the United Kingdom. It was going to show how the world was connected via the Global Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Imagine my disappointment at the lie presented as national history at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in London. The story the organizers chose to tell was that of the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the modernization of the United Kingdom. However, no mention was made of how and what boosted that revolution. No mention of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery in the Caribbean and the Colonization of nations around the world which meant the legal seizure of their resources for the total benefit of British people. Why is it OK not to tell the truth? Not even a sentence or a picture of sugar, coffee, indigo, and gold sacks heading to the UK? Not even a picture of the world’s first global economy? Were there no historians on that panel? Or were they OK with the silence as well? We know how dangerous silencing critical and crucial aspects of history can be and yet, in 2012, in a country where people have access to information and are home to intellectuals, this blatant lie can be live coverage. The only statement alluding to the fact that non white people were in the country was when the commentator stated a group of “others” from the Caribbean “also made their way” to England. Is that all? No mention of the Brits going “there”? The world should be embarrassed at this blatant denial. This is not ancient history. These facts are relatively recent. If we are OK with this silence now, can our children expect to learn the truth later? Telling the truth about history should be the standard. Not telling the truth should be considered a crime against humanity for the perpetual denial will truly help repeat itself.