A nation that forgets its past has no future

"If you want to improve, recognizing that you have a problem is the first step."

This month, we are celebrating Black History. It is a great opportunity to learn or to deepen your knowledge about the African-American history and community. It is also a great opportunity to learn or to deepen your knowledge about the history of your country.

To me, History is one of the most important subject you get to study at school. You need to study your past if you want to change your future. To quote Winston Churchill: “A nation that forgets its past has no future”.

Understanding that learning about your history is not about making any one person or people group feel guilty. You cannot be guilty of actions that took place before you were born. But you can be guilty for remaining ignorant and not learning about your history and then repeating the same mistakes as your ancestors. This is why History is so important. We need to learn about our past so we can avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.

Most of you know I am French. Some of you know that my mom is German. My grand-parents were born in Germany during World War I, and they survived WWII. My grand-father was an officer in the Wehrmacht, the regular German army, during WWII. He had to serve his country like all the men of his age. I tried to speak with my grand-parents about their life in Germany during the war. But they never wanted to tell me much about it.  My mom was born in Germany in 1949, 4 years after the end of WWII. As a student in school, she had to learn about the 3rd Reich and the rise of Adolf Hitler. She had to study how her country declared war on Europe and then the world, and about the millions of Jewish people who were exterminated during the Holocaust. As a student in Germany nowadays, you keep learning about the 3rd Reich. This is not meant to make you feel guilty. It is to be learned as a cautionary tale, so people remember that a dictatorship can arise in any country anytime and, if we are not careful, History can repeat itself.
 
During my years in France, we also learned about our History, about the great and dark times of our country. Starting in the 19th century and continuing in the 20th century, my country, along with other European countries, colonized most of Africa. And it is important to remember that European countries started the Atlantic slave trade in the 15th century, until the 19th century. Therefore, Europe shares a great responsibility for slavery, along with the United States.

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​In 1954, only 63 years ago, the French Army was sent to the North African country of Algeria, which was a colony of France, when the Algerian people stood up to claim their independence from France. At the time, the government and media in France referred to the military operation in Algeria as a law enforcement operation. In Algeria, the French Army was engaged in combat against the Algerian people who fought for their independence. A lot of combatants but also civilians were killed. The French Secret Services arrested and tortured combatants and civilians. It was one of the darkest pages of French History, when my country oppressed the people from another country because they were asking for their independence. It is only in 1999, 17 years ago, that the French government officially recognized that the events in Algeria were actually a war, and that we officially called these events the War of Algeria. It was an important day in France because the government recognized, in the name of the French people, that we did something terribly wrong. If you want to improve, recognizing that you have a problem is the first step. We are now at peace with Algeria but we must never forget our History.

Every country has written great pages and dark pages in History. For the United States, slavery and the Civil War that brought an end to it were definitely some of the darkest pages. And we must never forget.

History is not supposed to make you feel good or bad. History is your best defense against ignorance. Every time you learn about History, you are improving your defense and you are increasing your chances to have a bright future. When you know your History, you are less likely to get manipulated and to get lied to. Educated citizens are essential if we want a healthy democracy. Democracy can be hijacked and replaced by a dictatorship anytime anywhere if we close our eyes and we forget about our History. Don’t ever take anything for granted, keep learning.

We have made progress in this country since the end of the Civil War, thanks to citizen initiatives like the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. We just had the 1st African-American president for 8 years, which is something that would have been unthinkable just 60 years ago. We have made progress but there is still much more work to do until we live in a society where all people have the same chances of success in life.

So, may we all learn this month about our History so we may never repeat our mistakes and we may all together build a brighter future. #StrongeruKnighted

Julien Prevost

I was born in Nancy, France, from my German mom and my French dad. After high school, I started attending college in my hometown, Nancy, and then finished my double master's degree in London, England. I then started teaching French in an English school in the London area. I met my wife, who is from Louisiana, when she did her one-year medical school abroad. I moved to Louisiana to be with my wife, whose family lives here. I have lived and worked in 3 countries. I consider myself a global citizen, through my family, study and working background. In my job as a French teacher and the Chair of the World Languages Department, I am passionate about sharing my experiences with my colleagues and trying to make our students global citizens.