As class discussions have revealed new narratives in history that I had not previously known or heard of, I’ve realized just how much each of the stories that I expose myself to can help me paint a larger and more intricate picture of history. I’ve learned that an essential part of learning these different parts of history is to allow oneself to look into the perspectives of various people and sources rather than just the viewpoints of those that write our history textbooks or the perspectives that we are comfortable or used to.
As Matthew Reilly shared his research into the lives of slaves and indentured servants in Barbados, I realized that I knew very little about the concept of “White Slavery” and the perspectives of those who believe that Irish Indentured Servants were slaves. Learning about this perspective and the lives of both groups who shared the island at the same time allowed me to see that in order to have a better understanding of history, I must seek to learn about the various perspectives, places that people inhabited, and ways that each person interacted with society. It is essential to learn about various perspectives and experiences and not just those that are most commonly taught, have the widest reach in social networks or are the most “mainstream.” Similarly, hearing the personal experiences of Geoff Brown and Sam Lord allowed me to gain knowledge into Irish history in a way that I previously did not have access to.
It is easy to get caught up in the brief statements that we think define a specific movement or to shy away from a certain topic because it is not what we are most comfortable with, but the different conversations that we had this week provided an opportunity to explore topics and viewpoints that may often be ignored or avoided if they are not part of the narrative one is used to hearing or even one that someone does not want to hear. Matthew Reilly mentioned at one point how we can chose to embrace or ignore certain histories and after this week I have learned that rather than ignoring a certain history, we must push ourselves to ask questions and seek to learn more about that which might make us uncomfortable or might not align with what we already believe in order to gain a fuller understanding about history and why people interact with each other in the ways that they do.