Summary of “Unsung Heroes. ” In the article “Unsung Heroes” published in June 2000 issue of The Progressive, Howard Zinn argues that people must recognize unsung heroes and replace many national idols such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt with more honorable people such as John Ross, Mark Twain, Emma Goldman, and Helen Keller. According to Mr. Zinn, historical figures, which are seen as national idols in America today, are presented to the public opinion in over-simplified form without inconvenient details. Mr.
Zinn declassifies the essence of our national heroes and compares their characteristics with those whose names are unknown in our society. Howard Zinn attempts to convince us that we have to reconsider our national heroes and honor those Americans who embody the values of peace, justice, and freedom of thought. I agree with Howard Zinn’s argument that it`s necessary to recognize the unremembered heroes of the past because in my opinion, people who have done so much for our country, who sacrificed their lives for the safe future of the United States deserve to be honored and remembered.
Author provided a lot of examples of people who deserve to be replaced with our national idols, and here is one of them. Howard Zinn states, “Why not replace Andrew Jackson as national icon with John Ross, a Cherokee chief who resisted to dispossession of his people…” In other words, Zinn tries to open our eyes and to show that John Ross was a much better man deserved more than slave-owner and killer of Indians Andrew Jackson.
I think that Mr. Zinn selected a very good example because it tells us that if we love our country and want to teach our children how to avoid same mistakes, we must learn from the past, remember heroes who fought and died for our future, and never forget our history. Work Cited Zinn, Howard. “Unsung Heroes. ” The Progressive. June 2000. Print.
