VCU Counseling Services Vol. For decades, Americans, especially white Americans, have struggled with the paradox. The choice was difficult. If we let go of the myths in favor of truth, we then risk losing those principles that guide us into the future.
Myths are important to a nation's sense of identity.
But if we hold onto the myths, then the truth is buried, and again, so are parts of ourselves. Until recently, historians made the choice to put myth above truth. Later, people began treating it as a blight on the otherwise glorious past. This too was wrong because doing so meant separating slavery from the very fabric of the nation. Part of the reason students and historians alike think they are removed from slavery is that it has been treated in this fashion for so long.