American History Is Too Important for Trigger Warnings

American Thinker ^ | 15 Aug, 2026 | J.B. Shurk

[MtnClimber]

Americans should not fear the past.

I remember the first time I came across a “trigger warning.” I was on a university campus in the ‘90s, attending the first lecture of a new history professor. As I perused her course syllabus, I was impressed with the reading list and organization. Then I spotted an incongruous “warning” to women and African Americans suggesting that they might find some of the material offensive. At first, I thought it was an inappropriate joke. I asked someone about it, and I was informed that “trigger warnings” had become increasingly common in the classrooms of America’s elite boarding schools. I rolled my eyes because I knew right then and there that it would take decades to remedy the problem.

The idea that a history professor would implicitly warn students to be afraid of the past unnerved me. I had always believed very much the opposite — that it was important for young minds to face the past with open eyes. As living members of the human race, we enjoy the great privilege of being able to learn as much from those who came before us as possible. And a person can never learn too much about the past! Whether you take the lessons of history with you to the battlefield, boardroom, small office, or kitchen table, understanding the people, events, and ideas that created today’s world is an invaluable tool for navigating the present and building the future.

I don’t want people to be afraid of the past. I want them to be invigorated by it. I want them to exercise their imaginations and step into the centuries that came before us. I want them to understand the points of view of our ancestors and to appreciate everything that we have inherited from them.

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TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: history; woke

[MtnClimber]

I hope this does not devolve into a slavery debate. If it does, please leave me off the reply list.

[sauropod]

I’m fascinated by American history. Especially the Rev War time period

[Chewbarkah]

I’m long past academe, so my first awareness of trigger warnings involved “Foyle’s War”. In a series replete with murder, violence, crime, executions by hanging, and er...World War II, what behavior required a warning to potentially terrified viewers?: “Scenes of historical smoking”.

My wife and I took it as a rather funny joke until we started seeing crap like that everywhere.

[John Milner]

While I agree trigger warnings are stupid. I find it typical of the liberal mindset, that warnings for things that might upset selected liberally protected groups are encouraged.

But they never consider a warning for their pet progressive groups that most find offensive. Cross dressing, Tnansexuals, Overtly gay displays of public affection. Muslim violence and goals of world domination.

[Salman]

It's not just a question of ideological indoctrination.

Students are being psychologically conditioned to have nervous breakdowns and temper tantrums when faced with the slightest opposition.

[brookwood]

I’m reading the book Conquistador by Buddy Levy, It goes into gory details of the human sacrifice rituals of the Aztecs. The rituals left temples caked thick with human blood. Children were ritually sacrificed in traditional ceremonies. I think this should be taught in high school history courses, alongside courses teaching about slavery, which was practiced by the Aztecs against the Tlaxcalan people, the Totomecs, the Spanish, and others. Slavery was universal in the Americas when Cortes arrived. I don’t think that context is being taught in our public schools anymore.