Historical Fiction and the Fiction we call History

Most of you are familiar with the book Lies My Teacher Told Me.  Some of the more infamous historical corrections made in this book include the truth about Christopher Columbus and the attempt to wipe out entire populations through genocide.

As a former history teacher, I can assure you that no one is talking about Christopher Columbus as a syphilitic drunken rapist as part of their state mandated social studies curriculum (or at least I hope not.)

The bottom line is that everything you were taught as a child is simply not true.

Fast forward to2015.

Over the past year I have been introduced to some very nice people who have a very strong agenda.  To put it bluntly, these people represent the ultra conservative branch of the current Republican party.

Through a series of conversations I was asked if I had ever considered writing a book about the attack on Benghazi.

No.  I had not.

I was informed that there was a market for such a book and that my new acquaintances would be excited to see what I could come up with on the subject.  So I sat down and began toying with an idea and eventually did write such a book.

Shadow of Benghazi.

While my new acquaintances LOVED the title and the foreboding implications they were less excited by the contents.  You see, I write fiction.  I've never had any interest in writing nonfiction nor has it ever occurred to me to do so.  Thus, Shadow of Benghazi classifies nicely as "historical fiction."

This apparently is not what my new contacts had in mind.  In fact, they apparently thought I was writing some scathing "hidden truth" book about what "really" happened in Benghazi.

Or, to be more specific, what they WANT to believe happened in Benghazi.

In other words, this group wanted an over the top "tell all" about the sins of a certain former Secretary of State and presidential candidate.

They wanted something they could hold up as "the real truth."

Now let's analyze that for a moment.

How would a book that relied on a preconceived notion of guilt be "the truth" in any form?

The answer quite simply is it would not.

Thus leads us to the thin line between History and Historical Fiction.

Many of the books being published today have a very strong political agenda.  Now, don't get me wrong, so do most history textbooks.  The whole point of Social Studies Education in this country is to instill a certain amount of civic pride and loyalty in our students.  In truth, the victor not only gets the spoils, but they get the right to record their own version of history.  If you have any doubt of this, then hop online and look up a retelling of what we call the American Revolution as told by a history textbook written in Great Britain.  In Germany, the textbooks make no reference to the Nazi Party or Adolf Hitler.

NO REFERENCE!

They tell us that we aren't supposed to lie to our kids.  Yet we tell them a magical bunny leaves a basket on Easter Sunday and that Santa is watching to see if they are naughty or nice.  While these "stories" may be harmless in the long run let me remind you that we also have a federal holiday named after Christopher Columbus.

There is enough lying and hypocrisy in what we teach as "History" in this country.

So I refused to add to it by writing a book that would classify as nonfiction and might be used as propaganda against a political candidate (regardless as to my own views of that person.)

In closing, I hope that everyone that reads Shadow of Benghazi enjoys it for what it is: HISTORICAL FICTION.

There was no Sgt. James Thatcher on duty at the Embassy the night of the attack.

There is no government conspiracy (that I have any knowledge of anyway) to cover up any truth.

Shadow of Benghazi is a STORY.  The characters are MADE UP.

That, boys and girls, is what we call fiction.

Lessons from Baltimore

Almost 7 years ago a friend of mine made a comment that has stuck with me to this day.


"I think this Barack Obama guy is by far the best candidate but I just can't bring myself to vote for him."

Okay...I'm sure most of you have had a similar conversation about one political candidate or another.  It wasn't the comment that caught my attention, it was his reasoning.

"You just don't understand how bad race relations will deteriorate if he wins this election.  Right now things are quite because it's all under the surface.  You have no idea what will boil over if a black man wins the presidency."

That was said to me in the summer of 2008.

Before Ferguson.

Before Baltimore.

 Now before anyone gets too upset, let me assure everyone that I am not blaming the president for the situations in Ferguson or Baltimore.

Others have already done that.  Too much time and effort has already been spent on playing the blame game.  That doesn’t help anyone.

It is time to have an honest, serious, forthright discussion on the state of racial relations in this country.  One word stands out from my friend's comment though: "deteriorate."

I would say he hit the nail on the head with that one.

I have had a wide variety of different jobs over the past twenty years and I have worked with a wide variety of people.  The cultural and racial differences between these people were always evident, but as my friend said they were also below the surface.
That is no longer the case.  I witness arguments on almost a daily basis that digress into racial tension.  The arguments very rarely start off that way, but they always seem to devolve into something racial.

 These experiences have led me to one very blatant conclusion: the concept of a post racial America is still far from our grasp.

Some believed we as a nation would achieve this goal the minute we elected a president that was anything other than white.

They were wrong.

Others believe that we can achieve this goal within the next generation.

That is not looking good either.

The bottom line is that race is still a hot button issue within the United States of America, even more so since the 2008 presidential election.  The problem isn't going away.  As my friend put it years ago, the situation is "deteriorating."

I wish I had all of the answers to this problem.  I wish any of us did.  But the truth is that only by opening ourselves up to an honest discussion about race relations can we ever begin the process of healing.

Cultures have differences.  It is those differences that make each culture unique and special.  It is time to embrace and celebrate our differences rather than carry irrational chips on our shoulders.

Something has to change, and soon, if we as a country have any chance of ever achieving any real sense of balance and harmony.


John Eric Buckley is the author of Disgruntled, Elsewhere and The Worst of Times.  He is currently working on the sequel to his detective series The Worst of Times, tentatively titled Stranger Times. His latest novel, Disgruntled, is the first entry into a new series of semiautobiographical romantic comedies. The second installment, Sunny Side Up, will be published later this year.  He is also currently editing a new short story collection. Buckley’s books are available in paperback or for download to all Kindle and Nook devices.

All of Buckley’s books are available at http://www.amazon.com/John-Eric-Buckley/e/B00F7MLT3I