Take it from a German: Knowing your own history is important, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

Imagine us Germans teaching history like "there was Hitler but we overcame him and now there is no more antisemitism" All of which would be wrong

If you’re not uncomfortable at some point during history class, either it’s being taught wrong or you lack empathy for other human beings.

“If this is the first time that you’re learning about the only coup on American soil…” that quote aged itself 🥲

Here in Australia we have a similar problem. Allow me to sum it up: "And then all the aboriginal people's just dissapeared"

Complaining about Obama bringing up politics at John Lewis's funeral is like complaining about someone talking about basketball at Kobe's funeral.

As a texan who went to private school (as recently as class of ‘18), let me tell you the mental gymnastics are INSANE. We’re taught that Robert E Lee was a “tragic hero,” and that Andrew Jackson was one of the most “effective” Presidents in history. My personal favorite though is books that claim Stonewall Jackson was a “legendary tactician” yet in the same breath add that he died from being shot by his own men. Because he decided to _lead_ a firing squad ambush at NIGHT... _From atop his horse._

What really staggers me about "the worst day in America is better than the best day in any other country" is not that meatheads say it, it's that nobody seems in any way aware of how completely untrue and toxic that is.

My U.S. history teacher in 11th grade was a college professor , and just straight up told us the curriculum text books were crap. Then proceeded to teach us about the taking of America, the slaughter of Native Americans and slavery through the years. I guess looking back I'm very thankful he did, for i didn't have to grow up ignorant to the reality that is the United States of America.

I'm German and i sometimes feel like i was educated better on american history than some Americans were.

I had a third grade teacher who African American and she didn’t hold back when she talked about the civil war and civil rights movement. Seeing footage of people being beaten and hosed still stick with me to this day and I’m thankful for that

Every day, this piece (sadly) ages like fine wine

I remember in high school my teacher got pissed when we got to the civil war in the new textbook. It claimed it was because of states rights. He stopped the class for 2 days to make it clear it was because of slavery. He was a vet, and he was proud of his country, even the horrible parts. He said that pretending we had no issues was an insult to everyone who ever tried to make the US better. Although we still never covered juneteenth.

As a german: Just imagine if we wouldn't be taught about the Holocaust.

For those of you who are a bit confused about why scientists would put in the effort to recreate some random mummy's voice; Nesyamun was a priest in Thebes, during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses XI. It is thought that him singing, or rather humming melodies played a big part in his duties for ceremonies and rituals. Imagining that his voice hasn't been heard for thousands of years on this earth, and is now "back" for us to hear, makes the work put into it seem much more worth it, at least in my opinion.

Thank you for addressing this! As a grandfather of mixed grandbabies i want to be able to teach them everything possible from history good or bad. So they can make informed choice as the grow. Im the only father figure in their lives and even though im mixed myself, white and Hispanic, im not African American and I will reach out to my friends who are for help at times. I try my hardest to inform myself to raise them right. This was just a step in my growth. Thank you!

"History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world. But history, when taught poorly, falsely claims that there is nothing to improve." - John Oliver

I grew up in Illinois were I was taught that Native American were “functionally extinct” despite being indigenous myself all the way trough high school. Illinois wanted to make sure I felt like a fool so when I said I was native my second grade teacher said “ok so how about you play the pilgrim today” and when I said I didn’t want to be the bad guy she said pilgrim were the good guys who taught native how to use technology. My teachers in high school made me come in, in full dress just to laugh at me along with my classmates and talk about how my culture was “silly”. The same teacher who called manifest destiny amazing because now we had Disney land. Total bullshit. It doesn’t surprise me that in talking about white supremacy you left natives out because when talking about the redskins changing their name almost every news channel said natives were “waiting” for years. We weren’t waiting.

This episode should be required curriculum in all schools in the US.

Speaking truth to power with incredibly raw wit and wisdom once again. Thank you John Oliver and Team

"History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world, but history, when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve. So we have to teach it well and continue to learn it." -John Oliver.

"History when taught well shows us how to improve the world, but history when taught poorly falsely claims that there is nothing to improve." Nailed it.

John Oliver is brilliant! We’re lucky to have him.

John Oliver's content aims right for the bullseye, week after week. We need him! Keep up the good work, JO, glad to have you as an ally.

it is illegal to deny that the holocaust happened here in germany and it is impossible to not learn about it at least 2-3 times in school. we don't sugarcoat it to make sure something like that can not happen ever again. due to this, national pride is low here, but we work to build a better future. we don't dwell in the past, but it is important to know it to move forward.

“The only coup to take place on American soil”...that didn’t age well.

(From Germany) I am really happy that at my school we had a very good history teacher - our school director - who had his own story about enlightment about the holocaust. We spend nearly 3/4 of the tenth class for this topic. And yes, it is horrifying, inhuman and more than uncomfortable. But I have to know about it to condemn it. It wasn't me who did this, and all I can do about is to be better than the history of my country. (And let's be honest: That's no sooo difficult.)

Im Native Canadian… we’re a footnote in Canadian textbooks. At least we were when I graduated in 2015. Legit all that’s taught here about native Canadians is that their are 3 groups in Canada. The Iroquois, the Algonquin and the Inuit. The only reason my seventh grade class knew that residential schools were real was because my Teacher made sure she kept several books written about survivors and families in the class. And the first time I found one of those books I cried, I finally felt seen and my teacher made sure that when I chose to do my weekly book report on one of those book that everyone in my class understood that what I was saying occurred, it was true and it happened after Anne Frank’s Diary was published. I’ll always remember that teacher because she never once called me an Indian, told me I was exaggerating, or that my beliefs were made up. She stood up for me and made sure my voice was heard in that class.

"Ignoring the history you don't like is not a victimless act." Might be one of the most powerful one-liners John has ever spoken.

Best quote ever: “ History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world, but when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve.” John Oliver, 8/2/2020

TIL that here in Germany I learned more about American history than most Americans know.. and that this show probably provided more history education to HBO viewers than their federal school system.

“The only coup d’etet ever to take place on American soil” Ah, I can see this episode was produced in the Before Times

Imagine history books in Germany teaching about the Holocaust like that... "Germans have always been very efficient, so they made an agreement with Jews and other minorities and even political opponents, who were eager to work for the great Reich. They were given the opportunity to build their houses on a camp ground where they would live and work together as a community; mining, working in factories, cooking or making lamp shades and knive sheaves... But some of them were lazy or vicious, so they had to be punished accordingly. Some Jews couldn't work because they were too old and fragile or still too young, so they were sent to a different kind of camps with great sanitary installations where they would live together happily ever after."

"History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world. But history, when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve." THIS should hang on the wall of every classroom in America.

“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.” - James Baldwin

John, I think what you’re doing with this show is simply outstanding. I have no idea how broad the reach is but I get choked up sometimes listening to you break down the flaws and the lies and cover-ups in this country that are killing the little people. While you may be a lone voice in the wilderness at times, I know people are watching and learning. I’ve learned a ton from your shows but if one white person learns (and changes) from this episode, you should be forever proud of the impact of your platform. Bravo young man. Bravo..

I wish there was a second part to this about US history that talked about US's view of its own foreign policy.

German History taught as an American History: Hitler build nice roads and lost a war.

I'm going to binge it later when I feel not so mentally broken.

18:30 "The only coup on American soil" Ahh, but not for long.

I'll never forget what my first college professor said: "Your college math professor hopes you remember what you learned in high school math, your English professor hopes you remember what you learned in high school English, but your history professor hopes you forgot what you learned in high school history." As a college history instructor now myself I couldn't agree more.

This says it all. “History when taught well, shows us how to improve the world, but history when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve”. - John Oliver

I’m Canadian and recently there has been a push to learn more about the horror of the residential school system. As hard as it can be to hear, it’s important to learn about.

Absolutely fantastic! Love your shows John, and your lovely wife is a hoot! May you both continue sharing your magic for years.😙

As a German it's mind-boggling to hear how history is taught in the USA. We are getting taught how important it is to know about history in order to not repeat it. Learning about the horrors of WW2 and the whole buildup to the 3rd reich is the most important part we are getting taught in school and we do so for multiple *years*, often accompanied by visits of memorials, concentration camps and reading literature (notably the diary of Anne Frank which we read in 7th grade) and newspapers of that time. There are still things that we can improve here about our history lessons, especially the more recent history but the difference in quality to the US is astonishing.

I had a history teacher sophomore year, who opened our first class with an anecdote. "History is written by the winners; winners aren't always good." He then spent our entire year subverting our textbook. I remember almost everyday of that class.

I remember seeing this bit and recognizing that textbook from my 4th grade. I even remember the "How can this be true?" feeling from all those years ago when reading the passages about slavery not being so bad. Those passages let some kids point to the book and say, "See." If that's all someone learns, then they grow up wondering what all the fuss was about. When those of us who learned more try to point out what crap we were taught, some folks get upset. Of course, back then many people didn't seem to look critically at stuff like "Gone With the Wind". They really worked to keep us separated.

This remains one of my favorite LWT pieces during the Void era and it also gave me one of my favorite quotes: "history when taught well shows us how to improve the world but history when taught poorly falsely claims there is nothing to improve."

Growing up in a red state, I was extremely lucky to have a history teacher who "went by the book " as required but added many things that were left out or whitewashed. He required "extra reading" and we discussed topics instead of just lecture. Some parents threw a fit, but he backed up everything he said and luckily wasn't fired. He inspired me to keep learning. I thank God for that man!

I am an ignorant 45 y/o white male from the Midwest. I coughed uncomfortably a little at Joy talking about George Washington, as far as I knew he freed his slaves too but not under what conditions. The knowledge available today is more prevalent than what I had in school. It's uncomfortable for white people to hear the awful truth of what has happened to black people in American history and I believe as a defense mechanism, many white people distance themselves from that history. My Grandparents were immigrants and didn't own slaves, I treat black people fairly, I live in the North, I can talk to a black person in the eyes... etc. But my grandmother who is still alive once told me she was upset in the late 80's with all of the "colored" TV shows that were on. While I admit my ignorance to the plight of black people and their history, I hope that I can continue to learn and gain wisdom from these events.

This tape should be shown in every high school in America.

Thank you! There is so much to unpack, ... and more and MORE... lets keep UNPACKING.

As an American I get this constant feeling that I'm being gaslighted by my entire country. I just don't understand how or why people can believe the obvious lies we are being told daily.

True story: my mom is black, and she grew up in a really bad neighborhood with gangs and roach-infested apartments, but she did really well in her school and ended up being the second (my aunt is older than her) person in our family to ever go to college--software engineering. College was where she learned that dinosaurs were not fictional.

Germany has learned a bunch of super important lessons from reflecting on it's darkest history and teaching about it intensely. The US didn't go that route yet but when it does a lot could change for the better, especially socially and between different societal groups.

This feels like a weird, necessary, and kind of avoidable-feeling follow-up to the Confederacy episode. Also, this is from someone who recently found out one of my ancestors fought for the South in the Civil War. Y'all need to grow a pair and accept that your ancestors did inexcusable things. Just accept it and move on, it makes it easier on literally everyone.

"It can be hard to deal with what your ancestors did..." *laughs in german*

"History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world. But history, when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve." Beautiful

History isn't just a timeline of events, history is our inquiry into the stories of the past. By not asking difficult questions, ugly questions, dark questions of the past, then you are ignoring history, you are ignoring not just what happened but why and how they happened.

When I was in a college class in the early 2000s, one of my white classmates didn’t understand why someone thought slaves had it so hard. She said, “But, they were getting paid…” I was absolutely blown away with wonderment that anyone had that kind of ignorance. This might explain how that happened….

When I was in the 7th grade (35 years ago) I had a history teacher who when he taught about the Civil War he explained "When you get to high school they're going to start to tell you it wasn't about slavery, that it was 'more complicated'. Don't listen to them, push back against that nonsense, it was slavery." He also taught us about Juneteenth. We were white in a basically all white rural/suburban district. This knowledge has served me well and helped me to always dig a little deeper whenever I read about things and try to be objective

In college I majored in economics, and my senior year I took a class called "The History of the American Economy." When we got to the chapter on slavery my professor said "I don't really like teaching this chapter because it makes me uncomfortable, so we're going to just skip over it." That's all we talked about slavery, in a course on THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. We then spent the next couple of weeks talking about the economic impact of the Civil War, without once mentioning what the war was even being fought over or how reliant the south was on slave labor.

best history lessons...any Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The laugh you gave me at the end of all the heaviness was much appreciated! 👏🏽👏🏽

"If you are not ashamed of your country's History, you do not know it"

"the worst day in America beats the best day in any other country" As a Scandinavian I find that statement hilarious.

As a white Australian, I can't say I remember a single lesson in school about the slaughter of our First Nations people by not just individual white colonists who landed here in 1788, or the communities that they formed, but also the concerted efforts our Government had made since then. There definitely should have been. I happened to be in primary school during the Apology in 2008, and gathering around the TV in the teachers' lounge (I went to a school of approx 60 kids. We all fit in one room) to watch it prompted a conversation about the Stolen Generation and what exactly was being apologised for. But even then it was more of a 'if you're interested you could look into it yourself' than any sort of actual lesson. Now that I think about it, I can't even remember a specific lesson about the landing of the First Fleet. I read the Jackie French book 'Grim Crims and Convicts' when I was ten and that's probably the only reason I'm even vaguely aware of the atrocities committed against first the Eora and then, as white colonists spread throughout the continent, all the other First Nations of what would become Australia. It was written as a history of European settlement, in any case. The presence of an indigenous people was more incidental than anything and it's highly likely French softened some blows for her young audience. The only defence I will offer my primary school is that it was an English/Italian bilingual school and pretty much all my subjects other than English Language were taught in Italian by teachers who grew up in Italy and were likely also ignorant of the details. The school was shut down shortly after I graduated. When I was a teenager, I remember overhearing my grandmother mentioning in passing that her mother's family might have, a couple generations back, taken part in an attempted genocide in central Queensland. She'd been researching her genealogy and was talking to my mother, her daughter, about her findings. While desperately looking into it in a rush of ancestral guilt, I stumbled upon the Black Line in Tasmania. We would never cover either in class and I was in advanced SOSE by then, which included both history and politics... We studied WWI and WWII, the Cold War, European History. We didn't cover Australian history. We did briefly touch on the White Australia Policy at some point in English while reading a book set in the 70s. I know I was fifteen at the time because I can remember which teacher I had, which classroom we were in, even approximately where my desk was in the room - but I can't remember which book it was for the life of me. It was the same year we did Hamlet and The Kite Runner. I can't blame my college for not teaching me properly. I chose for myself to study Renaissance and Tudor history. There was an Australian history unit that I never took because I thought it looked boring. In hindsight, it feels like something I shouldn't have been able to choose not to know.

18:19. 1/6: hold my beer…

"the worst day in America beats teh best day in any other country" That's something that could only ever have been said by someone that has never been outside the country.

"History, when taught well, teaches us how to improve the world, but history, when taught poorly, falsely teaches us that there's nothing to improve." The best line I've ever heard about why really learning about history is so important, especially in this day and age

"The worst day in america beats the best day in any other country" The hubris in this statement is off the charts.

My high school history teacher was pretty brilliant. She didn't make any declarative statements on the slavery vs states rights issue. She let primary sources do that. It's one thing for a teacher to tell you that a historical figure was a racist, it's another thing to read that historical figure's unapologetic racism for yourself.

"The Constitution isn't a UKpostsr who just learned that it's not cool to do blackface for 15 years" is the hardest roast of Shane Dawson I have ever seen

Whenever someone tries to tell me the civil war was about states rights I always ask "Which state right was being taken away?" Spoiler, it was the "right" to own humans.

I think it’s important to add a footnote or slide to this video to keep it up to current events seeing as how it was created and aired BEFORE the following event: It should definitely inform the viewer of the additional ATTEMPTED coup on January 6, 2021 so that upon hearing the old version of the video, a viewer does not dismiss that event as not being a coup in any way.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE EVER! NO CONTEST!

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor." --James Baldwin

"History that ignores white supremacy is a white supremacist's version of history." Thank you, JO, for this sentence.

Yes, John is an immigrant. Yet, he seems more well versed in American history than a vast majority of the native born. Yes, his research staff is amazing; yes, I’m sure he did not know American history in the detail this and many other shows exhibit. However, now we ALL know. John learned, then taught us. I’m so grateful!

We must teach truth no matter where it leads or it will never be truly behind us.

America be like: If we don't talk about it, it never happened.

“Meehhh” - Ramses II, c. 2000 AD

1964. Even PhysEd classes skewed perceptions in games for kids. I remember the game “hawk, dove, and little Chinese boy” that we were taught.

As a History Major in the South, it has been a whiplash learning about history, unlearning everything and relearning the truth is super important

"The worst day in America beats the best day in other countries...." Laughs in European

"The worst day in America is better than the best everywhere else" *Laughs in EU*

I realized part way through this that I had seen it before. I watched it again anyway, because we can’t hear this message too often. History doesn’t stop, indeed, and we haven’t come near to fixing the problems caused by slavery.

Even when I feel dispirited, Last Week Tonight keeps it possible for me to breathe!

I think this is a necessary conversation, but I also feel the US is leaving out the major conversation about Native Americans.

"Changing an America that doesn't want to be changed" is the most concise description of history and politics I've ever heard

Thank you John! So true and thoughtful!

Just watched the sex ed episode where he said "Schools wouldn't stand it if we taught inaccurate things in history class!" XD

"the worst day in america beats the best day in any other country." this is quite literally propaganda.

Americans: They can't erase our history! Also Americans: We should just ignore this part of our history.

No bulshit, I did some time in Texas about 20 years ago and this is what we ate on three special days: on July 4th we had hamburgers and hot dogs, on Cinco de Mayo we had tacos, and on Juneteenth we had fried chicken, no bulshit.

Lol that view clip Whoopi was like “THANK YOU!!” 😂🙌🏼

As a 30 year old german I want to add that I will never forget my visit with my school class to the concentration camp Buchenwald. I stood in a room as a child where the dead bodies were being rounded up and stacked before burning them. Even the loudest, most irresponsible ones in our group shut up during that day and believe me, it didnt mess with us, it didnt darken our minds, it didnt make us hate the country we lived in, the country I grew up in, the country it is developing itself to be, as we all write our own history. What it did do is broadening my horizon, making me aware for injustice and hopefully gave me the courage, shall I ever face these horrors no matter how big or small to open my mouth and speak out.

My school decided to SKIP the chapter covering "Discrimination Against African Americans" because they deemed it to be "less important" than other chapters like "Leisurely Activities of the Last 1800s". Depressing

Years after , im still haunted by the dad who asked his kids been taught ''worst Day in america beats best day in any other country''. I'm not american. Even for twice my salary in quebec I would want to live in the US. Even for 4x my salary I would not want my little baby growing up in the US. You really think your live is so much better than a day in Montreal? In Paris? In Vienna? Nobody in the west is looking toward the american dream anymore with anything more than fear, disgust and pity . Please heal. We still need our american friends. This message was written from the terminus of the underground railway. Montréal, Québec.

The person at 25:25 is describing exactly what people like him think the real purpose of education is: not informing, but indoctrinating. Children should be taught to love America no matter the cost, and certainly no matter the reality. It really reveals how flimsy their "patriotism" is. If you need to hear a carefully curated version of American history in order to love America, do you really love America?