The point of view for determining history is fascinating. A friend of mine grew up in Apartheid South Africa. Growing up, she was told that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist in jail. Our Chinese friends, when they come to the U.S., are sometimes shocked to find out that many or most Americans view Taiwan as an independent country, consider Tibet invaded by Chinese forces, and may know that the Chinese province of Xinjiang was the East Turkistan Republic until entered by China’s PLA in 1949. (Imagine if someone from another country told you that they consider Florida to be an independent country occupied by the U.S. government.) I also recall visiting Jefferson’s Monticello, when a family from the southern U.S., lamented how things would be different if their side had won the "war of northern aggression." The point is in no way to criticize or judge but to point out that historical perspective is fascinating and the history post-9/11 period of the U.S. that is yet to be written may prove to be especially interesting, depending on who gets to write the history.

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