Includes bibliographical references and index.

The problem with presentism is that it blurs our understanding of the past / Lynn Hunt -- Why judging past actions is wrong / G. E. Moore -- Viewing history through ethics can help make better citizens / Marshall Tamuka Maposa -- Our position in the present always affects how we see the past / Sarah Godsell -- Reexamining historical figures through social media / Clarissa Lee -- Is the past to blame for limiting who we celebrate as historical figures? / Ama Biney -- Presentism helps women reclaim recognition for their work / Stephanie Thomson -- Historical narratives offer a skewed view of the past that presentism can fix / David A. Tomar -- Reexamining past female activists shows a more nuanced history than we know / Nancy A. Hewitt -- Reexamining the past helps us bring representation to a wider audience / Ray Filar -- The problem with dishonoring Christopher Columbus / Gerald Korson -- Should we celebrate Christopher Columbus? / Evelyn Red Lodge -- Patrice Lumumba : revisiting a historical figure who is still remembered today / Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja -- Ronald Reagan's legacy: fighting for a united Republican party / L. John Van Til -- Why Ronald Reagan's legacy should be revisited / Jeralyn Merritt -- Organizations to contact.

"The recent wave of statues, building names, and other monuments memorializing figures like Christopher Columbus and Confederate generals being removed from public spaces and college campuses has brought the reassessment of historical figures to the fore. It has raised questions about whom we choose to venerate; how historical narratives form; and whether it is best to erase problematic figures from the historical record, present a new interpretation on them, or attempt to be as unbiased as possible by contemporary attitudes when regarding them. Readers will learn more about this timely and complicated issue through a wide range of perspectives."--Provided by publisher.

Grades 9-12.