Admiration and Historical Accuracy

Loewen dedicates a chapter in his text to the analysis and emphasis of abolitionists during Reconstruction, focusing particularly on Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. He concludes his treatment of these individuals by noting how, "we in America, whose antiracist idealists are admired around the globe, seem to have lost these men and women as heroes. Our textbooks need to present them in such a way that we might again value our own idealism" (203). This passage prompted several questions for me. First off, is it necessary that as American citizens, we identify certain individuals as historical heroes? Would a history filled with the actions of ordinary people be simply to boring to discuss? Loewen rags on history teachers for identifying founders of the Republic who owned slaves or Christopher Columbus as heroes...crtainly those men were not perfect or even venerable, but is making heroes of other individuals really the answer? The latter portion of his statement concerns me. "Valuing idealism" seems to be what Loewen has been advocating against in his text all along.