Heritage erasure operates through distortion, silence, and omission rather than lies.

Evidence

But there is another danger even greater than that of irrelevance, and that is the danger of relevance. The word relevant has acquired new and menacing overtones and undertones of meaning in our time. History, according to this view, is admissible, even useful, provided it is limited to “relevant history.” Here we confront something worse than neglect. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1808 (#complicates, via linked claim)

How does one actually set about distorting history? The best and most ef­ fective method of course is invention, supported by fabrication. One invents events, and if convenient or necessary one fabricates the evidence to support one’s inventions. A fabrication may be personal and deliberate; it may be collective and unconscious. Both kinds can usually be detected by critical historical scholarship. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1834 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: National museums omit annihilated groups, erasing their claim to the nation — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 135; Silence and scholarly neglect can cause historical truth to vanish entirely — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 68; Cultural destruction often results from omission in protocols rather than deliberate orders. — Jamal Awil, The Whispering Archive: The Complete…, 1080 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Selective relevance can corrupt history more than outright neglect can. #complicates (0.78) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1808
• History is distorted chiefly through invention backed by fabricated evidence #complicates (0.76) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1834