I was in Hawaii over the Christmas break and visited one of the expected "tourist" stops: the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Many of the tourists in Hawaii are Japanese, but even so it was surprising to me that so many Japanese were at the memorial. I was traveling with my family and my father was with us. It occurred to me while we were on the boat going out to see the remains of the USS Arizona that some of these older Japanese men sitting right next to us may have fought against my father. It was an odd feeling, and I looked at these men differently the remainder of the tour. The biggest question in my mind was, what was going through THEIR minds? What was their motivation to be here? What was their understanding of the attack and subsequent events? I continued to wonder about this as they stepped in front of the "wall of names" to be photographed just like the American tourists.
Before going out to the Arizona, visitors are shown a film containing actual footage shot by the Japanese during the attack. Apparently the film was recently remade; prior versions had shown only material obtained from the American archives. My parents had seen the older film on a previous trip and said that the new version was considerably more informative, though they wouldn't categorize it as neutral. As my father commented, he doesn't think it is possible for anyone to relate an event without some bias. I agree with this. I don't see how it is possible for anyone to understand something or relate it to someone else without individual experiences, filters, perspectives, etc., affecting the information.
I think we can strive to show different perspectives, and we can attempt to be neutral, but the end product will always retain some residue of our own experience. History is a sequence of real events. History itself has no bias. However, the experiencing of those events, the recording of those events, and the study of those events are affected by one's personal filters.
I doubt that many would argue the point that it is our role as educators to be aware of personal bias and keep it in mind when designing instruction. However, I wonder if there aren't times when we have a responsibility to try to maintain some of our own perspectives. For example, when The American Front (a neo-Nazi organization located in Oregon) makes statements that the Nazi atrocities never happened, isn't it someone's obligation to try to present the perspective of those who survived, and those who did not, as well as those who fought in that war?
By the way, my family is originally from New York and our family history as residents of that area dates back to when it was known as New Amsterdam. We considered the 1960 World Series to be a triumph of the underdog and certainly cause for celebration. My folks have a phonograph record of the highlights of the 1960 Series (early multimedia--it included actual play-by-play as well as photos!). My brother STILL listens to it!