School curriculum often implicitly and explicitly upheld white people as the superior race marginalized the contributions and perspectives of non-white peoples as if they were (or are) not as important. In the 19th century, a significant number of students were taught that Adam and Eve were white, and the other races evolved from their various descendants, growing further and further away from the original white standard. In addition, whites were also fashioned as the capable caretakers of other races, namely black and Native people, who could not take care of themselves. This concept was at odds with the violence white Americans had committed against indigenous and black peoples, but it was coupled with soft language that, for example, defended these acts. Mills (1994) cites the narrative about Europeans' "discovery" of a "New World," despite the people who already inhabited it, and its subsequent "colonization" instead of conquest, as examples. He maintains that these word choices constitute a cooptation of history by white people, who have used it to their advantage.