When I studied History of the Mideast....What do
you think of this view?

Not much.

What your professor spoke about is the massacre of the Prophet's household that
took place under the orders of the Muslim government of that time. But this is not
a matter of Sunni-Shi'ite differences - this is a matter of an unjust government
(the Ummayads) that perpetrated an action that was reprehensible to all Muslims.
However, the government presented itself as a legitimate Islamic government (even
as many rulers of Muslim countries do today) because to come out openly against Islam
would have sealed their doom. They were efficient at propaganda, efficient at political
manipulation, efficient at placating the populace, efficient at manufacturing religious
justification for their policies, and ruthless against all who opposed them. Much
of the religious distortion they produced continues to cause confusion even today.
However, there is no Sunni (who has even a small amount of Islamic historical knowledge
or understanding of Islam) who will try and justify the slaughter of the Prophet's
closest family members.

The situation at that time was one in which those who represented the spiritual heritage
of Islam were put aside and those who held power carried only its external formalities.