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| image taken from ariverrr on devinantart.com |
Our history is valuable, but we must remember all of it in order to truly value it. We must remember or mistakes, virtues, and hypocrisies- of which there are many. We are a country that celebrates personal freedom, yet our founding fathers relied on abusive slave labor to run their plantations. We are a country obsessed with private property, yet we stole our land from native American Indians (whom we also massacred). We are a country that boasts of our democracy, yet women only recently were given the right to vote. We are a country that celebrates diversity, yet we forcefully interned thousands of Japanese-American citizens during World War II out of fear and racism. We are a country that values freedom of expression, yet we imprisoned and marginalized American communists during the Cold War. We are a country that was founded by illegal immigrants, yet we exploit the immigrants that come to our country. We are a country that idolizes democracy, yet the CIA overthrew democratic governments abroad that threatened our businesses. We are a country that promises the American Dream to our children, yet we have the 43rd most unequal distribution of wealth in the world. We are a country that fought against our British colonial overlords, yet we have set up our own colonial governments in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are a country that promises freedom of religion to its citizens, yet we protested the construction of a mosque in New York City. We are a country that sings of our ''purple mountains majesty'' and ''fruited plains'' yet we strip mine our mountains into oblivion and choke our crops with pollution.
The truth is, our history is stained by exclusivity and hypocrisy. Yet no one talks about it honestly. We let our pride, patriotism, and self-love get in the way of truly comprehending our nation’s past. After all, that’s what sells books and gets votes (just ask Sarah Palin).
The good news is, that although American does have a history that includes innumerable mistakes, we also have a history that includes people fighting against those mistakes. Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr, and Cesár Chávez have done more for the majority of our country than our Founding Fathers- who ignored the rights of women, blacks, and Hispanics. If Sarah Palin starts talking about these leaders on her book tour, then maybe I’ll give her a listen.
In the end, I believe that the real strength of our nation isn't our history, but our tradition of learning from the past and progressing to a better future. However, in order to keep progressing as a nation we must confront the mistakes of our past, not ignore them.
Good article. I came to know about your blog from Srijan Karim, a mutual friend of ours I believe. I have never heard Palin's speech or read any articles about her, but people tell me she is 'stupid'. The second paragraph of your essay is an accurate assessment of the American phenomenon of hypocrisy of which our 'white' President Obama is an epitome. Did you know that he recently boycotted the U.N. Racism Conference? It was less surprising but more revealing of his mindset, given the foreign policies he is pursuing so far.
ReplyDeleteYou might like to read my friend Xavier's blog at http://xavierobrien.wordpress.com/ and though I don't write exclusively on politics as he does, here is an article I wrote some days ago which got published in an online newspaper: http://efadulhuq.blogspot.com/2011/05/tale-of-two-outlaws-feat-obama-osama.html
I hope to be in touch with you and read more of your articles.
You are accurate in your assessment of American history, and you have given it a relatively open and honest appraisal, although some might go considerably further in their condemnation of the atrocities quietly committed again and again by those who have power in the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe systematic impacts of many hushed policies are widespread and devastating. A prime example is the effect of United States drug policy on the state of minorities, particularly African Americans. One of the clearest results of this are vastly inflated prison sentences for blacks, something which has continued for nearly three decades. This is easy enough to see in statistics.
But the greater meaning of such institutionalized inequality is easy to ignore, as it certainly is in America. Generations of young black men are sent to prison, where they are exposed to a criminal atmosphere far from accomplishing any kind of reform. They return to their poor neighborhoods with no prospects, unable to acquire a job due to a lack of adequate education and a felony record. Yet the American dream tells us that everyone has an equal opportunity in this country; therefore, it must be these individuals' fault for their own failures. Thus Americans ignore the greater issues, and a simple policy results in an immeasurably destructive outcome.
My purpose in highlighting such an example is to show that if Americans cannot even grasp simple historical facts about their country, it seems hopeless that the root causes of many of the greatest woes of the country - wasteful spending, institutionalized racism, the military-industrial complex, etc. - will never be recognized. Demagogues like Sarah Palin are far more dangerous to the United States than they appear. They are more than a distraction and a nervous laugh at the state of American politics - they are indicative of the hidden policies which evade public perception, but continue to ruin the country.
Al-Poeta: Thanks for the response. Srijam is an amazing person. A friend of his is a friend fo mine. I'll definitely check out your friend's blog as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Obama boycotted the racism conference. Upon doing some research, he said that it's because of the conference's (ironically) anti-Semantic history. I'm not sure boycotting a conference is the best way to stop more anti-Sematism racism though. I definitely don't support Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank (and neither does Obama), but I still believe anti-Sematism is wrong.
Anonymous- I completely agree with you. ''Institutionalized inequality'' is an accurate description of the currently social reality. So much prison reform is needed in our country, in addition to changing the perceptions people have about class and race.
I must say that people like you are hard to come across. Few people are willing to look into the past and learn. There are far too few people in America and in the world in general that are welling to see the reality of the situation and peer beyond the hypocritical black and white mentality. There are even fewer welling to say or doing about it. They much rather retreat into comic books, television, video games, or internet forums about such things. Too afraid of upsetting friends and family that are strictly Republican or Democrat. I, for one, am guilty of that.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about Americans is they believe themselves and the country itself to be godlike. It doesn't matter if a person is liberal, republican, or independent. They all have ideas about what America should be. They think the country is above punishment. Above judgement. They believe they are entitled to the world simply due to the power and victories they have amassed over the years.
Americans choose to remember history differently. They don't like people mentioning that there have been quite a few monsters in their history. You tell them facts when they are wrong and they call a liar and heathen. They intend to keep on rewriting things until their account of history is the only account of history. An impossible goal, but don't dare tell -them- that.
I could go and on, but that would be rambling. And don't get me wrong I love the concept of America, but it really hasn't delivered.