To the editor:
In 2018, I visited Washington D.C. specifically to explore the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016, as well as the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004.
Both were marvelous experiences that gave me new insights about American history and the contributions that so many people have made to make our country great. (Yes, I use that expression, because I refuse to let language be stolen.)
At the Museum of African American History, I watched a father standing before an exhibit about the Middle Passage, those appalling hell ships that brought human beings from Africa to be sold into slavery. His young son was braced against his legs. His arms were wrapped around the child.
Somewhere among those tortured human beings were their ancestors. I was deeply moved, watching the man explain that history to his son. The layers of story were profound, the emotions complex. There was sorrow and perhaps anger and a deep sense of pride as well.
This is part of our history as Americans. Yet the current president intends to flatten and erase that history with his executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” That title is a lie and a travesty.
We are a nation of immigrants, people from all over the world, many of whom suffered before they came here and also after. We are also a nation which protected slavery and depended on it for economic growth. And we are a nation which destroyed the people who were already living here before Europeans arrived.
We have promised all people equal opportunity in this country. We haven’t always honored that commitment. From the beginning different people have struggled to obtain what was promised. Some are still struggling, but we have made progress. There is still work to do. Previous administrations have moved the struggle forward, but this one seems intent on not only halting it but erasing any accurate reference to it.
Destroying the evidence is covering up the crime. In a generation, who will know either the injustice or the progress? The story will be only the story certain people want to hear, something someone decides is “truth” and “sanity.”
And once that happens, once we allow those in power to decide what is true, we are doomed. Doomed to be like so many countries that live under fascism. In Spain it was, until very recently, against the law to speak, read, or teach about the Spanish Civil War or to say anything critical of Franco’s fascist government. If no one knows about a fascist regime, will we notice when it comes again?
The current administration has already done a lot of damage, but this strikes me as just plain nasty. Except it isn’t. Instead, it’s a calculated attempt to say what American history is.
If we can’t honestly look at ourselves and admit our mistakes, how will we learn not to make those mistakes again? If some group says we will define “American” as pure white heroes, who never did anything bad to anyone, how will we ever grow to be the nation we want to be? How can we fail to imagine the tenderness of a father proudly explaining to his child — this is our history, and our future?
— Andrea Scharf/Yachats
Well said! What is happening in our country is appalling, but resistance to this dive toward authoritarian government was evidenced by the huge numbers who turned out Saturday all across the country. Keep speaking up!