No need to whitewash American History.
"This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth. . . .[W]e should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences."
U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R. Montana) on why he voted "no" on the Juneteenth holiday.
The battleground for opposition to Biden has moved from the consequential to the symbolic. We hear less about infrastructure, taxes, deficits, and health care from Republicans than we did a decade ago. Biden is woefully inarticulate and un-charismatic but he has a gift a politician needs to survive and prosper despite shortcomings. He promotes things that are popular.
Most Americans want our roads and bridges improved. Most Americans want to tax the very rich more than they are being taxed now. Americans have been taught that deficits don't matter. American want health care expanded. Biden wants what Americans want. Republicans are on the wrong side politically in obstructing Biden on these, which is why they wisely changed the subject. Biden isn't fighting the culture war, but Republicans are taking it to him.
Biden didn't "cancel" any Dr. Seuss books, but we still hear him accused of it. Biden won nomination despite the CRT-supporting Democrats, but he is accused of supporting it. GOP officeholders, with the support of Fox, have a powerful talking point--protecting our children. The great new threat to America is our school children being taught that White Americans have done things which we should regret.
Note the inclusive "we" and the present tense. White Americans in 2021 are asked to share the guilt for behaviors done in generations past because we are the contented beneficiaries of that injustice. White Americans resent the implication, so Republicans have a powerful weapon.
White Americans need not feel personal guilt for behaviors done centuries before their birth, but it is not only part of our heritage; it is part of our inheritance. Love America, love the consequences of American policy. There is an implicit accusation. With the help of GOP messaging, Americans hear it.
We live on land taken from Indians, sometimes by conquest, sometimes by broken treaties. We enjoy wealth created by Black slaves, never reimbursed. Our railroad tracks were built by Chinese laborers, who we then excluded. Americans of Japanese ancestry were interred. Jews were excluded and marginalized.
The Juneteenth holiday is an attempt to integrate some of that history into the full history of America. It is tough medicine made easier to swallow by pointing to a milestone of injustice ending, rather than the injustice itself. Real patriotism is to love America in full recognition of troubling history.
Roy Saigo is a familiar name in Southern Oregon. He was President of Southern Oregon University, and in his multiple retirements returned to his work as a turn-around agent by serving for a year as President of Westfield State University in western Massachusetts.
Now in his closing days in that assignment he sent a Juneteenth greeting. Saigo was a victim of that troubling history. He strikes a tone that can serve Americans well as a way to include the full history of America, and remain patriotic and positive. He says Americans can face the truth. We need more of it, for more people. Here is a portion of his letter:
Dear Campus Community:
Today, history was made, as the United States Congress approved a bill to make Juneteenth (June 19)—a day to acknowledge and commemorate the freedom of enslaved people in America—a federal holiday known as Juneteenth National Independence Day. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law this afternoon, and Vice President Kamala Harris—the nation’s first Black and Asian woman to hold that position—delivered remarks on the bill’s passage and the holiday’s significance.
Roy and Barbara Saigo at my melon field Personally, as a person imprisoned during World War II because of my race, I cannot think of a more important milestone to observe than the end of slavery in the United States.
The first Juneteenth was observed in 1866 in Texas and today is recognized across the country to mark this important milestone.
As a Massachusetts state university, Westfield State recognizes Juneteenth to allow for reflection, education, and understanding. It is one way Westfield State University continues its commitment toward racial equity and justice.
I’m grateful to have spent my career as an educator and an advocate for civil rights. To have a democratic society we must have an educated society. To have an educated society we must have quality, affordable, public education. Education is needed today more than ever before, so people can seek and use information, reason critically, and make informed decisions based on evidence. To that end, let us all reflect on the significance of Juneteenth, and let us never forget what happened in this country to bring us to where we are today.
Warmly,
Roy H. Saigo, Ph.D.
Interim President
3 comments:
We need to be wary of patriotism.
Patriotism has no value for any particular individual. No one puts their patriotism on their resume. It won't help a student get into a good school. You get my drift.
Where it does have usefulness is as a political tool, to unify the nation in a crisis, in particular an external threat. However, the temptation for unscrupulous leaders to make national emergencies a permanent state is hard to resist and can lead to continual paranoia.
National borders are arbitrary and a vestige of tribal territories, and increasingly becoming archaic in a world based economy. It's not hard to see them dissolving in a rational future. Of course, there is currently Regressive resistance from the minority who benefit from international competition, evidence that we are in a transitional phase of history that began with the technological revolution.
In our case, it's clear that patriotism is being confused with nationalism, and in particular white nationalism. Even though this country has been multi-ethnic since it's inception, ironically due to slavery and later the 19th century immigration surge, Regressives ignore this reality, preferring a delusion that justifies all manner of prejudices, from petty bleating about "woke", to mass shootings.
Love of country is a fantasy that entertains too many with notions of superiority that are undeserved and narcissistic.
History should make us humble.
Something remarked on yesterday is how history books tend to gloss over such fundamental failings in the founding of our nation as the evils of slavery. We’re taught that other nations have practiced oppression and colonialism, but the U.S. is exceptional.
In fact, American history is notable for its atrocities as well as its triumphs, and the inhuman institution of slavery is arguably the worst example. Its repercussions are still very much with us. Kudos to Critical Race Theory for bringing it to people’s attention. Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not bliss.
Happy Juneteenth.
If Biden is as smart as you say he is, he will spin Rosendale’s comment 180°. Juneteenth is a holiday for all Americans who have been, and continue to be, marginalized.
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