Please, Do Not Erase History!

I’m sure I’m going to offend some people with this writing, but what’s going on in this country right now – I’m just totally sickened by it. Every day I skim through my Facebook page and get depressed.

When I first began freelancing for the newspaper, I was told to always check stories for facts before submitting for printing. It’s important to print (tell) truth … I know we still hold to that for our newspaper. (We’re not perfect, but we strive to tell the truth as best we can.) However, I’m concerned about other media being as interested in truth.

It seems like common sense, true honor, integrity, responsibility, accountability, kindness, understanding, love, etc. are just pretty words to bandy about with the real meaning lost to an underlying goal. They’re words used frequently (transparency now a common one) and do not match the actions of the speaker/group/business.

What’s truth? What’s news? What’s propaganda? How do we tell the difference anymore? Who can we believe? What authoritative figure has been “paid for” or “bought by” whom?

But this is me. This is what I see and feel. I don’t mean to offend. If you feel what I might say will upset you, don’t read.

It saddens me greatly to hear people wanting to erase history, destroying statues, removing label icons, et. al. I swear, the stupidity of people gets worse every day. It's amazingly appalling.

Amazing because it's hard to believe people fall for this shit and jump on the protesting bandwagons. (I’m not saying there are not problems, there are!) Appalling because I don't see how erasing history will make the problems go away and solve issues.

If we take the Aunt Jemima-type icons off labels (personally, I feel the Aunt Jemima picture is about a nurturing-looking mama whose a good cook) and destroy statues and pictures, how will that make the country a better place? Will doing all this stop prejudice? "Animal Farm" and "1984" by George Orwell are coming true.

Next, they'll be putting up billboards to tell people how and what to think. (Oh, they already do.) Hey, let’s add the song, "In the Year 2525" to the brainwashing, governmental control. 

Slavery was (still is, and is still going on, in other countries) horrible. (Personally, I’d like to see groups going after those still enslaved today, freeing those who are oppressed, etc. We can’t change history to help our ancestors, but we could, possibly, help those living it today. I think that’s what my ancestors would want.)

And, here's something to consider -- instead of tearing down and destroying, look more into the people  (Washington, Lincoln, J. Davis, Aunt Jemima, etc.) as to who they were, maybe what they stand for. (I’m only including a couple of names in the news, but there are many more.)

I watched some history thing a few years back about G. Washington, and, as a man, he was a bit of a jerk. They MADE him into a hero when he really wasn't. That said, he stands for the father of our country, and he does stand for liberty and justice! And what he stands for should count, and that's why he's a hero ... not because he owned slaves, but for the figure he was made into. 

C. Columbus -- now we find out he, too, was a horrible man in how he treated indigenous people. As did many of those old explorers … all the guys, mostly guys, throughout history explored, “conquered” and stole from the people of those lands. And we grew up being taught they were all heroes.

Maybe it’s just about updating history, not destroying it. These people still played a part in how this country developed. ALL sides of the stories need to be told! Isn’t it important to tell all the truth we can instead of hiding it and pretending it didn’t happen?

You’d think with all the eons of history, mankind would have learned from the past. There certainly is enough written. There have always been wars. There’s always someone wanting to take what others have. There have always been abusers. There are those who always want to take over. There are always those who SAY they want the best for THEIR people, yet only continue to build their own powerhouse.

Think about it. I’m sure all the Caesars, Alexander the Greats, Napoleons, Hitlers, Stalins, etc. believed they were in the right. AND, they convinced their followers they were.

Conquering African tribes enslaved the conquered and sold thousands to the Europeans. Europeans turned the peoples they conquered into slaves. Is there a country who didn’t turn their conquests into slaves in one aspect or another?

And maybe that's why I've never had real heroes. I've always seen they were men and women of power, often with personal agendas and often they hurt many to get to where they did. We are all human and none of us perfect. We only see the side they (whoever “they” are) want us to see. Everyone has their – let’s just say, not-so-good side. And we all have our opinions of right and wrong – and how far some are willing to stretch those lines.

So, let’s tell the WHOLE story! The not so good along with the accomplishments. DO NOT ERASE history! How can we learn from it (and see when it's getting repeated) if it's erased?

I’ve been saying for quite some time, don’t tear down statues and such, update the plaques to help teach people the truth … the bad along with the good accomplishments. Tell some whys. Help people understand.

The past is fascinating and could help us create a better future. It’s important to be reminded of what happened in the past – because it could happen again. Stories of the past could help us see what’s out of balance today. The past can show up how to improve today and how we can better human beings.

We can never escape our human beingness. It’s what makes us human. There will always be good guys and bad guys. It’s human nature. It’s life and all the ups and downs that come with it.

All we can do is be the best we can knowing there are those that, for whatever reason, will not live up to what we think is right … but no one can be totally right. Heck, sometimes we, ourselves, can’t live up to our expectations.

The song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” written by Pete Seeger (my favorite performers of this were the Byrds), and, I guess taken from Ecclesiastes 3 – but in my mind, I hear the Byrds –  “To everything (turn, turn, turn)  There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven …”