Throughout history man has oppressed, dominated and hated his fellow man ,in part, because of political,religious,economic beliefs and interests . Ruthless dynasties have occurred in Asia, Africa,Europe,North America, Oceania and South America . I am not forgetting the British,Greek, or Roman Empires.Related, I liked the movie “The Legend of Tarzan. “ Tarzan , his wife , Samuel Jackson and the animals ,In that drama, saved the people of the Congo from the sadistic, oppressive,discriminatory and racist Belgians.
Realistically,homosapiens are born helpless with drives and needs.Frustration, conflict and aggression are inevitable . This dynamic results in tendencies to repeat irrational,sadistic aggressive actions. Freud labeled the occurrences a repetition compulsion. Therefore,man continually repeats his history with hateful, oppressive discriminatory behaviors ,racism,ethnic cleansing, and religious bigotry . Today’s disquisition addresses an article titled “ Racism Is Not A Moral Question” found in the November 14, 2021 edition of The New York Times which foreshadows today’s Republican racist politics.
In this New York Times article, the writer identified the work of Oliver Cromwell Cox. Cox’s book was titled “Caste, Class and Race: A Study in Social Dynamics” published in 1948. Is racism primarily structural and material or is it cultural and linguistic? He provided examples of economic self-interest as a major variable, Cox wrote “We cannot defeat race prejudice by proving that it is wrong. The reason for this is that race prejudice is only a symptom of a materialistic social fact.” He also wrote “For most of American history, until the Civil War, the socioeconomic need was the production of tobacco, agricultural staples and eventually cotton. After the war, it was the general demand for cheap workers and a plant, divided labor force coming from Southern planters and Northern industrialists. Further “It is capitalistic exploitation-and not some inborn tribalism-that drives racial prejudice and conflict. “ Race prejudice developed gradually in Western society as capitalism and nationalism developed. It is a divisive attitude seeking to alienate dominant group sympathy from an inferior race, a whole people, for the purpose of facilitating its exploitation. The greater the immediacy of the exploitive need, the more insistence were the arguments supporting the rationalizations.”
Unfortunately, my initial learning of American history came from the Harvard historian Samuel Eliot Morison. I learned that the Puritans left England because of religious persecution but not about their Implementation of the same once here. I learned that George Washington, the father of our country, did not lie, chopped down the cherry tree and crossed the Delaware. Morrison failed to mention that George received money from Hyam Solomon . Solomon, Polish born , founded Mikveh Israel ,the first Philadelphia synagogue, and was a principal financier of the American Republic . His efforts, with his synagogue, brokered a number of large financial transactions that kept American soldiers clothed,fed and armed. I learned about Thomas Jefferson and”The Pursuit of Happiness” but not about his relationship with Sally Hemings and their children. I learned about freedom, democracy, and that our country was a model for self-government all over the world .However, I did not learn that between 1662 and 1807,British and British colonial ships purchased an estimated 3, 415,500 Africans. Of this number, 2,964,800 survived the middle passage and were sold into slavery in the Americas.I did not learn that in 1619 the first Africans were brought to this land by British privateers who captured a Portuguese vessel.I did not learn that slavery was one of the motives for revolution.
It’s clear that, American history of the 50s, omitted and were biased regarding the consequences of slavery in our Republic. Therefore , the Impetus to distort and deny factual information regarding critical race theory is not new but a continuation of political,religious, educational WASP thinking and prejudice. With the acknowledgment and inclusion of the savagery of racism and slavery, historian Jack P. Greene In 1975 wrote “it’s become clear that the experience of women,children, servants, slaves and other neglected groups are quite as integral to a comprehensive understanding of the past as lawyers ,lords and ministers of state.”Incidentally,the movie industry did its part and finally challenged the racial prejudice and inequity with their Academy award-winning 1967 movie “ In The Heat of the Night.” In that movie, Sidney Poitier slapped a white man. That was the first time In movie history that a white man was slapped by a black man. Yeah, Hollywood finally got it right.By the way,” Django Unchained “, in today’s movies, tells a very different story.
The darling B actor and intellectual Ronald Reagan in 1983 was troubled and cognitively challenged by the dissonance of a more true account of American history. He professed “The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future.”In 1991 George H.W. Bush, furthered by insecurity regarding truth stated “Move every community in America toward national educational goals.” Lynn Cheney, a lifelong Republican was appointed and responsible for helping initiate the old standards in American history .
With more support for a more truthful American history historian Neil I. Painter “New histories have come out that exposes the sad facts written earlier… that claims to encompass all the American people but spoke to only a small segment.” The Republican Cheney also couldn’t stand the dissonance and criticized the new histories.Unable to control the narrative,she resigned and wrote in the Wall Street Journal “The End of History.”These racist Republican sentiments were shouted from the hilltops by Rush Limbaugh “A bastardization of American history;” Charles Krauthammer In an article titled “History Hijacked. ”To promote the achievement and highlight the countries preferred mistakes while straining equally to degrade the achievements and highlight the flaws of the white males who ran the country for the past two centuries;” Newt Gingrich “Attached standards as a way to reaffirm commitment to an idealized view of the past portrayed as being under attack from political correctness and multiculturalism.”
Thus, I can’t be surprised by the Republicans attacking Critical Race Theory. Numerous states , in our country, as directed by their Republican controlled State Board of Education are prohibiting the teaching of race.They certainly do not want to make white kids feel shameful by presenting facts. They want to perpetuate the myth and nonsense about our Republic. They do not value acquiring knowledge, facts,truth, objectivity and reasoning. Instead, they value irrationality, prejudice, hate and fiction. Neil Degrasse Tyson makes a good point about science”The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” That idea can be said about history as well. Jawaharlal Nehru states “Fear builds its phantoms which are more fearsome than reality itself.”
Samuel Eliot Morison should be embarrassed by his biased , myopic portrayal of American history. You did not tell the truth about our historical past. You omitted important details. For example: 1. What about Democratic limitations for our Republic dominated by a few white wealthy males–Indians, women nor slaves could not vote 2. Having two senators per state and the electoral college was created to keep the power in the minority of white men 3. The Indians were oppressed, dominated, exploited and wiped out 4. Slavery was necessary for the well-being and economics of the lazy southern racists. Perhaps they were motivated for separation from King George because of the sentiment In Great Britain to abolish slavery 5. The existence of systematic racism in all of our institutions that discriminated against black human beings.
Samuel Eliot Morison, how would you depict the assault by many Republicans on our democracy? What would you say about the following:1.A minority voted twice for a paranoid, sociopathic narcissist 2. This criminal was impeached twice and a Republican Senate twice failed to convict 3. This lying malignant narcissist said the election results were false 4. This fraud was behind frivolous lawsuits in which 61 out of 62 were thrown out 5.This criminal sociopath and his sycophants contacted Republican election officials and then attempted to steal and change votes. They are continuing the fraud 6.This paranoid was a co-conspirator in the planning behind stopping the procedural vote on January 6 certifying Joe Biden’s victory 7. This narcissist was instrumental in the January 6 attack on the capital and failed to stop the insurrection of his rioters 7. This fraud is involved in illegal proceedings in New York, Washington DC, and Georgia 8.The fraud’s ineptitude regarding Covid–19, climate irregularities,and the nuclear deal 9. His flattery and other obsequious behavior with authoritarian head’s of state 10.
Dr. Morrison, your history of the United States requires a severe revision 11.Dr. Morrison, our Democratic Republic is at risk 12. Dr. Morrison I would rather hear what Dr. Jon Meacham, presidential historian, has to say than your distorted and untruthful view 13 .Dr. Morrison , pay attention to Nadine Gordimer’s words “ The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.”
Reference
A Nation of Argument. The New York Times November 14, 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment