This years marks the 75th year anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US Naval Base, Pearl Harbor. It was a day that FDR declared would live in infamy after 2403 Americans were killed in addition to nearly 1200 more injured. The attacks precipitated our direct participation into WWII.
We should never forget Pearl Harbor…never forget, 9/11 terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon… We should never forget these attacks and incidents that have had such a profound impact on The United States history, psyche and its citizens. History must be preserved both as a remembrance of the sacrifices of those that lost their lives and sacrificed for this country.
However, America has a very selective process for what it deems worthy of remembrance.
Why are the atrocities of the Native American genocide not mentioned in any detail in any history books taught in US schools? My most distinct historical memory of Native Americans from text books taught in elementary school were that the Dutch “purchased” Manhattan from the Indians for the equivalent of $24 dollars worth of beads and trinkets.
That’s not history that is brainwashing. You want to minimize a race of people start your introduction by explaining that they were essentially stupid and not good negotiators. The only time we even reference Native Americans is usually associated with some inconvenience they are causing. The nerve they display in being awarded reparations in the form of casino rights… the nerve they have in being offended at their depiction and uses as some of our college and professional teams’ mascots (Hello D.C.)… the nerve they have in not wanting the waters under their lands in North Dakota to be used for access to oil pipelines. We note their perceived entitlement and complaints…rarely do we celebrate and acknowledge their sacrifices and their lives. American history has to start with its true natives.
I was taught nothing in detail about slavery in school. Though the institution covered nearly 284 years (1581-1865) of American history, it was not covered in great deal in any history I was ever taught in school.
It is not just about what is taught or covered in classrooms, America (and by America I am more specifically referring to the privileged White establishment), has a very selective and hypocritical stance on what it decides to glorify and praise and what it chooses to conveniently minimize.
I have heard the cries far too loud and long as to why African Americans or People Of Color (POC) constantly bring up the race card, as if nearly 300 years of institutionalized enslavement of the majority of a race of people somehow allows that race is not (and should not be) a central topic of discussion in this country. So the cries further go that “slavery was a long time…either get over it or move on” When nearly 2/3 to ¾ of this country’s history involved the enslavement of a race of people, I think for better or worse the topic should be given its proper respect and historical context to helping understand how its effects on the fabric of families and peoples mindsets are still in some ways affected to this day.
Even if you think 1865 was a long time ago, for over a hundred years that followed, Blacks and POC, while free from enslavement were still not afforded in most instances the most basic of human rights. The people and politicians who love to so literally reference the US Constitution, so conveniently forget that until the 20th century women were not even allowed to vote, and the provisions of the US Constitution held little benefit or effect for POC until the pressures from the Civil Rights Movement, finally forced a change… We are now talking less than 50 years ago.
9/11 should always be respected and remembered. Pearl Harbor should always be respected and remembered… just give that same respect and remembrance to so many other central aspects of America’s long and not always perfect history. Again in no way am I minimizing 9/11 or Pearl Harbor…just trying to provide a degree of perspective. Between the two, approximately 6,000 people were killed. Estimates for slaves killed has conservatively been placed at over 600,000 to anywhere between 4-5 million There were no clear records of those deaths, but we know many died during transport and others killed once arrived. The exact number is less important than the actual acknowledgment that the inhumanity of the process affected millions.
Conservative estimates of the indigenous population in 1500 prior to settler’s arriving was at approximately 10 million. By the 1900s that number had been reduced to just over 200,000. Even if you account for widespread effects of disease brought by the settlers, it invariably points to near genocide of an entire population. Neither is a pretty part of our history, but it is OUR history and it must be given the same proper contextual respect and acknowledgement as these other important moments in US history.
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#pearlharbor, #9/11, #nativeamericans, #dakotapipeline, #slavery, #POC, #Blacks, #AfricanAmericans, #neverforget, #remember, #history
