WHY SHOULD I BE FORCED TO ATONE
FOR THE SINS OF MY ANCESTORS?
FOR THE SINS OF MY ANCESTORS?
Today, Dave at Oricus links to a commentary at Fire Dog Lake about a Peggy Noonan column. I have long ago said the venerable Ms Noonan is not firing on all thrusters. I think this time she has basically driven over a cliff.
On April 28 at the WSJ Noonan wrote:
“…Main thought. Hillary Clinton is not Barack Obama's problem. America is Mr. Obama's problem. He has been tagged as a snooty lefty, as the glamorous, ambivalent candidate from Men's Vogue, the candidate who loves America because of the great progress it has made in terms of racial fairness. Fine, good. But has he ever gotten misty-eyed over . . . the Wright Brothers and what kind of country allowed them to go off on their own and change everything? How about D-Day, or George Washington, or Henry Ford, or the losers and brigands who flocked to Sutter's Mill, who pushed their way west because there was gold in them thar hills? There's gold in that history…”
Fire Dog Lake responds in part:
“…Let's leave aside the "snooty lefty" and "Men's Vogue" stuff. That's Glenzilla's territory.
But um...Henry (F-Word deleted) Ford makes Nooner misty-eyed? Really? The openly anti-Semitic admirer of Adolf Hitler, who personally flew to Nazi Germany to receive the Order of the German Eagle in 1938, and opposed our involvement in WWII? That's someone Nooner puts alongside George Washington? That's someone Nooner thinks Obama should tear up about?
Holy. Shit…”
But um...Henry (F-Word deleted) Ford makes Nooner misty-eyed? Really? The openly anti-Semitic admirer of Adolf Hitler, who personally flew to Nazi Germany to receive the Order of the German Eagle in 1938, and opposed our involvement in WWII? That's someone Nooner puts alongside George Washington? That's someone Nooner thinks Obama should tear up about?
Holy. Shit…”
I agree with this. Henry Ford was a great innovator, but I don’t think I would wax teary over him. When you think about Americans, the automotive industry and a little bit patriotic, I think Dale Earnhardt is a better example than Henry Ford. NOTE: This is coming from someone who doesn’t like stock car racing.
Dave, at Oricus wrote:
“…There's no doubt that a lot of Wright's views are indeed deeply critical of America, even pugnaciously (and thus disconcertingly) so, and some -- particularly his apparent absorption of racial theories regarding the spread of HIV -- are dubious at best. Considering Wright's contentious performance yesterday at the National Press Club, one really can't blame Obama for washing his hands of the man.
But it's also apparent that the larger context in which Wright condemns American behavior -- the reason he shouts "God damn America" -- in fact reflects hard historical realities that Americans, and the American media especially, really don't want to talk about, let alone confront the present-day consequences thereof.
And doing so, evidently, is now proof of being "anti-American."
Among the things, evidently, that we're not supposed to bring up because it interrupts Peggy Noonan's fantasy vision of an American history populated mostly by noble 49ers and industrious Henry Fords, are the following:
-- The genocide committed against Native Americans.
-- Slavery.
-- The "lynching era" and Jim Crow.
-- Sundown towns.
-- The forced incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II….”
But it's also apparent that the larger context in which Wright condemns American behavior -- the reason he shouts "God damn America" -- in fact reflects hard historical realities that Americans, and the American media especially, really don't want to talk about, let alone confront the present-day consequences thereof.
And doing so, evidently, is now proof of being "anti-American."
Among the things, evidently, that we're not supposed to bring up because it interrupts Peggy Noonan's fantasy vision of an American history populated mostly by noble 49ers and industrious Henry Fords, are the following:
-- The genocide committed against Native Americans.
-- Slavery.
-- The "lynching era" and Jim Crow.
-- Sundown towns.
-- The forced incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II….”
This is the comment I left on the blog:
I think Jeremiah Wright is a very poor messenger to point out the evils of our society. I think Wright is a racist, plain and simple. If we can call Malkin a racist (and I do on a regular basis), then we need to be willing to make the same call on Wright.
I don't think people alive today who were not part of the atrocities of the past should be required to atone for them nor feel guilt for them. We did not do them. If we can not learn from our past, then it is a problem. I do think it is wrong to blame America for everything. Every culture (if it survives long enough) will do something that is unacceptable. That is life. It is ugly, but most people are.
It is up to those of us who do not want to repeat the sins of the past to try and rise above it. I think Jeremiah Wright is a very flawed messenger.
I classify myself as a "very loyal Republican". I see nothing wrong with that. Our country is not perfect. There has never been a country that has been nor will there ever be one. There is nothing wrong with patriotism. There is nothing wrong with pointing out our faults. I think the wrong is in failing to recognize the good in this nation and the good in our past. It is also wrong not to recognize that very bad things have been done in our past.
I did not do those things. I am a Republican. I am a good person. I am aware of our short-comings. I absolutely refuse to let a narcissistic, ego-driven, headline-grabbing jerk like Jeremiah Wright make me feel guilty for things I did not do.
I refuse to "atone" for sins I did not commit, no matter how white, Christian, Republican, and Anglo-centric I am. I can, though, and am, fighting to see that the sins of the past are not repeated. I love my country and I cherish our history, good and bad.
I don't think we will truly mature as a culture until conservatives realize that there have been things in our past that were vile and repulsive. They must realize there are vile and repulsive things going on right now. Until conservatives can stand up for the rights of everyone (including illegal immigrants), then they have very serious flaws.
On the other hand, liberals also have much to learn. Liberals need to admit that not every incident in the past was evil, vile, or repulsive. As a historian, I know that not every person in the past was evil. There were truly good, well-intentioned people who were acting with the norms of their culture. We all do that, even today. Until they can admit our nation has done some very remarkable things in the past, warts and all, then we cannot mature.
Not all conservatives are bad, and not all liberals are bad. We are human. We are flawed. We don't look at things the same way - and there is nothing wrong with that. The only way to truly find a solution to a problem is with perspective. You cannot find true perspective if you only look at a situation one way. A truly enlightened individual forces themselves to look at all angles. We must be willing to reject the flawed, no matter what ideology it is - liberal or conservative.
The worst part of this comment is it will be rejected by both liberals and conservatives. Perhaps that is the most chilling illustration of how splintered our ideologies are.”
I don't think people alive today who were not part of the atrocities of the past should be required to atone for them nor feel guilt for them. We did not do them. If we can not learn from our past, then it is a problem. I do think it is wrong to blame America for everything. Every culture (if it survives long enough) will do something that is unacceptable. That is life. It is ugly, but most people are.
It is up to those of us who do not want to repeat the sins of the past to try and rise above it. I think Jeremiah Wright is a very flawed messenger.
I classify myself as a "very loyal Republican". I see nothing wrong with that. Our country is not perfect. There has never been a country that has been nor will there ever be one. There is nothing wrong with patriotism. There is nothing wrong with pointing out our faults. I think the wrong is in failing to recognize the good in this nation and the good in our past. It is also wrong not to recognize that very bad things have been done in our past.
I did not do those things. I am a Republican. I am a good person. I am aware of our short-comings. I absolutely refuse to let a narcissistic, ego-driven, headline-grabbing jerk like Jeremiah Wright make me feel guilty for things I did not do.
I refuse to "atone" for sins I did not commit, no matter how white, Christian, Republican, and Anglo-centric I am. I can, though, and am, fighting to see that the sins of the past are not repeated. I love my country and I cherish our history, good and bad.
I don't think we will truly mature as a culture until conservatives realize that there have been things in our past that were vile and repulsive. They must realize there are vile and repulsive things going on right now. Until conservatives can stand up for the rights of everyone (including illegal immigrants), then they have very serious flaws.
On the other hand, liberals also have much to learn. Liberals need to admit that not every incident in the past was evil, vile, or repulsive. As a historian, I know that not every person in the past was evil. There were truly good, well-intentioned people who were acting with the norms of their culture. We all do that, even today. Until they can admit our nation has done some very remarkable things in the past, warts and all, then we cannot mature.
Not all conservatives are bad, and not all liberals are bad. We are human. We are flawed. We don't look at things the same way - and there is nothing wrong with that. The only way to truly find a solution to a problem is with perspective. You cannot find true perspective if you only look at a situation one way. A truly enlightened individual forces themselves to look at all angles. We must be willing to reject the flawed, no matter what ideology it is - liberal or conservative.
The worst part of this comment is it will be rejected by both liberals and conservatives. Perhaps that is the most chilling illustration of how splintered our ideologies are.”
Oricus continued:
“…It's human, of course, to want to think of yourself as a good person, and your country as a good country. Which is why it's human of white Americans -- the descendants and beneficiaries of the people who perpetrated these atrocities -- to want to forget that these things happened. And they want to believe that because these events were in the past, and they took some initial steps toward reconciliation 40 years ago, the issues should have gone away, and if they haven't, well, it's the victims' fault.
The victims and their descendants, however, cannot forget that these things happened, because they continue to live with the legacy of them every day. And white Americans should not delude themselves into thinking that they could or should have forgotten, either. Ask any Native American living on a reservation, or any descendant of Japanese camp internees, or any African American, whether they can forget these things. Perhaps when young black men no longer face persistent job discrimination or lowered life expectancies, when racial residential segregation is no longer a persistent reality, when hate crimes are a distant memory, when our response to great national war-inducing traumas is no longer imbued with xenophobic hysteria -- perhaps when white Americans take actual steps beyond those four-decade-old baby steps to confront the legacy of their very real history of shameful behavior toward nonwhites, then perhaps we can ask for that forgetting….”
The victims and their descendants, however, cannot forget that these things happened, because they continue to live with the legacy of them every day. And white Americans should not delude themselves into thinking that they could or should have forgotten, either. Ask any Native American living on a reservation, or any descendant of Japanese camp internees, or any African American, whether they can forget these things. Perhaps when young black men no longer face persistent job discrimination or lowered life expectancies, when racial residential segregation is no longer a persistent reality, when hate crimes are a distant memory, when our response to great national war-inducing traumas is no longer imbued with xenophobic hysteria -- perhaps when white Americans take actual steps beyond those four-decade-old baby steps to confront the legacy of their very real history of shameful behavior toward nonwhites, then perhaps we can ask for that forgetting….”
I think Dave Neiwert does a tremendous amount of good. He has a good heart. He cares. BUT – how much longer to we continue to beat ourselves up for the sins of some of our fathers. Yes they happened, but are those of us who have ancestors who were here in this country when these things occurred – and are of the ‘wrong’ identity group – are we as guilty of those who committed the wrongs?
I absolutely refuse to be a part of this corporate guilt. I did not do it. I acknowledge the evil of my ancestors who so brutally occupied this continent and stole it from those happy, loving natives who treasured the earth. The problem with this world view is it degrades the culture of the happy, peaceful occupants of the planet.
“….indigenous peoples when in fact they lived together in peace and harmony. In rebutting that contention, this groundbreaking book presents clear evidence—from multiple academic disciplines—that indigenous populations engaged in warfare and ritual violence long before European contact. In ten well-documented and thoroughly researched chapters, fourteen leading scholars dispassionately describe sources and consequences of Amerindian warfare and violence, including ritual violence. Originally presented at an American Anthropological Association symposium, their findings construct a convincing case that bloodshed and killing have been woven into the fabric of indigenous life in North America for many centuries….”
The myth that only the “white” man brought violence is a crock, and a lie. Unfortunately, the politically correctness of our society requires the “indigenous” population be peaceful and happy. That way, the “invading” population can be seen as evil. There are a few problems with this. First, it completely ignores the fact that slavery existed in Africa from the beginning of time. Slavery existed everywhere – from the beginning of time, until we – as a culture, became enlightened enough to realize it was vile and immoral. My ancestor, Sarah Johnson Dustin was one of the first abolitionists in this country, in 1690 in Salem, Mass, she made it socially unacceptable to own “Black Africans” then demanded they be allowed to attend church and sit in on the town council meetings.
I’ve reached the point where I refuse to have all of this collective guilt by racial association dumped on me. Yes, my family came over on the Mayflower and on the Mary & John. My Froehlich ancestors arrived as Hessian mercenaries fighting for the Union in the Civil War. Legend has it Sebastian Froehlich received his citizenship directly from Lincoln. And on the other side of the family Pierce Butler Bohannon spent much of the war in a Yankee prison camp. And yes I have established his pedigree, which also includes one of my DAR Patriots. And yes, I an descended from numerous evil Patriots who helped build this country. My cousin, Jean has begun our pedigrees for Colonial Dames where there are at least 24 New England founders.
I am not going to be backed into a corner by well-meaning liberals who are quite willing to damn my ancestry and my Republican tendencies, and call me a racist (which I am not) while allowing someone like Jeremiah Wright to get a free pass. Those days are over. Right is right and Wright is wrong.
Maybe this is the problem. We have extremes on both sides. There are conservatives who are so racist they make me want to throw-up. There are liberals who are so determine not to be racist, they are reverse racists, if that is a word. They will damn everyone who is not a minority until we are beaten to absolute nothing. There is something inherently wrong with this way of thinking. There is something inherently wrong with racism. There is something inherently wrong with people who refuse to comprehend that we are not responsible for the sins of our fathers.
It is important to acknowledge that we aren’t perfect. But – our manners are great! Seriously, we are well-meaning as a nation. We have been since day one. Liberals must allow and accept that we have grown as a culture and we have evolved psychologically to comprehend that we are all created equal.
Do you realize that the philosophy that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL did not spring full grown at the beginning of history. We were brutes at the beginning of history. While the idea of Natural Rights was kicked around for 150 years or so before 1776, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rights it wasn’t until Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine began seriously promoting the idea that it took hold. Those five words are the most famous words in American history. We’re talking 1776. There were many compromises, including the continuation of African slavery, to allow those words to be born. It was nearly another century before ALL MEN WERE FREE. Another century would pass before the phrase ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL would be truly full-filled.
There are enlightened minds who jump at an idea more rapidly than others. The Neanderthals who do not grasp that idea and crawl toward enlightenment (usually) eventually reach it. To castigate all of a race or a culture for the sins of their unenlightened predecessors is potentially damning and dangerous.
Words mean things. There are orators like Jeremiah Wright who know how to spin a pretty but false phrase and inspire the masses. There are times when those masses become mobs out to destroy an entire society and group of people as happened in France during the Revolution and in England under Oliver Cromwell.
I am always hesitant and almost terrified of orators who know how to spin a crowd. Bad things can happen. Two wrongs do not make a right, they just give the more enlightened perpetrators a heck of a lot of nightmares. We need to be careful who we embrace. Just as Tom Tancredo is very wrong in promoting his own special brand of anti-Hispanic bigotry, Jeremiah Wright is doing the same thing in his own way. Neither is right. Both are wrong.
Our history is filled with good intentions gone wrong. There is nothing wrong with good intentions. At least the intentions are enlightened. Those who are designated to carry those intentions into fruition are always flawed, very human individuals. Bad things happen to good people. Good people sometimes end up doing bad things while trying to do good things. They should not be damned for trying to do something good. Neither should bad intentions proposed by bad people be promoted, at times, as something good.
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