A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the
trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection;
for it, and it only, is respected by wars and revolutions, and survives them.
I listened carefully to President Trump’s speech at Mount
Rushmore on the evening before our July 4th holiday. In between the
cultural war comments to his base, he slipped in some historical facts
concerning each of the four Presidents represented in the monument behind him.
The factual descriptions were accurate though rudimentary. A young person would have learned more
American history by watching the film version of Hamilton, which was running at
the same time on the Disney channel.
After the President concluded his remarks, I started
reflecting on what historical monuments teach the American people about our
past. I concluded that these numerous
slabs of well-designed granite fall into distinct categories. On the one hand,
war monuments or those that memorialize a national disaster like 9/11 inspire
us to reflect on lives taken too soon or in defense of the nation. These monuments are universally beloved and
often serve as a destination to a place of personal and spiritual significance.
On the other hand, monuments of historical
figures are crafted and set in place to invoke a specific feeling of national
pride in celebration of a life well lived.
These edifices are tributes to individuals who in some significant
manner moved the nation forward to a better place.
The problem
with southern Civil War monuments is that many were erected in the 1930s, not
to celebrate a national story, but rather to further the aims of white supremacy.
The question is not why Southern States are finally getting around to taking
down these symbols of civil war traitors, suppression of Black citizens and
hate. The question is what took so long.
The monument at
Mount Rushmore and those in in our nation’s capital are designed to invoke
patriotism and national pride. The
President is wrong when he claims that the debate over historical statutes is a
sign that: “Our nation is
witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes,
erase our values and indoctrinate our children.”
Our national
monuments were never intended to teach history in and of themselves. Quite the opposite was true. It was the hope that Americans would come to
these symbols of the past with a comprehensive learning of what they represent
including important milestones to be praised and mistakes not to be repeated.
The problem
with Trump and his core of loyal followers is that they see the world in
simplistic terms and have no desire to gain a more in-depth understanding of
America’s history. For his supporters, monuments and the flag are themselves
American history, the literal meaning of the Bible is true in every respect,
evolutionary biology and climate/pandemic science are left wing lies and Fox
News is all they need to hear regarding national and world events.
Once an
individual decides not to step outside this tight circle, all information received
reinforces long held beliefs. Nothing new is learned and no opinion is
challenged. Well-respected historians
that teach us American history, including the blemishes, are labeled as socialists
or worse; history based Biblical scholars are heretics; investigative
journalists propagate fake news and removing a monument makes it impossible for
children to learn our national story.
Returning to
Mount Rushmore, gazing at the monument tells one little about the complex lives
of these four Presidents. The greatness of each was flawed because each was
human. George Washington was a slave
holder and never a scholar or a brilliant general. Thomas Jefferson could not keep his carnal urges
in check to stay out of his slave quarters.
Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist and was cautious about freeing
the slaves until the last years of the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt was a
colonial imperialist who wanted to plant the American flag around the world.
Does being
exposed to the complete biography of American historical figures dampen our
love of them or of our nation? I think
not. First, historical perspective is required.
It is important to escape from our own time and place to orient our
thinking about past leaders to colonial America, or to the Civil War decades,
or the age of American expansionism.
Second, knowing our important historical figures as human beings rather
than superficial heroes helps us truly understand them and to make sense of our
complex national history.
Modern America
is blessed with some of the most gifted historians in the arc of civilization.
Rather than build a national park containing pigeon perches of monuments
representing American historical figures, as proposed by the President, why not
drawn on their knowledge to build a national library and museum. A building that expounds on the four themes of
Mount Rushmore: the nation’s birth, growth, development and preservation.
Let our gifted
historians and museum curators fill the rooms with our national story. A place
to discuss our founding, America’s original sin of slavery, manifest destiny
and our military engagements, as we teach our children well. Such a building would be a memorial for all
of us to share together.
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