Like millions of immigrants coming to America at the turn of the last century inspired by Lady Liberty, my grandparents knelt down to kiss the land they loved as free young men and women. They were told the streets were paved with gold but soon discovered that they were expected to pave those very streets. Through hard work they were able to assimilate into the Melting Pot. Through education their children realized the American Dream.
But not for black Americans. For them it was a tale of two Americas. They suffered through a legacy of slavery and Jim Crow segregation as they were not assimilated because of their skin color.
At Saturdays dedication in Washington of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, President George W. Bush said : ” A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them.” He was right. We’ve been trying to correct those flaws for 150 years now. Every time we take a step forward by electing our first black President, we take two steps back when a rogue police officer shoots an unarmed black man with his hands up.
The Rev. Calvin O. Butts further noted at the Smithsonian opening : ” Anybody can be ‘great’ if I do your work for you for 250 years and you don’t pay me a dime !” Confession is good for the soul. We should not sweep the sins of the past under the rug of history. Let us all resolve to acknowledge the mistakes of the past and move forward together to create a more perfect union.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
…that every call to remove references from public view or commit damnatio memoriae against significant figures who do not share modern morals are in fact attempts to hide our history. We can’t change the past so we should strive on fixing the present and future.