GO BACK TO SLEEP

Everything you have ever done has brought you to where you are. In other words, your history has created your present. There were times when you turned right instead of left. That small insignificant move may have saved your life. Who knows? It may have gotten you the job that became your life's work. It may even have brought you to your life's partner. The point is everything we ever did is a part of our history and that history creates our present.

 

The reason I bring this up is to emphasize the value of our history. Since everything that has ever happened in our history has brought us to where we are, we have to embrace it because it is us. That includes both the good and the bad. 

 

When we were very young we learned not to touch the hot stove. Some even had to touch it to learn. Those who survive the early lessons in life live on to become today's adults. 

 

The purpose of this conversation is to ask a simple question. Why is there this current need for some people to try to destroy our history? Apparently they think if we tear down some statues, those individuals will never have existed. If we change the names of schools, roads, cities, counties, and even states, we will erase their presence in our history and thus change that history. What nonsense. 

 

History is our teacher. Some of our history was ugly and some was beautiful. Regardless, good or bad, all of it has been our teacher.

 

The slavery era was definitely one of the ugliest times in our past. Personally I have never owned a slave. I don't know anyone who has ever been a slave. In fact this period of our history was many generations ago. But it happened. I don't need a statue to remind me that it happened, but removing a statue isn't going to remove the fact that it happened. Changing the name of a school or a city or a street isn't going to change the fact that slavery was a part of our history. 

 

So, what should we do? Should we try to forget that slavery happened, or should we learn from our mistakes? Denying the past by trying to destroy symbols of the past is counterproductive. We know that those who don't learn from their history are apt to repeat it.

 

Did you know that prior to 1919 women in this country couldn't vote? It was wrong so we fixed that. 

 

When I was a young lad black people had to sit at the back of the bus. That is our history. Of course it is wrong. It was wrong then. Denying that it occurred doesn't change anything. We fixed it.

 

So now some want to "cancel" Dr. Suess, Mark Twain, and who knows how many more. The language in the books written many years ago reflect the language that was spoken years ago. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is another classic example of period writing. The lessons taught however are still invaluable. 

 

Native Americans were put on reservations. We were afraid of Indians and had to control them. This was our way of handling the issue. Japanese Americans were put in concentration camps. Why? Because we were afraid of them also. 

 

One hopes that by knowing our history and fixing our mistakes, we aren't so apt to repeat them. Our predecessors weren't perfect to be sure. Neither are we. Tearing down historical statues and changing the names of a few schools has more to do with our imperfect present than our imperfect past. 

 

I think it is past time for the "woke" generation to go back to sleep. 

 

Ron Scarbro March 9, 2021