Recently, a lot has been going on regarding the numerous statues, flags, and other symbols of the confederacy spread across the US and in many aspects of our American lives. Most want those symbols removed and/or replaced, whereas some decry their removal and/or replacement as “losing our heritage” and “rewriting history”, so on and so forth.
No such voice has been more cacophonous than Trump’s; not only does he lament loss of American history, he calls those confederate figures whose statues line avenues around the country, “American heroes”, and blaming the democrats and the protesters for wanting to “indoctrinate our children”, blah blah.
But here’s the thing.
Has Trump or anyone else seen any Stalin statues in Russia? Any memorials to SS soldiers in Germany anywhere? Anyone celebrate Pinochet in Chile recently?
No.
Because while the Russian, German, and Chilean people, among many other across the world, recognize those people as part of their heritage, they’re don’t glorify their atrocities and the negative impact they have had on history. They exist in museums and history books; warnings to others to be watchful of similar so called leaders and political movements.
A people’s history is a source of pride and identity; our unique fingerprint among hundreds of other nations. But there are always dark segments of that identity; parts that are sources of shame and maybe even guilt, that while important and worth remembering and study, should never be celebrated and revered.
How a nation deals with those dark segments is truly how it is identified in our world today. Let’s not be known as oppressors and bullies, as racists with an outdated and debunked way of thinking.
Not anymore. It must stop here. It must stop now.