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| Protesters led by the white nationalist Richard B. Spencer gathered with torches on Saturday in front of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va. |
America, let's look at your "great" history:
When African-Americans see the "stars and bars", we do not see a Southern symbol of "greatness" or "a better time". We see 400+ years of kidnapping (we didn't ASK to be here), shame, degradation, humiliation, separation of families and death. We see children being used, women being raped and made to bear children unwillingly, and men brought under subjugation by white slave owners. It is a part of our history, because the survivors and their families now make up a segment of this nation.
When Native Americans see the American flag, they don't see "land of the free, home of the brave", they are reminded that this was once THEIR land, and were unceremonially moved out by "progress". They were slowly and BRUTALLY moved to a "section" of their land, "given" to them by the "architects of the country". When "progress" started killing off their game, desecrating their lands, "progress" gave them substandard food, infested clothing and blankets, and not enough to even live on, they fought back. When they did, "progress" massacred them, and "forced" the survivors to live "where they were told". It is a part of our history, because the survivors and their families now make up a segment of this nation.
When Jews see the swatstika being drawn on buildings, waved as flags or tattoeed on people, they are reminded, not of "a superior race", but of the 1M+ Jews that were killed during WWII by Hitler. It is a symbol associated with shame, torture, degradation, separation of families, being worked to death and the agony and barbarity of death. We see families separated, women been raped and tortured, men being worked to death by starvation by the German Nazis. It is a part of our history, because the survivors and their families now make up a segment of this nation.
When the Chinese and Japanese Americans are reminded of WWII, they don't look back in nostalgia. They are reminded of the "camps", the overcrowded places designed to keep the "yellow scourge" from tainting our society. Familes - separated. Women - raped and beaten and murdered. Men - forced to work or serve in a military whose country treated them less than a human being. It is a part of our history, because the survivors and their families now make up a segment of this nation.
So when I see our country taking steps to eradicate reminders of an awful period in our shared history (because I am American, too)... You want to complain? You, who have benefitted from the labor, blood, sweat and tears you didn't work for, or even EARN? You, who have gotten ahead simply because of your complexion and the privileges it brings? It's been all White always, since the Pilgrims landed here some 500+ years ago.
Your "great" ancestors pushed the Indians off their lands, and almost wiped out an indigenous people. Your "great" ancestors bought and brought Africans, Chinese, AND Irish over here to work in their fields, made their clothes, kept their children and households, and made their businesses flourish with OUR talents. But you wanna keep these so-called "symbols of your history" to be reminded of your "greatness"???
And then YOU wanna holler about the Founding Fathers? Most of whom were the same people who I just described, that OWNED THESE SLAVES??? When our national anthem reminds us that
"No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
Until you can look back and acknowledge that your "privileged" and "great" history played a part in these monuments of "greatness", and see the mistakes, the injustices, the shame, the separation, the harm it all caused, and understand that's IT TIME TO TAKE THAT NONSENSE DOWN, and make the reparations for it, we will NEVER move forward.
Just my two cents for the day.
enjoy your day!