It’s funny (not funny) what we learn about ourselves once the rose-colored glasses of our national history are removed – please allow me to illustrate:
In the 1956 movie, “The King and I” Yul Brynner plays the fictional king of the nation of Siam (later known as Thailand) – Deborah Kerr plays opposite Brynner as a westerner hired as a teacher and governess (of sort) to the king’s many children – in one minor scene, the hired teacher is shocked to discover the king’s version of Siam’s national size, strength, global influence have been grossly embellished via the curriculum being taught to the king’s children – the king is justifiably proud of his nation and its history, but he’s clearly had his nation’s history inflated and taught to his citizens – this conflict is just a small part of the movie, but it remains a pungent point when if we fail to acknowledging our own national history – I strongly recommend the movie – it’s wonderful in spite of the king’s trumped up nationalistic views.
The point is not that Siam was or wasn’t a great nation – the point is that all nations have wonderful and troubled components to their histories – recognizing both is the most responsible and mature position a nation can take – troubled histories are not something to be ashamed of or to hide from – our history is our best resource of what to do (or not to do) going forward – particularly if our history has harmed, oppressed, or cheated people groups from around the world.
Just like individuals are not quick to forget or forgive if we’ve been harmed, oppressed, or cheated – entire people groups are even more unlikely to forget or forgive especially if the nation that caused them harm ignores, attempts to erase, or denies the facts and challenged history.
For example (this is a mouth full, take it in slowly):
Not all of us were taught that the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), caused when the French colonization of the West Indies, the plantation system on Saint Domingue, the brutal slave regime on Saint Domingue, the colonial social and racial hierarchy, and the spread of “Enlightenment Ideas” from the American and French Revolutions enraged enslaved peoples who rose up against the French regime in Haiti – this revolution was the real reason the United States of America made the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from the French – mainly because Napoleon was so broke that he had to sell that land in order to continue to his on and off fight with the British (1689 to 1815) until Waterloo – meanwhile, we were taught in school the Louisiana Purchase simply made America much bigger and richer because all the natural resources, it was too good of a deal to pass up – not a lot of mention about the Haitian Revolution in our history books – never mind that the purchase caused mass genocide, and the “Trail of Tears” – all because of “Manifest Destiny” – God evidently decided the US needed to assume everything from ocean to ocean – which lead to more tension with people groups because the expansion required removing/reeducating indigenous peoples, and subsequently identifying which states would be “slave states” or “free states” all while the Civil War was kicking off – which eventually triggered the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, a part of the larger Texas Revolution in which the Mexican state of Tejas was the center of conflict falsely illustrated as a war for free and liberated peoples (who happened to desire a “slave state”) versus Mexico in defense of their territory (who desired “free state”) – the soon to be American’s (in 13 years) won independence and became a self-governing republic of Texas – in 1845, Texas became a US state – remember, formerly part of Mexico, Texas had been an independent country since 1836 and sought annexation by the U.S. – but the question of “slave state” lingered – so the process took nearly 10 years due to the political divisions over slavery – we’re not always taught this because of the same inclinations of the King of Siam in the movie “The King and I” – our leaders, plus formal and informal organization of influence did not want our professed greatness to be tainted by our real history.
On behalf of countless people groups removed, killed, and oppressed for the sake of our “great” nation… maybe acknowledging our history, learning from it, and teaching our real path to nationhood would have been a much better option given the state of divide, conflict, and chaos we have today.
There are hundreds of these historical fallacies sprinkled throughout our history books and curriculum in elementary, junior high, high schools and colleges – for the most part, it’s the motives and methods surrounding our historical events that are embellished to portray our nation’s history in the more favorable call of those “wishing to be free” and “liberty and justice for all” – which is a noble motive, except it’s only partially true.
FACT 1: Pretending our nation’s higher number of acts of greatness simply outweighs our lesser number of atrocities should balance the scales of historical justice is the inaccuracy of our view of our history – in fact, its madness.
FACT 2: Truthfully, a country can be a great nation even though that country’s history is challenging – both things can be true – a nation’s citizens can still be patriotic and love their nation even if they acknowledge challenging components of their nation’s history – again, both things can be true.
FACT 3: Also true, patriotism isn’t “bending” history to support political, social, and nationalistic agendas – patriotism is acknowledging we had faults, learning from our history, and making sure we don’t repeat those faults.
More and more I find myself shocked and angered at what we learn, discover, or find out about our nation’s history that conflicts with what we learned in schools – maybe this is what we should be teaching our kids, instead of this continued brain washed version of our perceived greatness.
Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest nation of them all?
The nation who is most responsible and mature about itself is the greatest of them all.
Kevin's Thoughts 