Heritage
“A
concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our
cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, and economic
legacies—all of the things that quite literally make us who we
are.”
Steve
Berry
In
every country on Earth, there is a heritage of which the citizens are
proud, and one or more of which they are ashamed. In Germany, that
would be the rise of the Third Reich with Hitler at its helm. The
Brits carved up and colonized half the world without regard for the
native people. In Japan, the massive slaughter of Chinese at the
Nanking Massacre still scars their relations. Cambodia had its reign
of terror by the Khmer Rouge. The Bosnian genocide by the Serbs
stands out, and of course, the murderous rampage of the Syrian
government against its own people today. Russia had Stalin, and
America has a history of ethnic cleansing of Native American tribes,
and of enslaving Africans. These are all parts of history we can not
outrun, deny, glorify, or celebrate. We can only acknowledge the
reality of them, try to understand their effects on the citizens
involved, and make certain they never happen again.
There
is a place for the historical record of these events, and the
artifacts are part of that record. However, we take umbrage when we
see neo-Nazis marching with the swastika flag, or the KKK, with their
burning torches, parading in the streets. Flying the Stars and Bars
battle flag over a state house is equally repugnant. We can
acknowledge history without creating a climate of fear and offense to
the people who were victims of these brutal events.
In
America, we enjoy freedom of expression and do not allow censorship
of that First Amendment right, even though the expression of it is
sometimes offensive to most of us. There is a fine line that must be
walked. Perhaps our first consideration should be how to preserve the
history in ways that do no further damage to the citizens involved.
That might begin by walking a mile in their shoes and then asking the
question, “Are my rights more important than their wounds?”
In
the Spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
Well done! Your "Rights and Freedoms" bit is thoughtfully integral. I'll say more by email. Write on!
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