When
does a depiction of history turn into a
“corrosive ideology”? When the current
administration is working overtime to erase
facts about our nation’s history and
foundations. They want to remove any reminders
about the evils of enslavement and its
critical role in the development of this
country. We need to say it repeatedly; there
would be no United States without enslavement.
We built this
nation. Our labor produced the White House (or
The House that Enslaved People Built), the
Capitol, and even some of the odious monuments
to slaveholding colonialists. This is a
history that this President would erase.
The
Washington Post reported
that an anonymous source said the
administration “has ordered the removal signs
and exhibits related to slavery at multiple
national parks”. This is a follow up from the
President’s March executive order asking the
Interior Department to eliminate information
that reflects a “a corrosive ideology”. The
Post reports
that the National Park Service is removing
signs that fail to whitewash our nation’s
history. The President has said many times
that we talk about enslavement too much. I say
we cannot talk about it often enough.
Harper’s
Ferry, West Virginia is the site of John
Brown’s failed rebellion against enslavement.
According to The
Post,
more than 30 signs referring to this history,
have been flagged for alteration or removal.
This desperate attempt to rewrite history is
our President’s corrosive ideology. He
promised to fix the economy, and he has not.
Instead, he has fully immersed himself in the
culture wars, seemingly prioritizing the
culture wars over economic stability.
Many people have seen the iconic
photograph, The Scourged Back, show the back
of a man who was beaten so many times that his
back is a painful tapestry of scars. It was
used, years ago, to promote the film, Twelve
Years A Slave. A copy of that photograph has
been part of many exhibits about the Civil War
and enslavement. It was exhibited at Fort
Pulaski National Monument in Georgia but has
been removed because it supposedly was part of
“corrosive ideology”. Yet the most corrosive
of ideologies is one that cannot stand the
truth about our nation’s history. The
so-called Chief Executive Officer of these
United States ought to be more interested in
the economy than in important historic
documents. But the corrosive ideology of this
administration has restored Confederate
monuments, attempted to scrub museums of
historical reference, and removed textbooks at
the Naval Academy.
This
Administration fully understands the
importance of symbolism, of pomp and
circumstance. This may be why the President
would like to rename the Kennedy Center after
himself and add his wife’s name to another
section of the Center. This is why the
President will give the murdered conservative
activist Charlie Kirk, a posthumous
Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is why
Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose legal
credentials are highly questionable, says she
will “absolutely” target those who use hate
speech, including any negativity toward
Charlie Kirk.
The
corrosive ideology of this administration is
to suppress or to erase. Erase the photograph,
The
Scourged Back,
because it makes some people uncomfortable.
Suppress words critical of Charlie Kirk
because they aren’t sufficiently deferential
to a provocative activist who invited
criticism.
This
is a delicate time to talk about Charlie Kirk.
I mourn his murder, am abhorred by the killing
of a 31-year-old father. It would be foolhardy
to deny the provocative nature of his work,
but a detailed analysis of his legacy is
premature – those who choose to be critical
might, for the sake of decorum, share their
views after the man is buried.
Conservatives who say they
believe in free speech actually believe in
free speech only when conservatives agree with
it. A free speech nation would welcome the
exhibit of The
Scourged Back. A free speech nation would not
embrace an Executive Order “Restoring Truth in
American History” since the purpose of that
Executive Order is to suppress truth and
whitewash history.
This
is the corrosive ideology of this
administration. Lie, suppress, or deny our
nation’s history. And to think we have years
more of this corrosive (to use their word)
form of government.
