Last week, I talked about the roots of racism and where the real solution lies. It seems appropriate while those words are fresh, to talk about something which has accompanied the social justice discussion.
I want to begin with my experience over Christmas break in Kyiv, Ukraine. Perhaps the most eye-opening experience of the trip was visiting their World War II museum. I have seen the American perspective on this dark time in human history numerous times, but it was a completely different experience to see the perspective of an Eastern European country.
While the world watched Germany, Stalin and Russia carried out their own holocaust in the east. While the United States saw their soldiers heroically sweep in and save the day, Ukraine saw its people forced into their enemy’s army if they weren’t exiled or starved to death.
Among many realizations that day, I realized just how much history is based on perspective.
As I left the museum, my thoughts came to America, where the Black Lives Matter movement has caused us to take a look at history, perhaps not in the right way. I don’t need to reiterate the debates this summer over the display of flags, Confederate general statues, brand mascots, and even sports teams’ names. I think we have the right motive but the wrong approach.
Passion for justice is not wrong. But America has developed a mentality where social justice seems to begin with eradicating the memory of injustice in history, whether that is racism or issues of war.
Blind passion has resulted in a group of people more interested in erasing history than fixing the present.
The saying is old: “Those who do not know history are bound to repeat it.” It is absolutely vital that we remember the good, bad, and ugly part of our background. America fought an ugly battle against racism, and we are still fighting it in new ways today. I find myself concerned that our attempts to promote diversity and normalize the appearance of multiple ethnicities involve removing all images of diverse ethnicities from pop culture. Whether it’s Aunt Jemima syrup or the Cleveland Indians, we are attacking what little representation other ethnic groups have in America in the name of equality. Call me narrow-minded, but it simply does not make sense to me.
Now I know what you’re thinking. What about those Confederate statues or team names involving slurs like the Washington Redskins (appropriately representing our nation’s capital)?
We can and have, in ignorance, represented other cultures inappropriately. As for the statues, perhaps we should not have the statue of a general who defended slavery or kept slaves out in a prominent place where we also celebrate freedom and equality. However, by this same logic, should we remove all images of America’s Founding Fathers who owned slaves? Should we ignore their words and ideals because they bought and sold human beings?
My answer to the statue debacle comes from Pastor Alex Bryant, who spoke at my church here in Springfield last fall. Instead of putting these images in the public square, he suggested we put them in a museum, where they can still serve an educational purpose.
Remember Ukraine’s perspective on World War II? I never saw a statue of Joseph Stalin anywhere in the city. I didn’t see images of Russian generals in front of important buildings. But I did see images of Ukraine’s abuse and suffering during the war in museums and memorials, prominently displayed as a dire warning to the rest of the world not to let this happen again.
It is acceptable and right to want to remove statues and images with negative historical connotations from the public square. However, my warning to anyone reading this is to beware the slippery slope of erasing history.
Make sure the horror of oppression is not downplayed; ensure this generation can clearly see how evil came to be. If we rob our nation of its history, I can promise we will never see the end of racism, and that will only be the first of our worries.
