Once history is forgotten, it repeats itself.
Americans in particular hold a belief that our values have stayed with us since the beginning. That we hold the same beliefs as our founding fathers. And not only that we currently hold these values, but we will continue to build off of them and power ourselves to a more free and rich future.
The United States of America is going backwards. In fact, many citizens are beginning to forget where our history came from in the first place. The school system is failing us.
The Supreme Court has held that the government cannot require a student to participate in the pledge of allegiance, nor compel them. This right is protected by the constitution itself, yet over-patriotic Americans rage when someone refuses to participate in the pledge.
The Pledge of Allegiance origins in white nationalism during the 19th century. If more people understood this simple part of history, they would better understand racial injustice and why some do not feel that the pledge serves them.
The United States has and always will be a nation of immigrants, so what makes some feel superior to others?
In primary school, we are taught to believe that America is the “land of opportunity.” That people from all around the world migrate here, and are accepted for who they are. These people come here to be a part of the “American Dream.”
They do not teach us, however, that our founding fathers only approved of mostly white immigrants who came from Northern and Western Europe. Darker immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe who did not fully speak English were not considered to be American.
The Pledge of Allegiance defends the United States territorial and ideological borders. We have a president who is demanding immigration laws, and the building of a “wall” between the United States and Mexico to stop Mexican immigrants from entering the United States and categorizes them as “criminals” and “rapists.” Thus, the race-based morals of our founders continue to stay with us today.
Americans don’t want to believe that this country was founded on white-supremacy. The hard truth is that it was – and our founding fathers weren’t ashamed of it. We have ignored the blatant racism in America for centuries, it is time for us to learn the truth and move forward.
With the Trump presidency, lies are being spread throughout the country. For example, President Trump once said that Andrew Jackson would have been upset about the Civil War. Jackson was a slaver. Jackson went as far as to put an ad in the newspaper to catch runaway slaves for a cash reward. Not only that, but Jackson died 16 years before the Civil War began. Trump saying this is blatant fabrication.
People who have lived in the United States for their whole lives do not know all of this information, even those who had the opportunity for prestige education. It is time for us to teach each other about our real history, and learn about both the good and bad in order to prevent another tragedy like the Holocaust.
