Telling the story of our Black, brown and Native neighbors does not undermine America. Wanting to mend the wound that we all carry is not conspiracy; it’s caring. But many Americans refuse to carry even a small portion of our problematic history. We tend to offload both the blame and grief onto the very ones who were (and still are) maligned. Their stories deserve to be told in our schools.

Why would we allow racial conditioning to pass unopposed to the next generation by sidestepping our duty to name the elephant in the room? Turning away, which is a privilege, allows that seed to germinate once again.

Pridefulness would have us remember only America’s affirming legends. A thoughtful reappraisal, which includes the darker history of legislative discrimination supported by terror and violence, is dismissed as a self-hating exercise sure to undermine American self-regard.

This very same pattern of willfully not wanting to know is on full view in Washington. The Republican Party is now opposing the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened leading up to and during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. After months of negotiations and delay, a bill emerged and the Republican leadership promptly disavowed it as unnecessary.

We are no longer surprised that people entertain the Big Lie in spite of everyone knowing that it is a lie. The fiction has come to serve another purpose: It is a badge of allegiance to a vengeful ex-president.

George Mason
Nobleboro

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Letter to the editor: Emerson committed to making Portland better

Next »

Letter to the editor: Collins should support proposal to empower voters