“Don’t forget where you came from,” Father used to admonish my sister and me going out the door. In time I figured out it meant more than the house number where we lived, just remember to bring honor, shame to our family name.
Revisionist history can be a good thing; it makes room for truth. For example, George Washington didn’t cut down his father’s cherry tree nor throw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Yes, he was strong and honest as stories say, but why amplify with lies?
Judging the past by revised standards doesn’t work. Just the facts, ma’am, as best we can ascertain them.
“That’s ruination of a pretty good mountain,” one fellow said on beholding Mt. Rushmore. No one on it — Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln or Teddy Roosevet embodied what he thought were good persons.
In fact, he decided all four were positively evil. He launched into a monologue of the real and alleged faults of the first two before I made my escape and beat a hasty retreat. I beat a hasty retreat as recited their alleged failures.
A few years ago, Chicago removed all statues of Christopher Columbus and other “moral failures.” Their placement had had little to do with the explorer. Rather, there had been outbreaks of discrimination and violence against recent Italian immigrants, so the city and nation promoted Columbus Day as a positive rallying point. Revisionist historians seem to have overlooked such details.
I read last week New York City is going to take down its statues of Washington and Columbus. Other cities have done the same thing with their statues, murals they believe are troubling and “problematic” paintings.
Historic building tours often make a point of emphasizing the currently-unacceptable personalities and actions of those who lived or worked there.
Ancient Egyptians tried to eradicate prior pharaohs, claiming history started with the current occupant. ISIS did that in Afghanistan. Except life doesn’t work that way.
Cambridge University professor Mary Beard has more dirt on ancient Roman emperors than perhaps any other scholar, adding we can study and learn from them so we don’t repeat the same mistakes.
Given similarities between the decline of the Roman Empire and United States situation today, maybe learning what happened 2,000 years ago would be wise.
Even emperors who lasted only a month (suffice to note they did not die of natural causes) are never completely forgotten. A trail of evidence is left behind.
Time alone means we must be selective in what our minds retain from history. Still, there’s no reason to tear things down without first learning why they are important. Then we can make more rational decisions.
First, remember where you came from. Whether your family made history or it was made for them, it’s still yours. All is interrelated. Damage one thing, it changes or harms all.
Why do rockets have side boosters? Blame it on the Romans. Their chariot wheel axels were four feet eight inches apart and roads built to accommodate them. Post-fall wagons were built with the same dimension since they could travel on Roman roads.
The first English steam engines also used Roman roads and laid tracks on them. It became the standard gauge in America as well.
Early Space Age rockets were built in West Coast factories but the launching pad was in Florida. Since there was no way to build and transport rockets that large across the U.S. by road or rail, new rocket system was redesigned for the two boosters.
All this because of Roman road engineers. History is like that, as interrelated as humans are to each other as well as our pasts. We’d be far better off if we squabbling and pulled together.
I believe history must be inclusive. We can learn from bad moments not to repeat them, from good stuff how much we owe those on whose shoulders we stand.