Removing the swastika from German buildings and
public display after World War II did not stop the rise of the neo-Nazis. The
refusal of the Japanese to teach about World War II did not eradicate their war
record from history. Crushing the German state and economy after World War I
merely led to the rise of the Nazis. Removing all things Confederate from the
U.S. culture will merely drive the studies and discussions of everything
Confederate underground where it will fester and spawn more extremist
Neo-Confederates, and more misguided hate.
The danger of suppressing symbols and memorials of
the past, which offends us is a threat to the very freedoms we hold so dear –
freedom of speech, freedom of discussion, freedom to express ideas both good
and bad. Ideas and ideologies are like mercury – the more a person tries to destroy
them, the further they disperse, only to coalesce again.
Maybe, instead of removing everything Confederate
from our society, we should use this controversy to foster further research and
discussion. Has anyone really done a quantitative study of Civil War letters,
diaries, recollections, and reminiscences to find out why men from both side
joined the respective armies? Has anyone really bothered to explore in depth
the rampant divisiveness in our society before and during the war?
More importantly, as a nation, we need to teach
history the way it was and not the way we want it to be. What would happen if
we stopped viewing history as a thesis statement, which has to be proven? As an
extended term paper where the author has a conclusion to prove? What if we had
schools, which taught history without any objective other than to explore the
past through the eyes of the participants rather than through a cookie cutter
curriculum? What if history really were an important subject in this country?
What would happen then?
I do not know. All I know is that when we as
Americans refuse to listen to an opposing view, when we cover our eyes, mouths,
and ears to block out those things, which offend us; when we surrender our
right to exercise free speech because it is not politically correct to do so,
we will succumb to tyranny and dictatorship. We will throw away the most
precious liberty we have for which so many men, women, and children have laid
down their lives.
There is nothing done in secret which will not be
revealed. Driving our history underground will create a “new” history with no
roots in the past or in the truth. A light hidden under a basket still burns
and the flame will eventually light a fire with potential harm to the person
holding it down. Freedom of speech does not mean only allowing the
conversations with which we agree. If we muzzle the mouths of those we oppose
and offend us, eventually those whom we have opposed and offended too shall
eventually silence us.
