A young man I follow, Danny Caldwell, wrote a piece that especially in these times, is an important and insightful article that I think every American should read with an open mind.
Mr. Caldwell named his article “American Exceptionalism.” Personally, I think the first line, ‘The myth of American Exceptionalism starts with the Christian belief that God chose to bless this land’ does the article much more justice.
The first paragraph of the piece expresses a reality that many of those who consume our disinfected history know but never view through the lens of those aggrieved by America’s Manifest Destiny.
The myth of American Exceptionalism starts with the Christian belief that God chose to bless this land and “our” forefathers more than the rest of creation. This myth asks us to believe that a loving God smiled down on the massacre of indigenous peoples, the brutal enslavement and murder of Africans, and the subjugation of women. History is full of dissent against this belief and the systems that dehumanized people for the sake of our “Manifest Destiny”. The chest pounding pride many Americans feel is based on an edited version of history and a skewed set of metrics that point to us being number one. When people say they want to get back to the days of America being united under God I shake my head. This Black History Month I want those seeking to quell the unrest in our streets to show me any period in American history where we were all united under God?
Mr. Caldwell understands that part of the reason sanitized history works is because it is more palatable than reality.
I don’t fault people for wanting to embrace the myth of American Exceptionalism or its younger sibling post-racial society; the truth is much harder to process than a fairy tale: why else would we read them to kids? If you see enough slogans on hats and hear enough politically driven jargon fantasy can easily replace reality. I wish I didn’t know Black babies were used as alligator bait in the Everglades, or that Thomas Jefferson was a serial rapist, or that Woodrow Wilson was a white supremacist. I wish these things weren’t part of our history, but they are.
But he does not absolve us of responsibility. In fact, he admonishes everyone. We should all become allies of any, particularly aggrieved class.
People who aren’t affected by a particular bias have a moral responsibility to make the exercise of bigotry so uncomfortable that it dies. If men don’t allow human resources departments to discriminate against women: hiring practices based on gender would die; If heterosexuals decided tomorrow that we won’t tolerate any form of discrimination against people who fall outside of the heteronormative spectrum: that form of discrimination dies; and if white people decided that institutional racism can no longer be practiced: systems that have perpetuated the myth of white supremacy will die.
Mr. Caldwell later makes an important point using an example of one racist woman at a hardware store. Individual racism, while hurtful and ugly, is not worth the type of energy we generally expel on making it a major issue. After all, she has no power over the reality, well-being, or success of the aggrieved. But if that woman was a judge, a cop, or wielded power over one’s destiny, that is when it does matter.
Caldwell’s advice at the end is on point. It speaks to fighting battles worth fighting
We can’t continue wasting our time, fighting people who don’t have power. We should focus solely on fighting above our weight class. Calling out ignorance for the sake of calling out ignorance doesn’t solve anything. Every minute we spend fighting with people who can’t help or harm us is a minute lost. This doesn’t mean we don’t engage the world around us, but we can’t allow people who might not be equipped to discuss complex issues hijack our time: let’s quit fighting trolls on social media and fight the ideas that fuel their ignorance.
Until we take our blinders off as we claim American Exceptionalism by facing up to our many sins, we cannot change at the core. Donald Trump, campaigning on ‘Making America Great Again’ as well as demonizing the other, is a direct result of the sanitized history most are taught. It makes Trump’s words seem at least plausible and justifiable.
Danny Caldwell is an insightful thinker and writer that is worth reading. Check out his blog, ThoughtWrestler.