On August 4, the National Park Service announced that it would beRestore and restore the idolConfederate General Albert Pike in Washington.
This decision is another round in the ongoing battle on the American past. Trump and his supporters want to replace a wide American history with a wide celebration.
For the Maga movement, “Make America Great Again” means that America was always great and exposed any facts, events or thoughts from the historical record that tarnishes the image of a magnificent civilization “from sea to sea”.
The ruling rule has always understood the importance of history and tried to control it.
“For Russians, the past is certain; this is the future that is unexpected,” a SovietProverbholds on. The proverb refers to the practice of subordinating history to an ideology with an utopian future vision, but there is no clear path to reach there.
In his diastopian novel, “1984“Spanish Civil War and Stalinism, inspired by George OrwellConcept further developed“Who controls the past controls the future,”They have written“One who controls the present controls the ghost.”
When his fictional kingdom Oshinia created peace with Eurasia and went into the war with East Asia, its historians and campaigners quickly re -wrote their narratives that the new enemy had always been an enemy.
The Maga attack on the historical truth began in 2019, when a group of scholars led by Nicole Hanna-Jones published “”.1619 project“Trump and his followers explained the call call for a more inclusive historical story, which acknowledged the evils of slavery and a continuous problem of systemic racism, which was an existing threat to his nutritional vision of American extraordinaryness.
The president “replied by creating”1776 Advisory Commission,“To resume” 1619 Project “and promote civil education” with a mandate to encourage citizens to embrace and cultivate the country’s love. ,
The Commission’s report celebrates the US as the “most and magnificent country in human history”.
When Trump left the post in 2021, 35 states took a reason to promote a festive version of American history, passing“Gag Law”The ability to discuss gay and transgender issues with gay and transgender issues with that limited public school teachers, gym croes and systemic racism.
Trump returned to the office in January, determined to promote his favorite version of history with a vengeance.
On 27 March, he released one executive Order With stimulating title, “restoring truth and purity for American history.” This announced the policy of administration to restore “serious and public monuments” to restore the federal sites dedicated to history including parks and museums.
Its declared goal is “reminding Americans of our extraordinary heritage, constant progress towards becoming a more whole union, and a unmatched record of extending freedom, prosperity and human prosperity.”
The President vowed to restore the Smithsonian Institute at its right place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness. “
This order prevents Smithsonian museums “from spending money on demonstrations or programs, degrading shared American values, dividing Americans on the basis of breed” and demands that the American Women’s History Museum “does not consider men as women in any relationship.”
On August 12, the White House sent a letter informing the Smithsonian Institute that it would happenReview ofThey align with the President’s instructions to celebrate the “selected Smithsonian museum and exhibitions” to celebrate American extraordinaryness “.
The push for a festive version of American history did not stop with Smithsonian.
The order also required the secretary of the interior to ensure that public monuments, sculptures, manufacturers and memorials “do not include details, illustrations or other materials that improperly dislikes Americans (including persons living in colonial times) past or living (including persons living in colonial times).
Monuments should “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of American people instead or, in relation to natural characteristics, the beauty, abundance and grandeur of the American landscape.”
In compliance with order, internal secretary Dag BergamGuided employeeUnder their jurisdiction of posting notice, visitors to “instruct to report any signal or other information who are negative about past or living Americans or who fail to emphasize the abundance of beauty, grandeur, and landscape and other natural characteristics.”
On the President’s instruction, Pentagon has restored the nameSeven military basisOriginally nominated for Confederate generals.
Defense department made changes using a cleverEffective tipsFor example, feet. Benning, Georgia, who originally Confederate Brigadier General Henry L. Nominated for Benning, now Kotorl Fred C. It is nominated for Benning, who won the Distinguished Service Cross at WWI.
The idols and other confederate symbols have been at the center of debate on the US past since the 2015 massacre at the African American Methodist Episopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.By white dominationDialon roof.
Amidst a storm of protest, South Carolina legislature voted to remove itConfederate Battle FlagFrom the State House Dome, where it was raised in 1961 to oppose the civil rights movement.
The murder of George Floid and the Birth of the Black Lives Matter Movement intensified.
It came to Charlotsville, Virginia in August 2017 for a chief when white dominations Robert E. Opposed the city council’s decision to remove a statue of Lee, which collided with counters, Kill,
The conflict shows why history matters. To free themselves from harassment, marginalized people should recover their past from harassments that want to hide it.
Most ConfederateMonumentsIt was erected after 1890 – not to remember the lost life during the civil war, but to claim white power in the Jim Crow era.
American history should not be celebrated nor icoclastic, but should be inclusive. We can identify the achievements of the founders of the Republic and still accept that they lived away from the income of human bond.
They are not two true mutual exclusion. Both are part of the American story and they should be included in the history teaching their children.
Tom Mockitis is a history professor at Depall University and is the author of the author,Violent extremist: Understanding domestic and international terrorist threat,
