American History: A Trail of Tears

They say, “Love is blind,” and there is a lot of truth in that statement whether applied to romantic love or to the love of country.  I love America.  You love America.  I am a patriot.  You are a patriot.  Let’s begin with that premise.  

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and the same can be said of history.  Unexamined history is not worth living.  In our love of America our history has often been blindsided.  We have been unwilling to examine the truth of our struggle to become what our forefathers envisioned.  Winston Churchill said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.”  I’m convinced Churchill was right about that.  But what is our past (our history)?  Have we seen it clearly, or have we, in our love-blindness, embellished it and romanticized it out of its reality?

“History is written by the victors,” is a phrase also attributed to Churchill (as well as to Herman Goring at the Nuremberg trials).  I believe that statement is true also.  Our history is written by the victors.

Who were the victors in  the “Trail of Tears?” You know about that, right?  It’s our history and we have no future if we forget it.  In the 1830’s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina.  White settlers wanted that land to grow cotton. The federal government forced these Native Americans to leave their homeland and walk 5,043 miles to what was called “Indian Territory” (Oklahoma). Thousands died along the way, some “bound in chains” and as one Choctaw leader told an Alabama newspaper at the time, it was “a trail of tears and death.”  We remember the “Bataan Death March” of World War II, but we often “forget” the death march called “The Trail of Tears.”  If we forget our past, as Churchill says, we will have no future.

Our past treatment of Native Americans (and our present treatment of Native Americans) is an ugly story.  But it is our history.  We remember genocide in other lands, but we ignore the genocide that took place in our own.  

We talk about the concentration camps in Germany and elsewhere, but we tend to forget the various concentration camps that are part of our own history—“reservations” for Native Americans and “internment camps” for Japanese Americans in WW II.  And then, of course, there is the issue of slavery and a bloody civil war, and the demeaning of immigrants from Italy, Ireland, etc. in the late 19 century. 

Our American history is not a pleasant or pretty story as we pretend it to be.  To forget it, or ignore it, and for some, even to deny it, means that we will have no future.  Love is blind.  Love of country is blind, too.  Such blindness prevents us from seeing reality—our reality—“a trail of tears.”  It prevents us from moving forward toward the real American dream.

“Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes,

 our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, 

they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”  

(John Adams)

An Unforgettable Experience

Charlie lived with his wife in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood of north Philadelphia.  We first met at Graterford Prison (closed in 2018) in the mid 1980’s, where Charlie and others went weekly to minister to inmates.  Long story short, Charlie and I became friends and developed a ministry together called “Where City and Country Meet” at the Yokefellow Center in northeastern Maryland. For a number of years, Charlie brought African-American children from the Nicetown-Tioga community to experience a day in the country.  I, in turn, visited Charlie on numerous occasions in his community.

The Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood is a 20-minute drive from downtown Philadelphia.  It was an extremely impoverished, drug, and crime-ridden neighborhood (“hence the North Philadelphia gallows-humor witticism that ‘there’s nothing nice about Nicetown’”).   In the 1960’s there was an influx of African Americans escaping poverty and the discrimination of the south into the already “worn and used” community.  That’s where Charlie and the children he brought to the Yokefellow Center lived. Charlie’s grandson (14-years of age) was shot and killed while walking across a parking lot near his home.  Charlie couldn’t afford to move out of the neighborhood so he tried his best (along with his Church community) to make it a better place.  It was not safe for me, a white man, to walk the streets of the neighborhood—but with Charlie by my side, I felt safe.  Charlie introduced me to his friends and neighbors.  I remember visiting the local barbershop and listening to the fellows gathered there and what they were up against. I shall never forget the experience.  Nicetown was Helltown. That was some thirty-plus years ago!  

When I visited Charlie I usually traveled  from the south and knew exactly how to get to his home (no GPS then).  Then one day on a return trip from New Jersey with my wife, we decided to visit with Charlie and got terribly lost—ending up in the middle of Philadelphia. Spotting a police car nearby I stopped to get directions.  Sitting in the cruiser was an African American police woman.  She reminded me of Officer Laverne Hooks in the Police Academy movies.  She was short, like Officer Hooks, and even had a soft gentle (though not squeaky) voice.

I explained to her that I was totally lost and discombobulated and where I wanted to go.  She responded with her soft voice that I must have the wrong address for my friend.  I assured her that I had visited Charlie on previous occasions and the address was correct.  She shook her head and then instructed me to go wait in the car.  A few minutes later she came over and said that she would “lead” us to the address.  And she did.  When we arrived at Charlie’s home I thanked her profusely for her help.  Her response was that she would remain parked in front of Charlie’s house until we finished our visit and then she would help us find our way out of the neighborhood. When we finished our visit and walked out of Charlie’s home—there she was, true to her promise. We followed her cruiser out of the neighborhood and she pointed us toward our way home.

“We do not know the inmost depths of the human heart;

 it is revealed only to love. 

But those who condemn have generally little love,

 and therefore the mystery of the heart which they judge is closed to them…” 

(Nicolas Berdyaev, The Destiny of Man). 

Keep the Focus

The national and international focus over the last several weeks is that “Black Lives Matter.”  George Floyd mattered.  Brionna Taylor mattered.  The focus is NOT on standing for the national anthem, defunding the police, the dismantling of statues, rioters, Antifa, anarchists or arsonists.  These are distractions.  The focus is that “Black Lives Matter” because in so many cases in this country they do not seem to matter.  This is what is being protested in accordance with the Constitution’s First Amendment:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”  There are grievances that need to be redressed—Black Lives Matter.  Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and many others mattered. “Say their names,” because they mattered!  Black Lives Matter.

Jesus healed the demon-possessed Gerasene, and, according to the story, sent those demons into a herd of pigs which immediately went crazy and ran pell-mell over a cliff.  The farmers lambasted Jesus and demanded he leave their district for destroying their pigs (property, statues, comfort-zones, and other cherished proprieties).  They missed seeing the liberation of the Gerasene!  Even today, when people retell the story the focus is often on the loss of the pigs  rather than on the liberation of the Gerasene from his grievances.

We are doing the same thing as those farmers did.  Keep focused.  It isn’t about standing for the national anthem.  It isn’t about defunding the police.  It isn’t about rioters, Antifa, anarchists or arsonists.  It isn’t about property.  It isn’t about statues.  It is about the liberation of human life—Black human life—and that is what matters.  That’s the priority—don’t lose the focus, don’t be dissuaded.  Don’t let anyone mislead you with the distractions.  The important thing is Black Lives Matter!  The focus is on petitioning for a redress of grievances.  

Statues VS Statutes

The Second of the Ten Commandments reads:  “You shall not make a carved image [a graven image] for yourself nor the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.  You shall not bow down and worship them….(Exodus 20:4-5).”  Statues are “graven images” made in the likeness of a person or an animal.  A statue is normally life-size or larger than life.  The Statue of Liberty, for example, is 305 feet high; the Statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial is 19 feet high.  A statue may be made of plaster, wood, marble, cloth, or metal.  

The Second Commandment’s “shall not” has not prevented us from making graven images and has not stopped us from coming “just short” of idolizing some of those graven images (statues).  What bothers me even more than the second commandment about statues, however, is what Tommy Douglas (Canadian Baptist minister and politician—considered the father of socialized medicine in Canada) said about them.  “I don’t mind being a symbol but I don’t want to become a monument.  There are monuments all over the Parliament Buildings and I’ve seen what the pigeons do to them.”

Now a statue is not a “Statute.”  A “Statute” is a law—a physical document that expresses the law of the land as enacted by a legislative body.  The United States Constitution is a “Statute.”  It may have been a monumental effort to create and it may be  seen today as a monumental document—BUT, the Constitution (the law of the land) is not a monument—it is not a statue—IT IS A STATUTE.

There are those who want some “statues” taken down, finding them offensive and divisive rather than unifying.  There are others who feel that removing some of these statues is criminal. Donald Trump just signed an executive order “to prosecute to the fullest extent…any person or any entity that destroys, damages, vandalizes, or desecrates a monument, memorial, or statue within the US…”

Would that an executive order be signed today “to prosecute to the fullest extent…any person or any entity that destroys, damages, vandalizes, or desecrates the Statute of the Constitution of the United States,” particularly, the First Amendment (the rights to assemble, protest, and petition).  There are justifiable reasons to seek redress and those exercising that right are not predominantly “rioters, arsonists, and left-wing extremists.”  We can tolerate what pigeons do to statues, but we cannot allow pigeons to do the same to our founding Statute!

“Manipulated Media?”

To MANIPULATE is to “control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.”  Twitter labeled a video tweeted by Donald Trump last night “as ‘manipulated media’ because it attributes to news media a nonexistent story on race. The video depicts a fake CNN headline that states, ‘TERRIFIED TODDLER RUNS FROM RACIST BABY,’ as a Black toddler runs ahead of a White toddler in the same direction…The video then displays the words, ‘WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED,’ and shows the original clip of two children running toward each other on a sidewalk before embracing….”  The video says, “AMERICA IS NOT THE PROBLEM, FAKE NEWS IS.”  Who is the manipulator?

Once again I am reminded of what Trump said in a speech in Kansas City to the VFW annual convention:  “Stick with us.  Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news….What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”  In other words, Trump was saying then and continues to say now that anything that doesn’t originate with Trump himself should be ignored.  Many of his supporters ignore facts because they aren’t coming from their horse’s mouth!

The CDC says, Practice good hygiene:  avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people.  Wash your hands…avoid touching your face. Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others, etc.  Trump doesn’t wear a mask and it has become a political statement on the part of his supporters to do obeisance to whatever Trump says—not what scientific data says.  So many seem willing to be manipulated.

Trump will hold a campaign rally tomorrow in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  There will be more than 10 people there—many of whom, following Trump’s example, will not be wearing face masks.  Why bother? This worldwide pandemic, says Trump, will go away in “April” when it warms up.  Meanwhile, 118,000 Americans have lost their lives to this Trump-called “flu.”

We must beware of “manipulated media” from whatever source.  We must also be aware of how America is being manipulated.  

Farewell, Odysseus!

We have come to the end of a wonderful and glorious chapter in our life—a life “on the road” in Odysseus, our mini-RV.  For ten years we were privileged to travel the highways and byways of America in Odysseus.  Odysseus took us to every state between the Atlantic and the Pacific—between Canada and Mexico.  We even ventured into Canada and Nova Scotia and traveled along the southern border with Mexico.  We visited as many national parks and monuments as we could and spent time with family and friends all across this grand land under spacious skies.  We encountered a wonderful and diverse people every mile along the way—and that included a lot of miles—136,000 of them!

I think Nietzsche told this parable.  The end of a melody is not its goal:  but if the melody never reached its end it would not have reached its goal either.  So, too, the end of our days on the road was not our goal when we began, but now as it actually ends we sense all those 136,000 miles, all those places, cities, towns, experiences and people as a goal reached and obtained.  We do not grieve the ending—we celebrate it!

We celebrated it yesterday as we passed Odysseus on to our eldest son, Paul and his wife, Helen.  They have always enjoyed camping and traveling and now Odysseus will be their companion along the way.

Cher and I will continue to celebrate being “On the Road Again” as we browse the notebooks we put together after every trip and we will enjoy all over again the adventures we have known with Odysseus.

“A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience 

from which to look back or from which to look ahead.” (Graham Greene)

Farewell, Odysseus

We have come to the end of a wonderful and glorious chapter in our life—a life “on the road” in Odysseus (our mini-RV).  For ten years we were privileged to travel the highways and byways of America in Odysseus.  Odysseus took us to every state between the Atlantic and the Pacific—between Canada and Mexico.  We even ventured into Canada and Nova Scotia and traveled along the southern border with Mexico.  We visited as many National Parks and Monuments as we could and spent time with family and friends all across this grand land.  We encountered a wonderful and diverse people every mile along the way—and that included a lot of miles—136,o00 of them!

I think Nietzsche told this parable.  The end of a melody is not its goal: but if the melody never reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. So too, the end of our days on the road was not our goal when we began, but now as it actually ends we sense all those 136,000 miles, all those places, cities, towns, experiences and people as a goal reached and obtained.  We do not grieve the ending of being on the road—we celebrate it!

We celebrated yesterday as we passed Odysseus on to our eldest son, Paul, and his wife, Helen.  They have always enjoyed camping and traveling and now Odysseus will be their companion along the way.  

Cher and I will continue to celebrate being “On the Road Again” as we browse through the notebooks we put together after every trip and we will enjoy all over again the adventures we have known with Odysseus.