The Dangerous Path of Marginality
The Marginality of Love in the United States
An Autobiography
Is what we see necessarily what is real? Should we marginalize society by concentrating our efforts on individuals that do not understand the transformation of love? Should we assume that our country has Post Traumatic Ethnicity Disorder and we can never heal from the sins of our path? Or should we say Martin Luther’s Dream had no impact on our society? Should we believe Howard Zinn’s version of reality that the Constitution is a tool for repression. Is the challenge of future educational leaders to recognize only what sets us apart, or binds us together?
The Europeans did bring genocide to our planet. However, the story of the 500 Nations getting along wonderfully prior to us arriving here is also a myth. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that ethnic genocide existed on our continent long before the Europeans arrived. Ethnic genocide existed long before the Europeans exported their will along trade routes in the 1500’s. Guess what, slavery was not unique to Europe. Ever heard of the story of the Prince of Egypt? Africa had a slave trade prior to the Europeans coming over. In fact, slavery still exists in Africa long after it was outlawed in Europe and North America. Ethnic Genocide exists in Africa today in Darfur, and white Christians were enslaved in Sudan throughout the 1990’s? We have heard of the stories of crimes against humanity in the 1990’s in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Rwanda. The United States is home today to millions of refugees from this area.
What makes the U.S. unique is that we have more cultural groups trying to assimilate in our country than any other country in the world. It has been happening since the late 1600’s. Yet even today, we try to make this experiment of acceptance work. But does the U.S only matter about race? How come in Canada and Europe, they put a greater emphasis on class? In Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, their exists a caste system that restricts human rights worse than the United States. During the Cold War, the United States both challenged and sponsored oppression, however in the end, according to the United Nations, more democracies exist today than in any other time in World History. The United States earns most of the credit for moving democracy forward, even in times when our nation was not so democratic in itself.
Finally, the Constitution. For all its faults, has one unique aspect that people fail to remember. The Constitution is a mirror of our society, and this form of government is unique in that we can change(amend) our society regarding the expansion of civil rights. When we lack the will to change throughout our history, it’s due to an educational and political system that lacks the will to produce change necessary for many individuals to achieve equality.
Darwin’s theory of evolution applies to American History. Equality unfortunately evolves. Survival of the Fittest according to Darwin is a slow process. Equality represents the fittest form of society and humanity that we can achieve, unfortunately it is going to take generations to get there, and many subgroups of people will get hurt along the way, including whites. Remember, whites get hurt too. How soon we forget about the Quakers who lost their homes along the underground railroad for helping African-Americans escape to the north. Millions of whites live in poverty just as worse as inner city ghettos. From Schenectady to Buffalo in upstate New York, an economic devastation 3 times the size of the loss of population in New Orleans devastated upstate New York over the past 20 years. I should know because I live it everyday.
How fast we achieve equality were in past, present, and future generations hands. How quickly we get there can greatly be impacted by educational leadership.
In closing, I want to update the starfish analogy using Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of pets left stranded by Katrina have been sheltered in other states. And many will die. If I was thinking about adopting a pet from Katrina, and somebody said to me. ‘Hundreds of thousands of these pets will be killed, so adopting one won’t matter.” I would respond, it did to that dog I just adopted. I will not surrender the dreams of Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Ghandi, or Jesus Christ. They paid a much higher price for equality than many of us here today will ever be asked to contribute.
The Marginality of Love in the United States
An Autobiography
Is what we see necessarily what is real? Should we marginalize society by concentrating our efforts on individuals that do not understand the transformation of love? Should we assume that our country has Post Traumatic Ethnicity Disorder and we can never heal from the sins of our path? Or should we say Martin Luther’s Dream had no impact on our society? Should we believe Howard Zinn’s version of reality that the Constitution is a tool for repression. Is the challenge of future educational leaders to recognize only what sets us apart, or binds us together?
The Europeans did bring genocide to our planet. However, the story of the 500 Nations getting along wonderfully prior to us arriving here is also a myth. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that ethnic genocide existed on our continent long before the Europeans arrived. Ethnic genocide existed long before the Europeans exported their will along trade routes in the 1500’s. Guess what, slavery was not unique to Europe. Ever heard of the story of the Prince of Egypt? Africa had a slave trade prior to the Europeans coming over. In fact, slavery still exists in Africa long after it was outlawed in Europe and North America. Ethnic Genocide exists in Africa today in Darfur, and white Christians were enslaved in Sudan throughout the 1990’s? We have heard of the stories of crimes against humanity in the 1990’s in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Rwanda. The United States is home today to millions of refugees from this area.
What makes the U.S. unique is that we have more cultural groups trying to assimilate in our country than any other country in the world. It has been happening since the late 1600’s. Yet even today, we try to make this experiment of acceptance work. But does the U.S only matter about race? How come in Canada and Europe, they put a greater emphasis on class? In Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, their exists a caste system that restricts human rights worse than the United States. During the Cold War, the United States both challenged and sponsored oppression, however in the end, according to the United Nations, more democracies exist today than in any other time in World History. The United States earns most of the credit for moving democracy forward, even in times when our nation was not so democratic in itself.
Finally, the Constitution. For all its faults, has one unique aspect that people fail to remember. The Constitution is a mirror of our society, and this form of government is unique in that we can change(amend) our society regarding the expansion of civil rights. When we lack the will to change throughout our history, it’s due to an educational and political system that lacks the will to produce change necessary for many individuals to achieve equality.
Darwin’s theory of evolution applies to American History. Equality unfortunately evolves. Survival of the Fittest according to Darwin is a slow process. Equality represents the fittest form of society and humanity that we can achieve, unfortunately it is going to take generations to get there, and many subgroups of people will get hurt along the way, including whites. Remember, whites get hurt too. How soon we forget about the Quakers who lost their homes along the underground railroad for helping African-Americans escape to the north. Millions of whites live in poverty just as worse as inner city ghettos. From Schenectady to Buffalo in upstate New York, an economic devastation 3 times the size of the loss of population in New Orleans devastated upstate New York over the past 20 years. I should know because I live it everyday.
How fast we achieve equality were in past, present, and future generations hands. How quickly we get there can greatly be impacted by educational leadership.
In closing, I want to update the starfish analogy using Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of pets left stranded by Katrina have been sheltered in other states. And many will die. If I was thinking about adopting a pet from Katrina, and somebody said to me. ‘Hundreds of thousands of these pets will be killed, so adopting one won’t matter.” I would respond, it did to that dog I just adopted. I will not surrender the dreams of Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Ghandi, or Jesus Christ. They paid a much higher price for equality than many of us here today will ever be asked to contribute.
posted by book1 at 5:37 AM
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