Reconsidering Columbus Day ?

I’m back on the block. Sorry for the long silence, but high school is a real challenge. I have lots of great information to share, in upcoming posts, about some amazing summer programs.

But today, Columbus Day, let’s talk about silences. Click this link first.
www.reconsidercolumbusday.org

Here is a quote by a hero of mine-W.E.B. DuBois. He precisely captures what our country has been so unwilling to do-face the truth, acknowledge it and move forward with a head raised high.
One is astonished in the study of history
at the recurrence of the idea that evil must
be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We
must not remember that Daniel Webster got
drunk but only that he was a splendid
constitutional lawyer. We must forget that
George Washington was a slave owner . . . and
simply remember the things we regard as
creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course,
with this philosophy is that history loses its value
as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man
and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.

-W.E.B. DuBois
1868-1963

After my doctor’s appointment, I’m headed to Last Word Bookstore, in University City, to find a book my uncle suggested-Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I’m kind of ashamed at how little I know of American history, especially the history of Native Americans. That’s about to change.