Volume XVIII, Issue XXIc: Return to the Final Frontier
A Clearer View of History
A week or so ago I made the decision to pull away from social media as I saw it get very ugly while remaining very shallow. Some might interpret it as an unwillingness on my part to ‘engage the issues.’ I assure you, that is NOT the case! I am appalled by the evil seen in the murder of a citizen in the custody of a ‘peace officer.’ I am equally appalled by the unbridled rage that has now harmed the lives of thousands! I cannot condone a lot of the rhetoric that is flying about – mainly fueled by emotion and very little by fact. I love my country and am distressed to see it being torn apart. I am appalled at intellectual movements that are happy to tear it apart. To that end I suggest that we take a collective deep breath and look at the history of our land. We’ve had endless arguments abut systemic racism. In the 1960s it was very real. Candice Owens and Larry Elder do not think it all that prevalent today but I listened to South Carolina Senator Tim Scott talk about the fact that he, a United States Senator, has been stopped numerous times by District of Columbia Police. He says that he’s had a few ‘turn signal/flasher violations.’ Remembering the days when I first got my license and drove a 1965 standard VW Microbus (the preferred vehicle of hippies in the early 1970s), I recalled a few traffic stops I had experienced. Indeed DWB (driving while black) stops are still a thing. Driving a VW Microbus with long hair gave you a small window into the world of presumptive policing albeit a small one.
But on the flip side, most of us live in, or are at least friends with biracial families and have more connections with different people than we did in mid-Twentieth Century America. We’re not as segregated as we were back then. Have we reached Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream for His Children? No, but have we progressed? I’ll let history weigh in on that. To that end, here are some resources for a clearer understanding of our past and present.
The Great American Story: A Land of Hope
[click to read]
Good history presents an accurate picture of what happened in the past with a sympathy for those who lived before us. Studying the birth, growth, and survival of America—one of the most significant events in human history—provides foundational knowledge that we can apply to the challenges of our day. (read more)
1776 Unites, The Woodson Center
[click to read]
1776” is an assembly of independent voices who uphold our country’s authentic founding virtues and values and challenge those who assert America is forever defined by its past failures, such as slavery. We seek to offer alternative perspectives that celebrate the progress America has made on delivering its promise of equality and opportunity and highlight the resilience of its people. Our focus is on solving problems.
We do this in the spirit of 1776, the date of America’s true founding. (read more)
The Flawed 1619 Project
[click to read]
Since the New York Times introduced its 1619 Project last summer, the paper has touched off a series of debates about the role of slavery in American history. Although the exchanges that followed haven’t revealed much about our nation’s past, they have told us a lot about state of modern U.S. journalism.
Named after the year that the first slave ship arrived in America, the 1619 Project aims to recontextualize slavery as the dominant factor in America’s founding, supplanting discussions more focused on American ideals such as freedom and natural rights. Obviously, not everyone is enamored of this approach -- there have been numerous critiques of the paper’s attempt to blame slavery for everything from America’s obesity epidemic to our lack of socialized medicine.
One interesting rebuttal is coming from the newly formed 1776 Project, which seeks to “uphold our country’s authentic founding virtues and values and challenge those who assert America is forever defined by its past failures, such as slavery.” The group of predominantly black scholars and writers was organized by anti-poverty crusader and MacArthur “genius grant" winner Bob Woodson, and features thoughtful essays rebutting the 1619 Project from heavyweight intellectuals such as John McWhorter, Clarence Page, and Shelby Steele. (read more)
The Problem of Original Zinn
[click to read]
Howard Zinn’s One Sided View of History
Who is the most influential historian in America? Could it be Pulitzer Prize winners Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. or Joseph Ellis or David McCullough, whose scholarly works have reached a broad literary public? The answer is none of the above. The accolade belongs instead to the unreconstructed, anti-American Marxist Howard Zinn, whose cartoon anti-history of the United States is still selling 128,000 copies a year twenty years after its original publication. Many of those copies are assigned readings for courses in colleges and high schools taught by leftist disciples of their radical mentor.” – Daniel J. Flynn. Howard Zinn, widely hailed as a ‘historian’ once stated “Objectivity is impossible, and it is also undesirable. That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way; should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way, then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think will advance causes of humanity.” And so it goes that millions of young minds are being selectively fed Zinn’s view of history which highlights the sins of our great nation while largely ignoring her noble beginnings and aspirations. History according to Zinn must serve a “a social aim” other than the preservation or interpretation of a historical record. A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn’s 776 page book attempts to do just that. (read more)
Faith and Love in Minneapolis
[click to read]
The world has witnessed violent protests and peaceful demonstrations for nearly two weeks following the death of George Floyd.
But we've also seen testimonies of faith and love among Christian brothers and sisters, revealing that there is no racial division in Christ.
Now the streets of Minneapolis where Floyd was killed have become the site of an outpouring God's love and salvation as hundreds of people have gathered to glorify God through worship, evangelism, and baptism.
Videos and photos of this move of God have been posted across social media. Joel Bomberger, a preacher with Circuit Riders, shared an image of a baptism that occurred on the street while bystanders cheered during the joyous occasion. (read more)
[Click to Read]
