Erasing History

With regard to the removal of statues that some find racially insensitive in our modern times, because they remind them of the horrors of slavery, persons opposed to the removal of statues often claim, “You cannot erase history.”

In a sense that’s true, in that if one defines history as those things which happened in the past, then changing or erasing history cannot be accomplished.

On the other hand, if one wants to erase the historical record, then that can be done. Despots and terrorists groups have done so numerous times.

One Egyptian Pharaoh, Hatshepsut, had all mentions of her name chiseled off temple walls and statues of her were destroyed by her step-son who ruled after her.

Certain rulers of Russia had some accounts of Russia history removed from texts and/or rewritten. Stalin had 14.5 million of his countrymen literally erased.

The Taliban destroyed a centuries-old carving of Buddha on a rock wall to spite outsiders who wished to repair the damaged statue.

In our country, local governments have removed statues of Confederate generals from public view, moving them to a museum or a secure storage area, effectively hiding them from the public eye.

In so doing, all the aforementioned have destroyed or erased historical records.

All Americans should be about the business of studying our nation’s history and learning from our missteps to carve a better future for ourselves.

If Americans choose to “erase” history, we do so at our own peril and history will respect us no more than we respect those ancient Pharaohs, despotic rulers, and religion-motivated terrorists who also sought to rewrite and erase history.