A World Erased: Indigenous People's Day and Reframing Of America

This week was Indigenous People’s Day in the US. This is a renamed and reclaimed vision of what was formerly Columbus Day, wherein we all used to get the day off in celebration of the man who “discovered” (but not really) America, and initiated the slaughter of thousands of indigenous people. The lasting consequences of this have been catastrophic to the legacy of those tribes that were wiped from the earth. The act was not just killing people, it was an erasing of an identity. History was lost, thus doomed to be repeated. As explorers and colonists once tore down the way of life and rich history of the indigenous people who lived here, America is determined today to rewrite itself.

I firmly believe that renaming Columbus day to honor the people that were harmed is a good thing, because it is not an erasure that it happened, but a reframing in order to give the honor where it belongs. This is a good thing, a just thing. It is the more extreme examples that trouble me. Statues have been taken down in record numbers in recent years. Most of these statues are of slave owners or confederate figures from the Civil War. Some of the statues were of people with significance to the lives currently led by Americans, notably the Francis Scott Key statue in San Francisco and the Philip Schuyler statue in Albany. I guess I should make it clear now that I believe slavery is bad, but I also believe that trying to make history disappear is not the solution to our country’s complex history. Many local and state governments that have taken down these statues have emphasized that taking down the statues doesn’t encourage erasing history, but instead focuses on not honoring offenders. 

I used to think that, and then I took a class that was focused on international politics but left me with an important lesson about all realms of political life. Simply put, a significant factor in a given country’s obedience of international treaties and law is the domestic norms regarding what the treaty calls for, obedience to law, and honoring contracts. In other words, norms are incredibly powerful. Part of what statues and books that have been called “harmful” can teach us if they are left in their place is what norms used to look like, what it takes for a society to change, and that it can be done. In more sentimental terms, it helps to look back occasionally when you’re on a climb so you can see how far you are from where you started. I also believe that keeping the picture of the whole journey intact is absolutely essential for survival. 

Call it my Jewish heritage, call it thirst for chaos, or call it an eye for nuance- I don’t believe erasing the darker parts of our history is anything other than the one surefire way to ensure that it repeats itself. I also believe that the extremism surrounding monuments has created the voting block for the “guy who speaks his mind” candidate. Alienating people creates entrenched partisanship, and the divides in this country cannot solely be blamed on Donald Trump. When you erase part of history, and become too controlling of how people speak and think, you create a world of black-and-white thinking that discourages and inevitably punishes any thought for the shades of gray in between. 

The same can be said for eliminating books with now-offensive terms from libraries and school curriculums. Isn’t it better to know the historical content? The reins of control should be let loose, and power given back to the institution of education to teach us that this is how people used to speak to each other, but we have evolved, and we know better now. If there is no measuring stick, and no example left of what not to do, then we cannot continue to change for the better. Just as DeSantis’s “don’t say gay” plan will surely fall flat, this kind of language and history restriction creates hostility toward the different and the unknown. For an extreme example, let’s say we rid this country of all the slave owner history available to us. In 50 years, might someone believe that “hey maybe we should own, buy, and sell people” is something daring, untried, and the solution to everything? 

Fully accepting that that’s a ridiculous example, my point still stands. On both sides of the Civil War, people passionately fought for what they believed. Whether or not you agree with what they fought over, and what the indigenous people and colonists fought over, it does everyone for ages to come a disservice to erase the lasting relics of those conflicts. Instead of taking down statues, update the plaques reflecting what we know now. Instead of being the enemy of knowledge, be a champion of context. Instead of sanitizing literary content, make it a powerful lesson. The political situation we find ourselves in comes from one of my greatest frustrations with the American electorate; our short-term memory loss.

Every four years we forget who did what, and fall prey to the twisting of words and rewriting of even the most recent history coming from the campaign trail. Perhaps the way to extend the memory span of voters and candidates alike is to keep the history alive, and be better teachers. 

And I am not just talking about teachers in classrooms. Each and every one of us has the power to pull up reliable sources and share with the young people in our lives and share with them what really happened on the darkest and brightest days this nation has seen. Mostly, I believe that removing content left right and center is a key example of pandering to a group of people that don’t need to be pandered to. People of all ages are capable of being told what is happening in their lives, and why. Most importantly, their day in court, if they are angry when they find harmful patterns repeating themselves, comes every two years in the form of a ballot. It even comes with a sticker! (Okay, now who’s pandering?) 

It is my suggestion, in honor of Indigenous People’s Day, and all that they have endured, that we never forget. To do so is not a passive thing. It is an active mission to engage with material that is being questioned, torn down, and banned, and a resilience against the trend of throwing information at us, whether or not it's true, and waiting for something to stick. In honor of all the wounds sustained and inflicted in our history, it is better, I think, to live with that history, and when we see it, decide for ourselves not to destroy, but to keep walking forward.  

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