UPDATE 9/14/2017: The "Destroy American History" movement continues unabated. As I originally predicted in this article, it would not be long before the venerated Fr. Junipero Serra of Alta California colonial history would be the next to be destroyed. See the section in this article below titled "Spanish Colonial Era Worship Must End". For more information on Mission San Luis Obispo, reference this article. On La Purisima Concepcion, reference this article.
On September 12, 2017, the familiar statue of Saint Serra which appears at most of the 21 California missions has been decapitated and defaced with red paint, and sadly covered over with a black burka sack. You can read about the article in the SLO Tribune by clicking here. Most historical statues scattered around America have gone largely unnoticed by the public, until this criminal movement to destroy them got started. I hope that others love history as I do, whether deemed "good" or "bad", and want images of our past preserved. Otherwise, how are we different from the Taliban and ISIS, who destroyed ancient and amazing works of historical art during their brutal occupations, never to be seen again by the world? Those in the "destruction" business would not appear to have a moral compass to consult. Sad indeed.
Above: Putting in a new adobe floor at La Purisima in the "Master Weavers Quarters". What an honor for me to touch California history.
San Luis Obispo, of course, is a mission town, and I am proud to say that I am a docent at the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, as well as a Core Leader for the state park system at Mission La Purisima Concepcion just outside of Lompoc, where we maintain and improve the mission structures.
Is it coincidence that our own Senator Feinstein (and Senator Durbin) just finished grilling appeals-court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” she was asked outright. The questioning was inappropriate, as well as also unconstitutional, violating the prohibition against religious tests for public office.” Of course, Durbin and Feinstein should recuse themselves from the Barrett vote, but no doubt that will not happen. The rules and laws are for the "little people", not the high and mighty up on capital hill.
In response, Father James Martin, S.J., a Catholic priest who frequently espouses progressive views on social issues, responded to video of Feinstein’s comments, adding, “Throwback to an era when Catholics were seen as unthinking tools of the Pope. You can be a good Catholic citizen in our country. Ask JFK.”
UPDATE 8/22/2017: The destruction movement continues, with "anything confederate, as long as its not democrat" growing stronger by the day. A large stone and bronze monument was donated in 1925 to the "Hollywood Forever" Cemetery in Los Angeles by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, founded in 1894 (obviously a racist and hateful group). It was recently vandalized and then forced to be hauled away "forever" (how ironic). Obviously, Californians will raise no fuss, and it will receive no press in California.
Those who don't understand the 2016 election's results will just not know why members of the "Daughters" group will be upset and say things like "I feel very hurt, like this is not my America". Before you d*mn her as a racist that rose up from the depths of h*ll, perhaps you could consider her point of view.
The "Daughters of the Confederacy" are upset that white supremacists latched onto the Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville. When the "Daughters" was founded in 1894, the ladies were trying to heal the nation, and themselves. Many women had lost fathers, brothers, husbands and sons in this deadly war. Most of these monuments were placed in cemeteries. The goal of the monuments was to honor veterans. For these reasons, the "Daughter's" monuments must now be vandalized, hauled away and destroyed immediately - all with official approval from government officials, who are standing by and watching it happen.
Until 2010, democrat Senator Robert Byrd continued to be elected to public office, as a living monument to slavery and racism. In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in West Virginia. Byrd became a recruiter and leader of his chapter for the next 4 years. When it came time to elect the top officer (Exalted Cyclops) in the local Klan unit, Byrd won unanimously.
In December 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi Senator Theodore G. Bilbo: “I shall never fight in the armed forces with a negro by my side ... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”
How many monuments to Byrd have been torn down? After all, he has schools, streets, parks and more named after him in West Virginia. Answer: none so far. Byrd later called joining the KKK "the greatest mistake I ever made." Does this trite statement absolve him of any responsibility for the damage that he caused? Why yes, it does. What he did in the past is merely an "inconvenient truth" but should not cause his reputation to be tarnished. No less a progressive icon than former President Clinton justified Byrds involvement in racist aggression by noting that he was "just a country boy" and merely "using the KKK to get elected". Let's spare all the monuments to Byrd - good idea.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE 8/17/2017: The Destruction of American History...Where Do We Draw the Line? Yes, its a question...one that requires THINKING...
When I was growing up, I was educated about slavery, but knew that it took place long before I was born. It never occurred to me that I would be blamed for such a vile and hateful institution. Though I have no idea if I am a caucasian (no DNA test or anything), I certainly look the part. Must be guilty of "being white" as charged. But note that I now "self-identify" as "American Indian", and not white — a quick save there. Certainly, that won't matter to those who trumpet race guilt above all else.
I love history. Vile history, Glorious history. Factual history. History. The kind that actually happened (how do you know when it is destroyed?). The recent trend for American vigilante citizens (and even elected representatives) to viciously attack and destroy our American history is sad. I have to ask: "where do we draw the line?" (we'll get back to this question).
For many decades now, I have been saddened by the Taliban and ISIS extremists destroying massive amounts of middle eastern history, simply because they did not share the religious viewpoint of the creators of these artifacts. You might want to take some time and brush up on this subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_cultural_heritage_by_ISIL
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150901-isis-destruction-looting-ancient-sites-iraq-syria-archaeology/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/world/iraq-isis-heritage/index.html
If you love history, the above list should be enough to make you ill. If these readings do not bother you, then please STOP READING - I am wasting your time.
I am confused about how the islamic extremist destruction of historic symbols is somehow different from the destruction of confederate civil war symbols? Of course, I have a theory (always do!). Our horrific history of slavery, shared by the entire world during this same time frame (roughly 1800's and before), should have been allowed to die the historic death it deserved. However, many Americans choose to "resurrect this historical wrong", and thus love to draw truly race-blind people like me into this long-dead conflict.
The real question, though, is where does our destruction of history end? Civil wars are perhaps even more destruction than your "average" war, pitting "brother against brother" and a nation upon itself. Many never recover: see North and South Korea - apart forever, perhaps? Families never reunited. Tragic.
Logic dictates that I must propose the following:
Thomas Jefferson. James Madison. Considered co-Father's of the Declaration of Independence. Their call to war was an act of treason against mother England to begin with. They start out as traitors. And slave holders. Destroy it all. Including all known copies of the Declaration of Independence. Written and signed by a slaveholders hand with a slaveholders pen.
12 American Presidents owned slaves. Burn their historical homes. Everywhere they slept. All their statues and monuments. Should we dig up their graves, and throw them in the local dump in disgrace? Its already happening. A recent editorial in the Orlando Sentinel has proposed digging up some of the 482 confederates buried in "our cemetery" to make room for more deserving Americans. That will show them. Don't bother getting permission - just grab your rope, and begin toppling 'em like the mini-confederate statues they really are.
Perhaps the best part is that apparently all this looting and destruction of history that offends us is legal! Law enforcement stands by and watches while it happens, and arrests nobody. Well, that's how it should be, isn't it? "Erasing" the stain of our foul history is the right thing to do, so why should it be illegal? There is that thorny question of who decides which of our history is so disgraceful that we must erase it? Apparently, the mob gets to decide.
Send the Mob to Germany. In our country, being called a Nazi is far worse than being called a racist. Of course, America is a racist country, so it would come as no surprise that we individually are called racists with great frequency. Now being called a Nazi - why, that usually makes the national news, so being one of Hitler's admirers is particularly offensive to us. Our trendy new "vigilante law" would appear to obligate us to head to Germany and bring down anything in that country with links to Hitler. With all the skinheads over there, we should find plenty of targets. Surely, the Germans would not object, would they?
Vietnam War: In the civil war, confederates were wrong to cede from the union and support slavery. Clearly. On an individual basis, that decision was not so obvious. Let's look at the map of America in 1861. Note that the 1860 census showed America to have 31 million total people, with the north have 22 million and the south 9 million (no idea if any slaves were counted in any of these totals).
The war quiet literally divided the country in half. Wonder what happened if you were in the "pink" half and decided to fight for the "blue" half? Bet you slipped away in the middle of the night. Consider the reserve: living in the blue and deciding, through family affiliations or political point of view, to fight with the south. I bet you slipped away in the night too. Times were harsh back then - how much do you want to bet that if you were caught on either side "slipping away" that your head was "slipped into a noose"? That will be a research question left for another day.
Fighting for the wrong side makes you a wrong person. Back to Vietnam. Many (most) believe it was an unjust war - plain wrong war. You know that 58,000+ Americans died in that war - we have the memorial to tell us that. But did you know that an estimated 3,000,000 Vietnamese died? Yep. Three million. Very bad. Bad war, yet we remember our dead - but should we? We revere the Vietnam War Memorial, but will that change in 150 years, as in the civil war? Once upon a time, Americans saw confederates as still Americans. Abe did. Everybody did. What has changed today? Are they no longer Americans. Time to topple that memorial to innocent Vietnamese death, shall we?
American Indian Genocide. Historically, this was far worse than slavery (trust me - look it up). Indians are the most impoverished minority group today, by far. We still treat them poorly. None other than Union President Ulysses S. Grant was a major perpetrator in the killing of innocent indigenous tribal men, women and children. Monuments to Grant are all over the place - time to get busy.
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