In today’s (July 18, 2020) The New York Times, Yale professor of History David W. Blight writes about the need to re-imagine American history to be more robust and pluralistic.
He observes, “Our new Reconstruction will need local imagination, but also federal leadership on the cultural front.” The wreckage and chaos that is Trumpism must be a followed by a period where the country must reflect, pull itself together and reconfigure the image it presents to the world. Blight is not alone in making this appeal. Former US President Barack Obama, in a recent Instagram post urged Americans to become more involved in making our country better. He writes, “America is a constant work in progress. What gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further—to speak out for what’s right, to challenge an unjust status quo, and to imagine a better world.”
We are living in a polarized environment with a huge chasm between the “local” and the “federal". Bridging that gap will take time, involving a project that can appeal to both sectors. Abroadia believes that inculcating an international component into this project is worth heavy consideration. While Mr. Blight is correct in arguing for Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Bide to work with the Congressional Black Caucus and other figures in culture, history and the arts to devise a national strategy and create a national task force that will allow our country to reckon with the good and the bad of its past to create a narrative and dialog that allows Americans and visitors of our country to engage with themes, movements and figures relevant to the country and to the world. By doing so, Americans can come to see that their history is intertwined with the world. For example, many Americans are unaware of the Polish hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko who fought in the American Revolution on the American side (his plans at Fort Ticonderoga were the ones stolen by Benedict Arnold). There are numerous statutes of him and Casimir Pulaski (another Polish soldier who fought alongside the Americans during the Revolution) in the US, but how many people know about him? In fact, how many schools teach about his involvement in American history? By including these international aspects of American history in education and local conversations or projects we might be able to stem the tide of isolationism that too often rears its head in moments of weak national leadership or crisis. We can normalize internationalism sooner so that it does not seem so exotic or threatening later in life for many Americans.
Blight steers his thesis in this direction. He writes, “The task force can study how South Africa, Germany, Brazil and many other nations have or have not confronted their pasts in public memory or in law.” Local communities can look abroad for solutions or partnerships to mutual problems. The “local” should not defer too much to the “federal” in this regard. “How America reimagines its memorial landscape may matter to the whole world,” Blight warns us toward the end of his article. Indulging in self-canonization (a memorable phrase coined by John Le Carré in his infamous spat with Salman Rushdie) the last three years has left the US in the throes of an “epilepsy of conscience” that will take some time to address. History, Blight says, can be an excellent remedy for us. But, he forewarns us, “History is not a scorecard; it is a land both foreign and familiar. It lives in us even as it can seem so far away.” Our new approach is to make the foreign familiar and by injecting an international component into our local imagination, we would be taking a huge step forward.