Anita’s Note ~ Come on people. Have we really forgotten that the same country that elected Barack Obama elected Donald Trump? And that country participated in the Middle Passage slave trade for 245 YEARS? And that same was the architect of what W.E.B. Dubois described as “the freedom to destroy freedom”? As a result our country suffers from what I’m calling bipartisan disorder* (scroll down for definition & let me know if somebody else is calling it that, too).
I love what is good about America—and there’s a lot to love—doesn’t mean choosing to forget the horrors. Trump has delivered a wake-up call. Let’s not turn over and go back to sleep.
A few minutes a go I took a break from revising the novel to indulge in content for my next blog post—my reward for six hours of writing/revising. The words “national+amnesia” popped into my head like an original idea. Not. A quick search lead me to an op-ed by Ana Paulina Lee, assistant professor of Luso-Brazilian Studies at Columbia University, NYC. Ms. Lee has eloquently told it like it is and gave me permission to re-blog
Guest Blogger
“How would one think differently of the United States if we were to think of it not as a nation built by immigrants — a national myth — but rather as a nation built on slavery and the removal of Indigenous people from their land?” ~ Ana Paulina Lee “Op-Ed; The Perils of National Amnesia.” Truth-out.org. 7 Jul. 2016.
*bi•par•ti•san dis•or•der
noun
a political disorder marked by alternating periods of national elation and depression brought on by how one casts one’s votes. ~ Anita Gail Jones
“Students across the US, regardless of their background, may graduate from college without ever learning about inconvenient histories. Yet, national forgetting is powerful. It enables ideology like racial supremacy to not only exist, but evolve.” ~ Ana Paulina Lee “Op-Ed; The Perils of National Amnesia.” Truth-out.org. 7 Jul. 2016.
“…histories of racial violence are not over. And we need our classrooms and our culture — and not just Jesse Williams — to tell that truth.” ~ Ana Paulina Lee
Anita – Check out today’s New York Times. Gail Collins writes in the Editorial Section that she’s figured out an explanation for Donald Trump. He’s got amnesia. He doesn’t remember what he said from one minute to the next…http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/opinion/trump-finally-explained.html?_r=0 It’s not quite the same as the bipartisan amnesia, but check it out.
Sara Campos ~Consultant ~ Writer ~ Lawyer ~ Editor ~ Communications Immigrant Rights are Human Rights saracampos@comcast.net (510) 693-1445
Love every single thing about this article / blog / and video ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️