Celebrating the 250th

Name the most recognizable building in India. You probably said “the Taj Mahal.” It’s that marble mausoleum in Agra, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. You may even know the story. It was built by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, a Muslim, for his wife, who died giving birth to their 14th child. The building was completed in the 1640s and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But wait. There is a conspiracy theory advanced by some Hindu nationalists who claim the building wasn’t really built by a Muslim. Some Hindu elements are embedded in the architecture, and rumors of secret walled-in rooms and coverups abound.

For a nationalist in India, it may be difficult to admit that one of the most admired buildings in the country was built by a Muslim. Nationalists prefer a glorious history with heroes, brave deeds, cultural superiority, and unity of purpose, perhaps with a bit of divine inspiration.

This January, the National Park Service removed an exhibit from the National Historical Park in Philadelphia entitled “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation.” President Trump ordered the removal because the exhibit promoted a “corrosive ideology.” It memorialized nine slaves owned by George Washington, the Founder of Our Nation.

Washington was not our only slaveholding president. Everyone knows about Jefferson, but we might also mention James Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson—Trump’s favorite president—who owned about 300 slaves. Jackson, according to historical accounts, was a brutal owner. In all, twelve American presidents were slave owners, although in Grant’s case, it was one, and Grant voluntarily signed the manumission document that freed his only slave.

The City of Philadelphia challenged the removal of the Washington exhibit. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered park employees not to destroy the exhibit, but as of early February, it has not been reinstalled.

Is it important for a nation to tell its complete, and occasionally ugly, story? Should we explain that the reason the Pilgrims found vacant land and food in New England was that the Indians had been depopulated by European diseases?

Do we need to point out that one of the reasons Jefferson listed for our fight for independence was that the King prevented the seizure of Indian lands? Must we mention that many of the Texans at the Alamo were angry that Mexico prohibited slavery?

I was in college before I learned that thousands of Black troops fought for the Union in the Civil War. The internment of Japanese Americans was not mentioned in my high school classes. I knew our armed forces were segregated during World War II, but I learned that on my own. The Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee, anti-union violence, American colonialism in the Philippines—not part of the history I was taught. That was wrong.

Our President is wrong. We need our history uncensored for three reasons. First, for the simple reason that it is our history—all of it, including missteps, imperfections, and even horrors.

Second, if we hide our imperfections, we are doing a disservice to the people who endured. Slavery was an inhumane system. The Japanese internment was an incredible injustice to American citizens. To ignore our bad behavior insults the people who experienced hardship, discrimination, and even death.

Finally, knowledge of past wrongs gives us something to guard against in the future. If we see our government or our neighbors taking steps we know are unconstitutional, racist, or discriminatory, we must say, “Not this time.” We must act so our descendants don’t say, as we so often do, “Why didn’t people do something?”

I once said to an American Studies colleague, “We sure did a lot of bad things in our history.” She said, “Yes, but there were always voices raised in opposition.” That is also part of our 250-year history. We need more of those voices.

~ Roy Christman