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Things I Don’t Understand
by Joseph M. Valenzano
June 24, 2020
Rioters and protesters tore down the monuments to Francis Scott Key, author of the Star-Spangled Banner, our National Anthem, and the statue of Father Junipero Serra, founder of the Spanish Missions in California. The monument to Christopher Columbus in NYC was defaced as was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The New York Museum of Natural History just decided to remove the statue of Teddy Roosevelt, which has stood at the entrance of the museum since 1940.
It seems that young revolutionaries want to rewrite our history, but how is that possible? You cannot erase history; you can only learn from it. George Santayana once wrote, “ those who ignore the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it .” So, I am wondering, if we consciously try to erase history and rewrite it as we believe it should have been, how will we ever learn of the mistakes we made in the past so that they will not be made again? But here’s a thought: Why not get back to teaching history instead of advocacy in schools?- So, if a police officer shoots a criminal after being assaulted by that criminal, it is the cop’s fault, but if a criminal shoots someone, it’s the gun’s fault? Help me understand that, please.
- I have lived in America for all my 73 years. I am probably old-fashioned, but it has been my experience that police typically leave you alone if you are not doing illegal stuff. So here is another thought: How about teaching our kids to be responsible for their actions and respect police, adults, and senior citizens? This is a process that begins in the home.
- Does Black Lives Matter (BLM) include aborted black babies, murdered black police officers, black on black killings, or does BLM respond only when a white police officer kills a black man or woman?
- So, now the classic movie Gone with the Wind has been removed, and high school students no longer are asked to read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.. They are banished from school curricula. That is sad and a significant loss from an educational perspective.
Does anyone remember Hattie McDaniel? She was the first black American actress to win an Oscar for her performance in – wait for it – Gone with the Wind. Is her name and performance now cast aside and gone forever because of the new revolutionaries telling us what we can and cannot read or see? Read more …
