Forever Free

I’ve been ignoring Ford Street quite a little bit lately, in more ways than one.  I’ve been struggling with something for a long time now.  I’m writing this because, at its heart, what’s been bothering me is not any decisions that I may make.  What bothers me is the way that we all make decisions based on what’s comfortable. 

I’m writing a paper for school on a book called Forever Free by Eric Foner.  Mr. Foner is a noted historian; I’ve read several of his books for school already and I’m sure that I’ll be reading more before I’m done.  This particular book is about the struggles that the United States went through during emancipation and reconstruction; how to make sure that men made free by the Constitution of the United States are indeed free men?  (That’s almost a direct quote, so I’ll advise you to read the prologue of Forever Free if you’d like more information about Mr. Foner’s thesis.)  Anyway, one line in particular struck me of late; “Versions of the past continue to shape how people think about the present.” (Prologue, xxix)

That is certainly true. 

How can we change versions of the past?  I think this is what the world has always struggled with.  If we could change versions of the past, or at least the way we think about versions of the past, so much of the world’s pain could be eased.  Would the Middle East be forever on the brink of war?  Would there still be racial inequality in the 21^st century?  Would there still exist basic inequalities; women are routinely stoned in parts of the world for being women, and falling in love with the wrong sort of man.  Or woman.  How can we change versions of the past?  How can we ensure that future generations retain basic human rights?  Someone that I hold very dear to my heart has recently discovered that she is pregnant.  What can I do – what can all of us do – to make the world that her child will grow up in a little more accepting?  A little more loving.  A little safer. 

How do we stop judging people by the color of their skin, or the God they choose to worship, or the people they choose to love?  I live in what I consider to be the greatest country in the world; here’s a fun little aside for history buffs.  The word “male” does not show up in the U.S. Constitution until the Fourteenth Amendment (1866) and it only showed up then so that states could be legally allowed to disenfranchise women.  How ‘bout them apples? 

How can we change versions of the past so that they don’t haunt us in the future?

Comments

[scribbler]

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[Dan Katz]

I second that!