Page 22 The Portland Observer Black History Month February 9, 2011 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. What is Truly ‘Exceptional’ About America? When words ring hollow American context, like those fake towns of pre-1960s Hollywood B- movie westerns: all facades with no substance behind them. The words ring hollow because they leave out the complexity of the reality. R e p re se n ta tiv e M ichele Bachmann’s recent speech be­ fore a conservative gathering in Iowa offers a prime example of how fantastical these views are. Speaking of slavery, the Minnesota Republican declared that “We also know that the very founders who wrote I the Constitution] worked tire- lessly until slavery was no more in the United States,” and said at an- other point: “How unique in all the world, that one nation that was the resting point from people groups all across the by L ee A. D aniels Here’s a sugges­ tion: W henever you hear or read someone boasting of “ A m erican exceptionalism,”— the notion that America has since its founding been uniquely ordained by God and its own moral character to lead the world - reach for your w allet. B ecause, intellectually speaking, someone is surely trying to pick your pocket. The political arena has recently become awash in simplistic asser- tions from assorted conservatives bruiting the purity of the Founders’ world. It didn’t matter the color of belief in liberty and equality and the their skin. It didn’t matter their lan­ projection of a serene, almost be­ guage. It didn't matter their eco­ atific version of the history of nomic status ... Once you got here, America. we were all the same. Isn't that re­ To recall an old phrase: don’t markable? It’s absolutely remark­ believe the hype. Another political able.” stratagem to question President One of the many remarkable Obama s patriotism and his very things about this funhouse-mirror American-ness? Yes. Another ex- version of American history is that pression of many conservatives’ it makes Negro slavery abstract, anxiety about the greater democ- virtually invisible as an activity in- racy the hard-fought struggle to volving human beings, let alone as expand opportunity has produced ? what it really was: a criminal enter- Yes. The truth about American his- prise in which Africans and African . tory? Not even close. Americans were enslaved so that The right-wing, exceptionalist individual whites and the whites- version of the nation’s history is so only America the 1787 Constitution scrubbed of reality it s like a constructed could grow rich. Potemkin Village, or to put it an That is the mental slight-of-hand which enables George F. Will to av o id a d m ittin g th at the Constitution’s endorsement of Ne­ gro slavery most certainly was not about “emancipating individuals for the pursuit of happiness,” and that it was indeed a most perverse use of the power of the state to allocate wealth and opportunity. One should laugh but so freely, however, at these delusional ac­ counts of the American past. Before the ascendancy of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, as most any the vote and true opportunity for women is conveniently forgotten. One could go on down a very long list. In fact, that list is worth explor­ ing in detail, not to damn Am erica - which, for all its flaws, has been the modern e ra ’s great hope. It is w orth exam ining because that activity underscores what is truly exceptional about America. That is its capacity for dem ocratic re­ form: to, ultim ately, heed insis­ tent demands to fix w hat's wrong the Civil War. There, driven by the lesson of slavery’s terrible injustice but ap­ p lie d to e v e ry o n e , C o n g re ss stated plainly: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens o f the United States and of the State wherein they reside. The assertion of a right of citizen­ ship by birth was as “exceptional” an idea in the 19th century as the idea that all human beings had an “inalienable right” to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness had been a century earlier; and “birthright citi­ zenship” - which continues to make the U.S. “exceptional” among the nations of the world — has to America’s great profit been consis­ tently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. A Washington Post reader who took e x ce p tio n to W ill’s exceptionalist claims got it just right when he wrote in a letter to the editor, “Our birth does not make us th at co m e from a F re d e ric k exceptional. Our aspirations do - Douglass; a Samuel Gom pers; a aspirations that we can continue to Jane Addams; a Cesar Chavez; or improve the present society through a M artin Luther King Jr. - and, future progress . ..” more importantly, from the Ameri­ It's so revealing that today’s cans they represent. American exceptionalists, blinded Indeed, A m erica’s ability to by their peculiar vision of America’s correct its flaws and expand the past, can't see that, too. meaning of the rights of human ¿cc A. Daniels is Director of beings was never more dram ati­ Communications for the NAACP cally stated than in the 14th Legal Defense and Educational Am endment to the Constitution Fund, Inc., and Editor-in-Chief of Congress enacted in the wake of TheDefendersOnline. One of the many remarkable things about this funhouse-mirror version o f American history is that it makes Negro slavery abstract, virtually invisible as an activity involving human beings, let alone as what it really was: a criminal enterprise... school and college history text from those decades will show, they were the “official” view of America’s past. In the exceptionalist world of fantasy, Negro slavery is barely m entioned: the exclusion o f Asian im m igrants from citizenship for more than a century is ignored; the n e ar-ex tin ctio n o f N ative Am ericans is passed over; the fierce bigotry white ethnic im m i­ grants endured for nearly a cen­ tury is suppressed; the denial of better to the In the feature report on OM SI’s new exhibit "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt Unearthed,"(Portland Observer, Jan. 26 issue) it showed four sculptures of women from 2,200 and 2,900 years ago. That is before Jesus Christ and Julius Cesar and shows that that Egypt at that time was quite advanced. Over the years many very interesting facts have come to light about Egypt. I would like to take this time to bring forward some other facts and present a theory: Facts: 1. The face on the Sphinx is not an Arab face, it is a black African face. 2. The inspiration for the Sphinx, come from the "Age of Leo, the Lion ", from 12,000 BC. Not 10,500 BC as some have proposed that was the start of the Egyptian Empire. 3. There is an African tribe, the Maasai, I believe. In one of their ceremonies they dance around on stilts (about 12"), as they believe that they were taller and had migrated from Ilfe t-lnrtlanh (Dbsmier Egypt’s History the North eons ago. 4. On the Nile River, on the bank there is a six foot obelisk. That states "From this point North, no black man shall remain free.” Theory: 1. The Egyptian Empire started during the "Age of Leo/ the Lion" and progressed over the eons. Over time they one way or the other acquired slaves and other lower classes of people. Many of these people were used in the palaces and temples to perform many of the tasks required of the ruling Egyptians. And, these people over time adopted the cus­ toms and religion of their masters. 2. There was a rebellion at some time and many of the masters were killed and the survivors were run off. And, went south. 3. The "Obelisk on the Nile River" was erected to remind them not to return or else. Established 1970 USPS 959-680 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd,, Portland, OR 97211 4. After the rebellion, the palace and temple people knew a good deal and assumed the top positions. 5. Over time the Egyptian culture and religion assumed an Arab face by the time of Moses. It is just a theory. John Sweeney Southeast Portland Advertise with diversity in 7110 Portland O bserver Call 503-288-0033 lu Z d des.gn T T d.splay . 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