history - One Less Dog In The Hunt

You know, I grew up in a Navy family. We lived from coast to coast. I was surrounded by other military kids most places I lived. Yeah, mostly white kids, but not all. I also rode a bus at one time where I was only one of a handful of white kids on the bus. Those were the days when the bus was filled as full as it could get. By the time we got to school every seat was filled and so was the aisle between them. Though that bus was packed with mostly chocolate brown skin, I wasn’t treated any different. In fact, since I was one of the youngest on the bus, many of those other kids kind of took care of me. I didn’t really notice a difference between us, maybe the way others spoke, the kinds of things that made them laugh, maybe the differences in the way we dressed, but those are things that make all kids different.

History. It takes many shapes. It’s documented in various forms. Photographs, letters, journals, books, buildings, battle sites, monuments, statues, and plaques all come together to mark the passing of time, trials, troubles, progress, victories, and the existence of a human society. These things tell our tale, both the good and the bad of our journey. The American portrait has been painted with brush strokes which offer both amazing colors and dark shadows. Collectively, our tale mixes the sweetness of freedom and liberty with the bitterness of prejudice and tartness of ignorance. Throughout our history, we’ve taken and conquered, we’ve given and shared, we’ve protected and defended. We are what we are, but we are not what we were.

Our founding documents claimed a hope for “A More Perfect Union,” but they never claimed perfection.

Tag: history

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“History,” repeated?