The first lecturer on Monday morning, Elizabeth van Heyningen, emphasized South Africa’s attempt to reconcile tension by acknowledging and embracing a common past. She discussed the Maropeng Tumulus and the Cradle of Humankind, which preserves an item of commonality for all Africans, the formation and evolution of humankind. It shows that every person on the entire planet came from one place; we all have a common past. By recognizing a common denominator, people can begin to bridge the racial, cultural, and historical gap.
In one of our class discussion, we were asked why Americans don’t seem to have any ties to a common past; the American identity doesn’t really exist. The only thing the class could agree upon is that, in America, we all know and accept that we are all different, we all have different histories. The only element that fastens a common identity is, then, having nothing in common.
After thinking about this, I realize that we do have a common history. We have events like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the obtainment of black and women’s rights. We also have embarrassments in our past such as the colonization and subsequent deaths of thousands of Native Americans, slavery, the Depression, and the Japanese Internment. Americans do have a common past that we could look back on and think, “we were all in it together.” My question is, why is there a disconnect?
It seems that, if we Americans are striving for a total reconciliation of different cultures and races, that the history we do have must be embraced and celebrated. We also must recognize that every person has had a part and is connected to our past. Our heritage, as young as it is, has to become a part of who each and every American is in order to share and understand each other’s history.
I am not suggesting that we leave the roots that we currently define our identity through (such as Irish, Vietnamese, or any other ethnicity) but, rather, that we fully embrace a second identity, an American identity.
I agree that we must embrace an American identity. However, I do not think that identity can be embraced through events like the Civil War or Revolutionary War. Both these events occurred before the time that people were immigrating to the United States, and therefor some people might have a hard time recognizing that as their own history.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in addition, the Great Depression and achieving equality among women and minorities can be looked upon as the base of American identity. These events took place recently enough for us to have ancestors that were a part of it, which I think make it important for one to recognize it as their own history.