Issue 629 Approach History With an Open Mind July 8, 2015

History is something we share.  It does not belong to any single one person as much as we like to think so.  But we try to twist history at times because of ego, or our desire to control it.  What do I mean?  Read on to find out.

Dividing history:  History is a human connection that we all share.  However, we sometimes try to improve it, or change it.  As such we have things like Black American History, Jewish American History and so on and so forth.  But the truth remains, in each of those histories, American is in them.  That is the connection with respect to our American history.  This is not to say you should not study from different perspectives, but do not change history to suit one's needs, such as the types of slavery, who enslaved who, do not hide the hard, but sad truths involved. If we do change history to suit an agenda, then the history that we share will fail to unite us.  For example, I am white, but two of my biggest American heroes are Fredrick Douglas, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   They are black, but they are American before being a skin color.  As such, if we keep in mind that we share our history and our identity as Americans, or even as people of Earth, then we can begin making those connections that we are all cut from the same cloth.  That we are all fundamentally one people who must and will learn from each other.

Conclusion:  History can either unite or divide us.  But if we can keep an open mind and see that we all share it as we learn from it, then and only then can we progress forward as a people and surpass our former selves generation by generation.  It is our human connection, and we must always be willing to learn from our past.