I am late to this posting. "Encoded societal DNA that becomes malignant under certain circumstances" is a powerful metaphor. Thank you for providing introspective thought.
amazingly written article, I would like to add, the association suspending 2 SO officials means nothing other than they are no longer a part of the SOA and can't use their funds in legal defense, this doesn't mean they no longer have their jobs
I never realized the impact of history on the present until I married an Historian. An honest look at the past is huge if we hope to leave our children with any concept of truth. Thanks for your relentless passion to push us toward a better world.
BTW, your adorable pup and I share the same concept of exercise. We both could use a good history lesson on the effects of sedentary lifestyles!
Three years ago I was working on the history of a church in Pennsylvania that was founded in 1945. It was established in a community that had been developed in the 1920s and as far as I could determine each of the original deeds had a requirement that property should not be sold or rented to anyone who was not of “the Caucasian race.” The church Purchased lots that had requirement in the original deeds. When I brought this up with the church leadership there was no interest in discussing it, or raising it as an issue of racism that should be thoroughly repudiated. I intend to bring this up with the incoming minister. This is just one way in which racism is embedded in American culture.
Diana, Thank you so much for this reminder of our history of racial sins. It tugged at my heart how evil we humans have been and still can be if we don't learn from our past and change. I pray that we have the courage to say no, not this time, and stand up for love.
Please read "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann. He writes of the wretched, murder of unknown numbers of Osage persons. The collective murders may be -becuse numbers are not known- the largest number of Native people murdered over a period of time. He was recently interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning.
Thank you for your research pulling this story together, helping us see the effects of generational racism, and the trauma this continues to stimulate in the world.
And thanks for the photo of your puppy on a walk . It provided me with an out loud belly laugh!
Thank you for this. I was surprised that Oklahoma isn't considered to be in the south, but that's irrelevant. My feeling is that the past gets stored in our belief systems, but its presence there can be hard to discern. One thing I know is that the good old days are never as good as we imagine they were, and "the way things were" never really was. When we run out of ideas to address our perceived problems, we turn to romanticized notions of days gone by. The fewer ideas we have, the faster that happens.
I have long lived with two conflicting internal realities: I am deeply joyful and deeply wounded by the depravity of human action/inaction. Sometimes I don’t know how to keep going, and yet I also live with great hope. I hold these two realities in tension and realize I can live and be with both. I lean on the joy that is always present within while I weep with lament over the increasing distress of human cruelty (is it increasing or do we just know more these days??). I live daily with this “creed”, thanks to Ken Untener:
I am late to this posting. "Encoded societal DNA that becomes malignant under certain circumstances" is a powerful metaphor. Thank you for providing introspective thought.
amazingly written article, I would like to add, the association suspending 2 SO officials means nothing other than they are no longer a part of the SOA and can't use their funds in legal defense, this doesn't mean they no longer have their jobs
I never realized the impact of history on the present until I married an Historian. An honest look at the past is huge if we hope to leave our children with any concept of truth. Thanks for your relentless passion to push us toward a better world.
BTW, your adorable pup and I share the same concept of exercise. We both could use a good history lesson on the effects of sedentary lifestyles!
Three years ago I was working on the history of a church in Pennsylvania that was founded in 1945. It was established in a community that had been developed in the 1920s and as far as I could determine each of the original deeds had a requirement that property should not be sold or rented to anyone who was not of “the Caucasian race.” The church Purchased lots that had requirement in the original deeds. When I brought this up with the church leadership there was no interest in discussing it, or raising it as an issue of racism that should be thoroughly repudiated. I intend to bring this up with the incoming minister. This is just one way in which racism is embedded in American culture.
Learning and growing from our history, personal or communal, makes honesty and humility. Like repentance.
Diana, Thank you so much for this reminder of our history of racial sins. It tugged at my heart how evil we humans have been and still can be if we don't learn from our past and change. I pray that we have the courage to say no, not this time, and stand up for love.
Diane this so true, I understand history and my own community hasn't learned unfortunately.
Thank you for the rest of the story. I had watched Rachel on Monday in disbelief, but this added information explains a lot.
Please read "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann. He writes of the wretched, murder of unknown numbers of Osage persons. The collective murders may be -becuse numbers are not known- the largest number of Native people murdered over a period of time. He was recently interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning.
Thank you for your research pulling this story together, helping us see the effects of generational racism, and the trauma this continues to stimulate in the world.
And thanks for the photo of your puppy on a walk . It provided me with an out loud belly laugh!
Thank you for this. I was surprised that Oklahoma isn't considered to be in the south, but that's irrelevant. My feeling is that the past gets stored in our belief systems, but its presence there can be hard to discern. One thing I know is that the good old days are never as good as we imagine they were, and "the way things were" never really was. When we run out of ideas to address our perceived problems, we turn to romanticized notions of days gone by. The fewer ideas we have, the faster that happens.
Thank you Diana! Your writings are beautiful and make me think.
Yeah, DeSantis and his ilk. They don't want history. They want self justifying foundation myths.
Powerful. I’d like to see it printed in the NYT.
One of many events like it that DeSantis (and his ilk) wants to erase. Let’s take it in and ask for mercy and justice, while we seek to live in hope.
I have long lived with two conflicting internal realities: I am deeply joyful and deeply wounded by the depravity of human action/inaction. Sometimes I don’t know how to keep going, and yet I also live with great hope. I hold these two realities in tension and realize I can live and be with both. I lean on the joy that is always present within while I weep with lament over the increasing distress of human cruelty (is it increasing or do we just know more these days??). I live daily with this “creed”, thanks to Ken Untener:
We plant the seeds that one day
will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future
promise.
We lay foundations that will
need further development.
We provide yeast that produces
effects far beyond our
capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do
something, and to do it very
well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a
beginning, a step along the
way, an opportunity for grace
to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end
results, but that is the
difference between the master
builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master
builders; ministers, not
messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that
is not our own.
~ part of “Oscar Romero’s Prayer”