hen someone asked Russell Baker
if he thought we learned anything from history he answered: “Sure we learn
from history—we learn nothing from history!”History
hen someone asked Russell Baker
if he thought we learned anything from history he answered: “Sure we learn
from history—we learn nothing from history!”
Without all of the facts; without the necessary contextual framework, this is certainly true. For Americans at least, our historical past is part myth, part aspiration, part omission—and only partly correct.
In his 1935 book, Black Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois described the problem as follows:
“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the
idea that evil must
be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel
Webster
got drunk but only remember that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer.
We must
forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember
the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course,
with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and
example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell
the truth.”
Adding to Mr. Baker’s comments, then, I would argue that we cannot learn from history as long as it remains an exercise in collective amnesia; a balm to the national conscience.
A Personal Odyssey through the Labyrinths of History
