Honoring and Learning from History

For John, BLUF:  Our inability to learn from history is only exceeded by our unwillingness to learn history.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Under Fire, Biden Admin Scraps Plan To Remove William Penn Statue From Philly Park

Here is the sub-headline:

‘No changes to the William Penn statue are planned,’ National Park Service says

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Jessica Costescu, 9 January 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

The Biden administration scrapped its plan to permanently remove a statue of William Penn from Philadelphia’s Welcome Park, claiming the controversial proposal "was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review."

President Joe Biden's National Park Service announced the reversal Monday evening, just days after it unveiled its "rehabilitation proposal" for the park. That proposal called to remove the Penn statue and replace it with "an expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia," which the agency said would bring "a more inclusive experience for visitors."

One would think a park would have a theme, an idea around which the visitors can gather.  In my mind this park and the surrounding environs represent the founding of William Penn's Woods, with its new burst of freedom and the events flowing from it, inclusing the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.  Where was all that history going to be represented if the park was repurposed?

It is important to remember and celebrate those cultures that went before us.  We need an appropriate location.  However, this was not the appropiate place.

If we lose the history of these United States, how soon after will we lose the nation and its institutions?  Who will the survivors blame?  The oppressors, the colonists, the old caucasians males from Europe, of course.

In the mean time we confront several crises around the world (Israel/Gaza, Ukraine/Russoa, Houthi/Yemen and Saudi Arabia, ROK/DPRK, China/Taiwan, China/South China Sea Neighbors), crises where reconciliation is needed.  Yet we just tore down a monument in Arlington Cemetary that symbolized and actuated reconciliation between the North and South (Union and Confederacy) in our own Civil War.  Not perfect reconciliation, but a start.  Have we dilligently mined that history or just dismissed it as too racist to bear?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff