Back to the Future – III

~ How can we become “better” not by ignoring our past crimes, but by owning them? ~

(Part 3 of a 3 part article.)

You are still seated in a New Jersey diner with your friend Marty McFry, the time traveler.

“Why do you keep dragging America in the dirt,” you ask, “reminding people about all the bad stuff they did in the past? How long do we need to grovel?”

“You’re asking the wrong question,” says McFry. “Ask yourself what good it is to keep ignoring past wrongs.”

“We only want to make America great again,” you plead.

McFry laughs. “You still haven’t shown me the first time America was great! And sure, we’ve given a token nod to the genocide and atrocities, but that doesn’t amount to much. We can learn from the Germans who, as a nation, did more than just ‘feel bad’ about the holocaust. They put up monuments and made reparations to the Jews. They turned prison camps into sacred memorials and educational tools for future generations.”

“We have plaques for the folks who were killed here in America,” you suggest, “and tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

“Which are overshadowed by bold statues and memorials and place-names for America’s oppressors,” says McFry. “If the Holocaust had happened here, supremacists would still be claiming there’s nothing wrong with a friendly swastika on their flags and t-shirts, while Jews would still be hiding in the ghettos.”

“You’re blowing things out of proportion,” you insist. “Sure, I see the mixed message of Confederate flags and statues.”

“How about all the cities and streets named after people who did bad stuff?” asks McFry. “When a guy guns down a bunch of school kids, we don’t name the cafeteria after him.”

You gaze out the plate glass window toward a steady stream of trucks and cars.

“I’m trying to see things from your point of view, McFry,” you say, shaking your head, “but we’re talking about two completely different narratives here. How could you even expect anybody to know which one to believe?”

McFry grimaces and shrugs his shoulders. “Why not both? That dualism is and always has been at the heart of America. Just look at Thomas Jefferson, claiming that ‘all men are created equal’ while fathering black children he refused to even acknowledge. Look at the ‘good Christians’ who stepped out of their churches to attend slave auctions or go to lynchings. The contradiction is glaring but they couldn’t see it. Look how tenderly they cared for their own children, never giving a thought to the babies they were siring. They’d pat each other on the backs for their noble family values, while ripping slave kids away from grieving mamas.”

You sigh. “Everybody knows the old cowboy movies and perfect 1950s families are sanitized fiction.”

“Forty-four states were still lynching folk while white Christians were enjoying the Golden Age of Prosperity.[1] And what about the human trafficking that still undergirds our cheap goods and services? Do you even care that the median wealth of white households is 10 times that of black households? Do you care that 40 percent of Navajos still don’t have running water and 10 percent don’t have electricity?[2]”

“You sure do know how to wreck a guy’s day,” you say.

“If you wanna feel good, then cover your eyes and ears,” says McFry. “That’s worked fine for people of privilege. But there’s nothing like a jagged piece of reality to crash into your sweet fantasy.”

With a slurp, you suck the last of the ice water from your glass.

“The least we can do,” says McFry, “is to express a little regret for the hardship our nation caused.”

You close your eyes and sink back into your chair. All these crazy claims and accusations are crashing like turbulent seas on the precarious shoal you heretofore thought was solid ground. Taking a deep breath, you turn to McFry.

“You make a few good points,” you say. “It’s just that with so many different voices and opinions, it’s nearly impossible to find the truth.”

“Don’t believe that,” says McFry. “If you seek truth, you will find truth, especially if you look through the lens of love and compassion and justice. You have to be wary, though. I’ll give you seven tips to avoid being duped like the Germans were by the Nazi propaganda machine: First, beware anyone who says, ‘Don’t listen to those other sources. You can’t trust them.’ You have to give everybody a fair hearing. Second, beware those who dehumanize and disrespect their opponents. Beware those, third, who amplify arguments based on fear; fourth, those who elevate a single issue like guns or socialism or the mythical ‘good old days’ over all other issues; and fifth, beware those who paint one side as thoroughly bad and the other as completely good. And if you value faith and the Bible, beware those who sixth, disregard Jesus’ teaching about loving your enemies; and seventh, those who disobey the biblical commands to give preferential help to people who are weak and poor and displaced and marginalized.”

You slump back into your chair, turning to watch a white-aproned cook flip burgers.

“Greatness is more than money and a nice home with a spouse and two chubby kids,” says McFry. “At this moment, people are being beaten by cops and wardens. They are being exploited in sweat shops and brothels. They are fleeing from wars and famines, only to get stabbed to death outside our borders. They are living in extreme poverty because our spending choices and our cruel history put them in a horrible place. So do me a favor …”

In the silence, you lock eyes with McFry.

“Quit all that stuff about making America great again. That doesn’t help. Let’s just try to make things better now, okay? Blowing smoke about a fictional past only makes it worse.”

Turning toward the wall, a parade of images scroll through you mind: American heroes stand proud on a granite mountaintop, while down in the shadows, soldiers with machetes hack banana trees, sending a rain of dollar bills to the ground. Beneath the green, the ground is red with blood.

“Geez,” you say, shaking your head. “I don’t even know what to think anymore.”

With a bright grin, McFry nods. “Awesome! That’s the perfect attitude to begin learning how to make America great for the first time!”

Image Frerieke, Wikimedia Commons.

[1] “Lynchings by State and Race, 1882-1968,” Famous Trials, www.famous-trials.com/sheriffshipp/1083-lynchingsstate.

[2] “For Many Navajos, Getting Hooked Up to the Power Grid can be Life-Changing,” by Laurel Morales, NPR Morning Edition, 29 May 2019, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/29/726615238/for-many-navajos-getting-hooked-up-to-the-power-grid-can-be-life-changing.

READ “Back to the Future – I”

READ “Back to the Future – II”

READ “Back to the Future – III”