Shame Must Belong To All Of Us
By Dan Rather
June
08, 2018 "Information
Clearing House"
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I look out at our nation today and feel
great pride in so many ways and with so many
people. And yet that pride must compete with
a powerful gut-level feeling of shame. For
make no mistake, we are in a moment of deep
and abiding shame. And that shame must
belong to all of us.
When we learn our American history, there is
so much of which to be justly proud. But the
nobleness of our great democratic experiment
has also been marred by stark failures -
where the chasm between the idealism of our
founding documents and the reality of our
laws and policies are, and should be, a
cause of deep shame.
For all the talk of "all men are created
equal", we allowed men, women and children
to be bought, sold, beaten, raped, and
lynched in the name of white supremacy. We
wiped out entire tribes of native peoples,
from their land and from our nation. We
discriminated against immigrants due to
their nationality, religion, and race. We
interned patriotic Japanese Americans and
ruined lives with anti-Communist and
anti-gay witch hunts. We exploited workers
and despoiled the environment. Time and
again, we have reacted with callousness when
we needed compassion. These sins of the
past, and many others, remain with us.
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Now, when I read the paper or hear the
President and his apologists speak, I see an
era where shame is once again a proper
response. Who are we, that we separate
parents from children seeking asylum, that
we ignore the plight of the people of Puerto
Rico, that we claim a President is like a
king - above the law, and that we turn our
backs on science and reason? It is shameful,
and history will surely see it as thus.
But even in times of shame, there has been
another American response. Leaders have
risen up and said, we cannot allow this to
be. We must feel this shame and channel it
into action. For out of shame, has come an
engine for the improvement of our nation. I
feel that energy once more. I see many who
refuse to be blinded by the moment. They
speak with the moral justice of our history,
and I truly believe, are determined to
deliver us a better future
This article was originally published by "Facebook" -
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
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