History's terrible moments were real...

My cousin, Lee, recently finished a book called The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. In his blog, he linked the book title to the description listed on Amazon.com. I was intrigued by the summary and knew it was one I would enjoy...so I ordered it. I was hooked within the first few pages and, although my many projects right now force me to put it down, it's a book I easily become lost in when I do pick it up.

When I read books, I'm always on the lookout for passages that "pack a wallop" when you read them. They could be passages that impart clarity of thought, inspire introspection, or are so description that you know no one else is better able to so accurately describe the feeling or location the character is experiencing. I call these "power" passages. Within 40 pages of starting this book, I found such a passage. It is listed below.

"For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to
tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades
later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of
such a truth. And once you've seen that truth - really seen it - you can't look
away."

I knew exactly what the character was feeling. In the recent past high school history textbooks have come under fire for glossing over the moments of American history that we should not be so proud of - such as the massacres of Indians, the use of smallpox-infested blankets and other methods of mass murder to reduce the conflict of different cultures. I didn't become aware of these deliberate acts until my college classes and the horror I felt was indescribable. Neither was I fully aware of the evil that war can create among people. To see the charred remains of American civilians being hung from a bridge in the Middle East and to hear of the torture devices used by the Taliban on their own people brings tears to my eyes. The world is not the civil, nice, pro-American place that history textbooks lead us to believe. It is cut-throat, competitive and narcissistic. The United States is not immune to these trends. As a world super-power, we are teetering on our pedestal and constantly striving to maintain balance. It is not a position I am particular fond of and it gets very tiresome to be the target of so many.

I am not always proud of what my country has done but the humanity and generosity we are capable of goes a long way to redeeming ourselves in my eyes.