What Does It Mean to Acknowledge the Past?

Lovely thread, Admin. Reminded me of the Welcome to Country* that kicked off the NYE fireworks a year or two back on Gadigal lands - which is where Sydney Opera House is.

ETA: Found this. It was even more chilling and eerie and powerful on the night. It was marvellous.

I can't comment on the Australian context, as I suspect, despite the education supplied by the article and mccardey's linked video (which is lovely), I am solidly in the realm of ignorance on that front.

For the conclusion--that USians are in need of new ritual--I'm all for it. I just...well. I don't know what it would look like, or what it would celebrate, which brings me back to something I've been chewing on for the past...um. Indeterminate time period. *good at description*

Basically: what unites us? Ideologically, culturally? What ideal do we have to gather around? Inclusion, as the author suggests, would be nice. But can the US embrace it? Do we? In a place where it's considered good and noble to fire back "Merry Christmas" when wished a Happy Holidays, where the people around me regularly speak out against inclusion without even knowing they're doing it--it's hard for me to see any ideological glue holding us intact.

Maybe I've just had poop-colored goggles on for a while and it's just hard for me to see in general. That's possible. Honestly, this is mostly a post of confusion rather than firm opinion or intelligent discourse, and I apologize for that.

In sum, I think the author of the article has a good point; I just wish I could see a realistic way to pursue the kind of thing she proposes.

I do want a unifying factor, and ideally, some cultural changes that celebrate it (like a commencement ritual). Something that would acknowledge the past while also offering a way forward.

I just don't know how, or what.

I went to australia and was able to spend some measly hours with some of the aboriginal people, and an elder who remembers a time before alcohol came into the tribe. If I could have stayed there I would have, never have I felt so at peace then out there in the 100 degree outback in the middle of winter while being the only one in the group to understand what the man was saying.

I have a deep connection with those ideologies, and the simple fact that it is true they did loose their land. The US did no better in history, but those opposed to the action you never hear in the books, and those for the action you also never hear. You can acknowledge the past, but you must acknowledge it all, and try your best to strip away political biases. There are things in history we are taught to over look or deny, many facts which tarnish the lenses of our rose tinted glasses.

From a cultural standpoint I have felt an outsider my entire life, but if you're an outsider looking in you can learn quite a bit. My beliefs culturally will never come back, and I have accepted that. but do I force recognition of my believes upon those around me? No. I do not see the need to declare to the world what I am. For I am what I know I am.

I just wish there was a place other than a story where I could live out what I believe.

Signed,

Mr. James

I'm not sure if this relates to the specific theme of this thread, but I do think it is important to acknowledge past misdeeds because otherwise it may never truly end.

For example, Turkey has for over 100 years refused to acknowledge that a genocide against the Armenian people took place. Because of this, human rights experts sometimes think that the genocide is still taking place to a certain degree. Germany, on the other hand, is very in tune to what happened in its own nation's history and about the genocide against the Jews. I think its more than a matter of simply "moving on" but of making amends through understanding, and not allowing pent up hatreds to flare up again.

Thanks for sharing the article in the original post and thanks to mccardey for sharing the video also. It's an interesting and important thing to think about, as the US shares much with Australia in the sense of our heritage of cultural (and physical) genocide of indigenous people and of our country occupying stolen land. My feelings about this are complex and intersect with much of what buzhidao said in their post.

I have to mention that I'm rather odd (I seem to be completely missing something most Americans have in abundance) in that I have never been terribly impressed with obligatory social rituals that feel (to be) devoid of any real context or meaningful content. My voice doesn't tremble with pride when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I don't raise my voice ever so slightly and enunciate the word "god" when we get to that part of the chant (in fact, I quietly skip that bit, because I'm not religious and find the idea of a secular country that claims to be sanctioned/blessed by any particular deity, troubling), and I don't tear up when the Star Spangled Banner plays. I go along with these because it's expected of me, and these rituals aren't even important enough to me to formally protest them. I don't get the rage over protests that burn the US flag either.

I'd be all for replacing these empty (to me) displays of (what feel like to me) false and dysfunctional patriotism with something that says more about who we are and what we really value as a people and about where we want to go in the future. I think Australia's Welcome to Country rituals are a great idea. I wish we in the US could invent a new one of our own that reflects the nation we really are.

Though at this point in US history, I should probably be careful what I wish for, because I'm pretty sure that any new ritual that would be introduced in the current political climate here would not be about acknowledging our country's less than stellar past or celebrating inclusiveness and diversity.

Roxxsmom said:

Thanks for sharing the article in the original post and thanks to mccardey for sharing the video also. It's an interesting and important thing to think about, as the US shares much with Australia in the sense of our heritage of cultural (and physical) genocide of indigenous people and of our country occupying stolen land. My feelings about this are complex and intersect with much of what buzhidao said in their post.

I have to mention that I'm rather odd (I seem to be completely missing something most Americans have in abundance) in that I have never been terribly impressed with obligatory social rituals that feel (to be) devoid of any real context or meaningful content. My voice doesn't tremble with pride when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I don't raise my voice ever so slightly and enunciate the word "god" when it gets to that part of the chant (in fact, I skip that bit, because I'm not religious and find the idea of a secular country that claims to be sanctioned/blessed by any deity troubling), and I don't tear up when the Star Spangled Banner plays. I go along with these because it's expected of me, and these rituals aren't even important enough to me to formally protest.

I'd be all for replacing these empty (to me) displays of (what feel like to me) false patriotism with something that says more about who we are and what we really value as a people and about where we want to go in the future. I think Australia's Welcome to Country are a great idea. I wish we could invent a new ritual that reflects the nation we really are.

Though at this point in US history, I should probably be careful what I wish for, because I'm pretty sure that any new ritual that would be introduced in the current political climate here would not be about acknowledging our country's less than stellar past or celebrating inclusiveness and diversity.

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It is for the above reasons that I think Woody Guthrie's 'This Land is Your Land' should be the national anthem. It speaks more to the positives of the American character. The Star Spangled Banner is a very warlike song and its original lyrics--from what I've read--are pretty racist.

Fun fact: This Land is Your Land was a response to 'God Bless America' which Guthrie thought missed the point entirely.