Fact and myth

Slavery was embedded (literally and figuratively) in the city of Washington that symbolizes American democracy. The construction of many buildings, the baking of the bricks and the clearing of trees for development from former pastures involved slave labor. The irony has not been lost to historians. Nor has it not been exploited to perpetuate a myth. Yet the wheels of history have turned to bring us to a brighter future.

Is myth more important than fact? History is a collection of facts; we sometimes choose to create myths to explain facts. Both may be perpetuated. Both serve a useful purpose until the line of perversion is crossed. Dashed hopes and slaughter might be the recurring tropes of our country’s history, but any cup can potentially be half-full as well as half empty. It depends upon who pours the liquid refreshment or a poisoned drink. When John Tyndall wrote in the 1800's that "It is as fatal as it is cowardly to blink facts because they are not to our taste," he could have been referring to the tendency to overlook a present good in order to focus on a an evil in the past because it is politically and financially expedient.

Most protesters and hate-mongers today, unfortunately, perpetuate the myths not the facts of history. Myths not only sells well, but sound appealing. Racists remain loyal to and enjoy the bitterness of America’s slave heritage. Walt Whitman’s "barbaric yawp" from such people ( a Rev.Wright, Louis Farrakhan, Cornell West, Michael Eric Dyson, Rev. Sharpton or Jesse Jackson) is an unhealthy, diseased hold-over from the dark days of slavery.

Fact not myth sustains the optimistic view that human intelligence triumphs over obstacles - geographic or social. Equality has triumphed in America. Slavery and descendants of slavery rest (albeit uncomfortably) in their graves. Progress is not a myth. Eyes have seen the end of slavery. Glory, glory hallelujah!