Men have been at war with each other during all of recorded history. It is an unfathomable aspect of human history that man can build a complex, enlightened society and burn it all to the ground based on whim, rumor, or hubris. The evolution of man is often in doubt; history is littered with remnants of high ideals buried in the sand.

And yet, when the rubble of the past is cleared away, the most informative artifacts are remnants that illuminate truths that defined a civilization. Amidst the remnants of the Roman Empire exist Triumphal Arches built to commemorate important events – often successful military conquests. Sculpted reliefs on these arches illustrate the highlights of the military campaign. They frequently include depictions of captives led in chains to a future of servitude. Enslavement was not unique to ancient Rome or to that time. Placing men and women into slavery has long been a human practice.

Moreover, in our recent history, slavery with a racial focus was commercialized without conquering armies. Men, women, and children were bought, sold, and traded as commercial property. It took a civil war to end the practice of slavery in our country, but it will take much longer to bring acceptance to the human heart.

There is a saying that comes to us from before the first world war that seems currently relevant; “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In this age of instant access to information, memory is not required, only the willingness to know how our ancestors faced their conflicts. In this time, I would revise George Santayana’s admonition to,” Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat it.”

We have so much information available to us now that it is hard to imagine the depth of knowledge and experience at our fingertips. As a child, my library card was a passport to the universe. That same card now brings the universe to me through books in every form, news from around the globe, music of every genre, videos and images of nearly every place on earth, or histories of past and present civilizations. How does all of this information inform us? Does it make us better in some way or simply entertain us? Our history is almost literally at our doorstep if only we would choose to open the door.

Some in our society seek to deny troubling aspects of history and go so far as to ban discussions in the education of our children. This is the very definition of willful ignorance, which would deny the lessons of history from our children. And in so doing, we will all bear the burden of their ignorance. To fear an unpleasant truth is to give it power over you; it will present itself again to you, your children, and your children’s children until it is directly faced and resolved. The opportunity exists for fear and racism to end with us. Truth is the only antidote for ignorance.

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Kevin Deeny

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