Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Theodore Roosevelt and American Racism

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Theodore Roosevelt and American Racism

Click here to access article by Margaret Kimberley from Black Agenda Report.

I watched one of the PBS segments on the Roosevelts recently with dismay, although not with surprise. It was another piece of ruling class history presented to the American public by one of the prime ideological organs of today's ruling class. As such it provides a good illustration of how history is taught to students in US education. This program series, as well as the teaching of history in general, is designed to do one thing: to indoctrinate Americans in the belief that the ancestors of our ruling class should be revered as near godlike figures to provide cover for all the crimes they committed on behalf of themselves and their class.

Kimberley provides a much needed antidote to this type of brainwashing. I have only one complaint: I think she should have provided more links to accurate portrayals of American history.