Are Americans Who We Say We Are?
Howard Zinn, The 5 Immortals, & the 6th Player, Offer Insight into Our Ideals.
I have been looking into the background of historian and political scientist, Howard Zinn, learning that many say he was not always historically honest, or thorough in his citations and sources. That his interpretations were slanted towards socialism, and consistently shaming the United States for its faults and failures. In one instance he supposedly explains how during WWII many Black Americans were against going to war, using only a few secondary sources like personal letters, and such, as evidence. From my non-exhaustive Google searches, I can find no references to that claim of an anti-war sentiment by a large portion of Black Americans. However, at the same time there is a historical tangent in a somewhat similar direction, about our unconscionable problem of segregation and racism, and doubly reprehensible because WWII was fought to protect freedom and liberty — and the postwar aftermath of failures in the U.S. due to that glaring and ongoing hypocrisy.
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Another supposed problem is the widespread use of Zinn’s American history book in schools throughout the nation. Conservatives seem to be the biggest critics of his take on U.S. history. Bluntly, I am not going to do the exhaustive research others have done on his historical and political works. Neither will I provide a sentence by sentence critique of his most [in]famous publication, A People’s History of the United States. Instead let us say in that book Zinn has ten serious discrepancies, and 50 shavings of the truth, or half that, or twice that. Every historian who has written anywhere a tome of similar length, 729 pages, or that covers over two centuries, will have critics who see many mistakes or misinterpretations. None of this exonerates Zinn, or should allow his book to be bandied about in our schools if these inaccurate parts are not brought up, and discussed, unless of course, his supposed history-fouling is wholly refutable.
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His socialism, and perspective on the abuse the American system has so far dispensed against people of color, and people with socialistic views, are two ways Zinn hates America, according to the conservative pundit class. Why is advocating for socialism a bad, anti-American thing? Why is it sacrilege, and harmful to American children, to focus on America’s failings in a history book? That said history textbooks meant for primary or secondary public school students should not advocate for things, necessarily. Such books should explain the facts, and only the facts. The only exception would be to promote American Exceptionalism. Obviously, that goes unsaid. Oops. I said it.
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Maybe you have already guessed where this essay is going. You might be right, or simply correct. Yet my discovery goes deeper than our status quo penchant for whitewashing American history. There seems to be a fear, both irrational and ideological. Their irrational fear generates anger and whitelash. The ideological fear sees, and hears, dangerous gremlins in the speaking and writing that attacks their encrusted status quo beliefs, or pushes it to make changes, and anytime the status quo is criticized for the bad things it has allowed, or encouraged.
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Socialism puts the fear of god into many Americans because of its worst applications. Like various formations of the democratic–capitalism combination, the outcomes can be severe. For example, our first 90 years of existence as a nation, we included slavery in our democratic–capitalism combo. Furthermore, it was not until 1830 before all adult White men could vote, 1920 before all White women could vote, 1965 before all people of color were actually able to vote, and 1971 before voting was available too all Americans over the age of 18. Most Black Americans and women were under a dictatorial, Stalinist-type regime for well over a hundred years. That means democracy and capitalism require other rules, or restrictions, and updates, rather than merely calling them the best we can do. No theory of economics or government is pristine. Both democratic-capitalism, and democratic-socialism have the potential to slide into dictatorship. Trump’s presidency is a perfect example of it, and even many Republicans are saying Biden is acting like one. So, what makes democratic-capitalism so special?
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While I do not believe president Biden is acting like a dictator, it is ironic how Republicans will laud a democracy when it is going their way, yet when push comes to shove over-the-cliff their pet project, autocratic-capitalism becomes the way to proceed. Basically, moving backward, closer to slavery-capitalism. Cries for socialism in America come from people who are dismayed by political inaction and ineffectiveness, or have been dispossessed, and disenfranchised. These are hardworking people who, for one reason or another, have been abused by an aristocratic-democracy, and used up by a capitalist-plutocracy.
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Too many Americans keep spinning their wheels faster, and nothing happens, or a calamity occurs, or they fall further backwards. Some day their kids may do better, but the odds look worse and worse that they are more likely to pull their children down with them. Americans make the mistake of fearing socialism more than they act in a direction that prevents such division and inequality. The push for socialism will never go away if inequality avoidance continues as the norm, and government forgetfulness of the suffering persists.
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Zinn’s promotion of socialism is disturbing for conservatives because the problems it illuminated early in his life have not been solved. Every attempt to improve the situation of the poor — not made through elite White male, conservative channels — has been met with derision of certain groups, and retribution against them, and others. The conservative worldview is that the definition of welfare is something only Black Americans receive. And, generally government assistance in most any form is for people who do not deserve it. Labor unions and young Black men are a menace. So reduce those pesky unions, and imprison a substantially higher percentage of Black males. People of color still must continue to jump over hoops and crawl under ceilings that Whites do not in education, health care, employment, law enforcement, and home buying, but affirmative action is an undeserved giveaway? No wonder conservatives must attack with such exaggerated force, and farce, against Zinn, because they would lose arguments about real issues.
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The White male status quo believes no one is at fault except for our long ago ancestors who did not know anything else but cruelty and inhumanity, and had no real power to correct it, or were easily peer-pressured into accepting how things were, and must be. Naturally, to develop something that further protected their interests was very doable (what they determined property as being, and their wealthy White male rights). But nothing is doable that upsets the delicate apple-cart of the capitalist enterprise that scams everything it can from us, a.k.a. because the ignorant masses would just become an ugly mob, and do terrible things, like recover everything owed to us. The democracy as mob trope is a fiction created by the overarching instigators, and supporting structures, of mobs, a.k.a, those who wish to slander or libel the masses, and gin a mob up, or allow their mob to wreak havoc.
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Are there inexplicably formed, spontaneous mobs? Likely not. Mob formation requires a thoroughly understood narrative, (whether accurate or not) that has a community backed impetus. The powers-that-be have a lot of control over such impetus narratives. Americans who are unemployed, underemployed, uninsured, underinsured, abused, poor, and hungry, could turn into riotous mobs. People who constantly see injustices can become mobs. Racists, and our simpleton, male-aggression exploitation and culture, have significant mob propensity, and a massive history of disturbing actions. Therefore, almost everything mob-oriented relates back to whether law enforcement, the courts, government agencies, and other powers-that-be structures, are properly providing for the entire community.
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Generally fulfilled Americans, unsuspicious of their neighbors, and who have the ear of the political and business elite, are not going to have the impetus to go all mob on us. Proper, pluralistic, and inclusive ideals, relevant for today, uninfluenced by White supremacy, plutocracy, and misogyny, would go a long way to quashing the mob mentality. The powers-that-be have the ability to change the outdated narrative of the mob mentality, and stop making assertions that direct democracy has considerable susceptibility for scary-mob acts. Unfortunately, sitting on their hands, not giving voice to the masses, and underserving many communities, allows elites to incite fear, and keep control. An ounce of mob prevention is always lacking; instead the beast is fed.
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A historian as smart as Zinn should be as accurate as possible, by using the latest sources when older sources are incomplete. Having others review their sources and content before publication is also very important, especially when trying to tell the entire history of our nation. That being said, entering his American history version into the mix, with all its purported or verified inaccuracies, cannot be considered a complete perversion of our history. I would call it at best a stalemate.
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However, considering how the conservative punditry write about our history, Zinn’s work is hardly a pinprick in their extreme proliferation of American Exceptionalism, chest-pounding pages. I would like to see a prominent conservative write a history book that legitimately covers every bad thing America has done, here and everywhere else, since day one. After they finish that book, liberals can add the remaining half of those bad things, which, of course, conservatives have excised after realizing they can’t handle the truth. Then, we all start understanding real America rather than a fake, perfect America, and are finally able to see ourselves honestly, and improve beyond the White supremacist, misogynist, elitist, John Gruden still perverted version of America.
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Conclusion: The Five Immortals Pluralistic America.
The Immortals, a book about real events, written by Steven T. Collis, about five people in WWII who sacrificed themselves to save others, were Americans first. They were not men, chaplains, steward mates, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, immigrants, Black or White. Yet in too many instances we continue to see people only in such separate ways first, and not as Americans first. As many people have said before me, America was originally designed to separate groups, with many infectious remnants still present. The poem on the Statue of Liberty, about huddled masses, is also not intrinsically who we are. My reference about seeing every American as Americans first, and the words on the statue’s plaque in New York harbor, are aspirational. Sadly, we still have a design that pushes back against such aspirations. The Five Immortals showed us a way forward, yet too many never looked back to, or accepted, their example.
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Why have so many Americans allowed themselves to be forever benched by this discriminatory design? Almost none of us will have the extreme opportunity that The Five Immortals got. We may only have one small chance to play, late in the game, just one free-throw, or making a couple passes. As the sixth-player on the team, a.k.a. the back up, we still have the responsibility to do our job when we are called upon to buzz in. To collect our responsibility wages, as Americans, we must show up, and be present, and always ready to do our part. Perfection is not possible, but working hard to get better is required, or why are we on the American team? Some people say Americans should stay in separated groups. That is what the founders wrote into our Constitution, or strategically remained silent about. If we are designed to not get along, as I noted previously, why should we change? The Five Immortals showed us…
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They won more than any billionaire, or heroic military fighter. They saved our nation from itself. American soldiers are trained to fight an enemy. Americans overall must know how to bring together all Americans. Billionaires know how to compete for profits. Americans must learn how to profit from associations and interactions with Americans from all backgrounds. Thriving can occur in tantalizing fragments along with constant group infighting, but is destined for major disruptions and ultimate failure. Surviving is impossible if undermining solidarity with some group of Americans is your forever goal. Loving everyone may be extreme, but making other Americans your enemy, weakens our nation, setting us up for disunion and dismemberment.
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Today, we must add Muslims, other religions, cisgender women, and other genders to the mix beyond what The Five Immortals represented in their other descriptors. Rather than Other Descriptors-Americans, maybe we should call ourselves American–Other Descriptors? Most of my own descriptors come from my parents. My mother was Irish, and my father was Polish, both were Catholics. My father especially, like The Five Immortals, was an American first. RJC explained to me, decades ago that he was kind of subversive, way back in his grade-school years. As a 2nd generation American, who lived in a South Bend–Indiana Polish community — still revolving around its previous homeland — he thought everything should now project respect for his birthplace homeland, America.
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Being an American was more important to RJC than his homeland heritage, even his religion, from the extent it should sound like America. Catholicism was not Polish. Christ was not Polish. Since he was not going to learn Aramaic anytime soon, dad figured everything should be rewired towards an American perspective, not remain tied down in a tradition that was outside his home country. He pushed for an American presence for the school, when writing in its small newspaper.
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I brought my father into the conversation because of his early straining and stretching to define his American side, and his earliest 6th-player-off-the-bench interaction. Now, this was not an ordinary everyday, or every so often experience, which many of us have a chance to engage in. The encounter was much closer to what The Five Immortals experienced and engaged in, occurring February 3, 1943. Strangely dad’s experience happened at almost the same time in 1943.
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At only 17 years of age at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in northern Illinois, he confronted a large group of American sailors who were angrily spewing antisemitic slurs, and telling two sailors they could not bunk with them. RJC stood between them, and his two friends, who were American sailors, and also Jewish. Dad explains the interaction, in his own words:
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There is probably no way I will be able to outdo my dad’s experience, almost as unlikely as doing what The Five Immortals did. However, my point is not for all of us to charge up the hill into near certain glory, and-or death, it is to be the best 6th-player-off-the-bench we can be. As that next player on the bench, we may never get the call during the big dance, or ever make the pros and sit on the bench, let alone get buzzed in to play there. Ours is to do the best wherever we are, and train as if in the next moment, we were to get buzzed into any type of situation. A missed outside shot, layup, free throw, or accidental foul, cannot deflate or demoralize us, because the American team will still be relying on us. Maybe my time will come when an American-Muslim woman is being threatened because of her (old-world) hijab. Would my father have allowed his grandmother to be attacked because of her thick Polish accent, halting English, or Warsaw, Poland (old-world) church fealty?
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Realize that Americans are Americans even when they are not subversive. No matter how anyone sees you, or you see yourself, as an Other Descriptors-Americans, and American-Other Descriptors, such a description does not harm anyone, and should not cause harm to anyone. Once we fear the other, we lose our American Way. Differences should not break our trust in each other. If we allow fear to easily separate us, we allow fear of others to define us. That path leads to the dissolution of a more perfecting America.
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Let us move beyond aspirational. Americans solve things. We do not make excuses. We do not fear change. We refuse to be color-blind, or hate difference because colors, and difference make the world beautiful. Americans can be more, and do more for others by being personally responsible for our social responsibilities. Long term, successful individualism has been made possible by collectively crafted laws, and as many individual Americans as possible consistently working together.
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Find out how to move ahead as We The People, rather than socialists or capitalists, link here.
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