Go Blazers!
First (and for accuracy). Abraham Lincoln never said “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time.”
Nonetheless, it’s too easy for self-important and self-and-only-self-important people to forget the most honest axiom of the Age of the Internet: “Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.” It’s cousin to “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube or unring a bell.”
Still, there are some quotes that are worthy of our attention:
“I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American." President Ronald Regan
“We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.” President Woodrow Wilson
“Dear America, I am an Arab-American, but a proud American just like you… On that dreadful day, September 11th, my duffel bag was already packed and I was waiting to answer the call of duty. Why was I ready? I also want a better and safer America just like you. When it comes to patriotism and loyalty, I am red, white and blue, just like you.” Sergeant Mahmoud El-Yousef
“If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.” President Ronald Regan
“… the first Arab American to die for America was Private Nathan Badeen, a Syrian immigrant who died for this country on May 23rd, 1776, a month and half before the independence of this country… In World War II there were over 15,000 Arab Americans who served this country to free the world of the German Nazi tyranny and Japanese imperialism." Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jamal Baadani, founder of the Association of Patriotic Arab-Americans in the Military
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respected Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges…”
President George Washington
“It says something about our country that people around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard work and love of freedom have helped make America the leader of the world. Our generation will ensure that America remains a beacon of liberty and the most hopeful society this world has ever known.” President George W. Bush
“I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” President George Washington
“Nearly all Americans have ancestors who braved the oceans – liberty-loving risk takers in search of an ideal – the largest voluntary migrations in recorded history… Immigration is not just a link to America’s past; it’s also a bridge to America’s future.” President George H.W. Bush
“We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants.” Pope Francis (Addressing a joint session of Congress, September 2015
“Our nation is the enduring dream of every immigrant who ever set foot on these shores, and the millions still struggling to be free… this idea called America, was and always will be a new world.” George H.W. Bush
We had planned a quiet weekend reading, writing and understanding our pastoral responses to the tsunami of anti-immigrant vitriol that’s being drummed-up and attacking the Nation’s soul. Then (to use a profoundly Christian term) the Holy Spirit decided to mess with us ‘cause up popped an unsigned, one-page statement from the History Department of Valdosta (Georgia) State University.
It seems that, knowing how so many will distort History for votes and to their own ends, the Spirit is tickling us to share “What is History? How do Historians study the past as contrasted with Non-historians?”
First, before the haters begin their anti-Muslim/anti-immigrant tirades, here’s a bit of American History:
Arab Americans have fought for America’s freedom all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
Army Private Nathan (or “Nahthan”) Badeen was from a family of farmers and merchants in what is now Syria. It is believed he was kidnapped by French merchants while trading in northwestern Syria. Eventually taken to Canada, he either escaped or was put off a ship and travelled to the American colonies, arriving at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. His name appears in the muster rolls (roster) of Colonel Edmund Phinney’s 18th Regiment of the new Continental Army being organized in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the regiment played a critical role in the battle to liberate Boston from Great Britian. He enlisted on January 1, 1776 and died on or about May 23 at Fort George near Boston, according to Library of Congress records.
Joseph Benenhaley (Yusuf Ben Ali) was an Ottoman refugee from present-day Turkey; he made his way to Sumter County, South Carolina and served as a scout for a militia commanded by General Thomas Sumter. After Independence, Sumter is said to have gifted Benenhaley some of the land on his own plantation to farm and raise a family. His descendants still live in the area today.
Arab Americans of the Revolutionary War period tended to shed their identities – and become Americans – when they arrived in the colonies and the new nation, observed Amin Nash, a research fellow at the Arab American Civic Council in Anaheim, California. “That is why we know so little because nobody took the time to record them as being from the Arab region, or as Middle Eastern, but more so as people who came from another land and then slowly became American.”
Now, to “What is History?” According to unnamed the folks at Valdosta State:
“History is the study of change over time, and it covers all aspects of human society. Political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious and military developments are all part of history. Usually professional historians specialize in a particular aspect of history, a specific time period, a certain approach to history or a specific geographic region.
“Non-historians often say that ‘history repeats itself’ or that ‘things were always this way.’ History cannot repeat itself because history is not a living, thinking being. History is an intellectual discipline practiced by historians who try to make sense of the past. Because history is about change, nothing was ever ‘always’ a certain way.
“Non-historians often romanticize the past and speak of the ‘good old days’ when they believe that things were generally better than at present. Conversely, some see history exclusively as a story of progress with everything constantly improving. People of all eras have made great achievements and committed terrible blunders; so processes of historical change cannot be categorized as either simple progress or regression. Historical processes involve complex relations between interrelated factors.
“Non-historians derive information mainly from television, movies, and the internet as well as some books or magazines. They generally accept any sources uncritically as long as the source is interesting. Historians know that all sources, even those original to a particular historical time period, have some biases, omissions, contradictions, or various other limitations. That does not mean that such sources are completely invalid and useless; rather it means that historians have to know and study much to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of different sources.
“Historians who write history emphasize the value of primary sources, that is those sources actually dating from a particular time period, while understanding the limitations of such sources. Non-historians read books or watch documentaries, while historians do that plus go to archives in search of original records. [Historians who study non-English speaking regions must learn and use foreign languages.]
“Historians who write list all the sources that they have used in footnotes and bibliographies in their works. This helps other scholars who are interested to find those sources, and it shows that the writer is careful, thorough, and honestly giving credit for the origin of the writer’s information. Providing footnotes and a bibliography is how historians demonstrate their methodology and support their conclusions.
“… Many different interpretations of all historical topics exist. Historians must work to recognize the difference between facts and interpretations in their field. Historiography refers to the history, philosophy and methodology of history. Historians must be familiar with the historiography of their particular area of study.
“Non-historians often make broad generalizations about people, ideas, events, or time periods in history. Historians tend to focus more on the specific, detailed developments that underpin the generalizations, and sometimes question or reject the generalizations themselves. Non-historians may assume that time periods are fixed and absolute, whereas historians have various ways of organizing history thematically and chronologically. Periodization, to historians, is just a convenient form of broad organization, especially useful for course listings in university catalogs and subject headings in library catalogs. No historian can be 100% objective, but historians try to recognize their own limitations and biases. Historians try not to place the values, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of the present onto the topics they study. Historians try to understand their topics in the context of how and why people of that era thought and behaved, and not how people think and act today.”
To the Valdosta State Blazers: As long as you’re not playing the Miami Hurricanes, your History Department has made us fans. GO BLAZERS!