Gil Lepore is convinced by her appeal for a fair history of the United States, not her idea of a “new America”.
We cannot ignore it: the world is divided into countries. That is why, according to the famous American journalist and historian Jill Lepore, it is important to think about the nation and its important secondary outputs: nationalism. her This is America. Calling for a better nation She describes Libor as a “long essay,” a “analysis and appeal” in which she explains the origins of nations and outlines the history of American nationalism, ending with incitement to “neo-Americanism.”
“Nations need some kind of generally accepted history to envision themselves,” wrote Libor, the acclaimed author of the book. These facts. History of the United States. But historians turned away from national historiography after World War II, hoping that nationalism would die out. This was a miscalculation, according to Lepore, because “when the academics stopped writing the national historiography, it was taken over by other, less accurate people.”
He appeared in the last few days of Trump’s presidency 1776 reportIt is a historical document that promotes “national education”. No professional historians participated in it and the report was severely criticized: the book is said to have rewritten the past of the United States, without citing the source, to suit their conservative ideals. According to the report, it was extremely harmful to refer to the hypocrisy of the founding fathers of the United States: that they were slave owners while they believed that every human being was created equal, as they wrote in the 1776 Declaration of Independence. LIBOR, on the other hand, views hypocrisy on It is the “plot” of the American story and the essence of “the history on which any argument for the American nation in the twenty-first century must be based.”
Exclusion and oppression are at the heart of America’s past
While the article is intended to be a history of American nationalism, it is primarily read as a history of America. Exclusion and oppression are at the heart of America’s past. The emergence of the nation began with the brutal expulsion of the natives. This was followed by the tragedy of slavery, which did not end until after a bloody civil war. But this is not the end of inequality. Proceeding from the slogan “equal but separate”, apartheid laws were introduced. In 1923, a Sikh American, according to the Supreme Court, was ineligible “for American citizenship because he was not white” in the concept of the common man.
Lepore has good style and is an excellent teacher. She is extremely critical and not blind to the bloody past, but she wrote in the final chapter, “The United States is a nation built on a revolutionary, merciful, and morally sincere commitment to equality and human dignity.” How can Libor end this after spending pages describing deep-rooted racism in the country? Even a critical thinker like Libor, despite his wild past, still believes in the myth of America. As I wrote in the same chapter, “What unites Americans is our past.” But in highly polarized America, national history is now a divisive fungus. With the 1776 report as evidence.
The case for an honest and critical national history full of uncomfortable facts is compelling. Unfortunately, Libor’s idea of a “new America”, on the other hand, is of little significance. It is nothing more than a list of big words like “equality”, “tolerance” and “justice”.
Jill Libor
This is America. Calling for a better nation
Transcode. Rob Cottenbruer
Workers’ press; 141 pages of 20 euros
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