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Jamestown's 400th Anniversary
Today I was reading about all of the events occuring in Jamestown this week as part of the beginning of their 400th anniversary celebration. Along with the opportunity for visitors to watch archaeolgists at work, the chance for people to tour the reconstructed town and a large variety of other events including a speech by President Bush, there is a crew that set off yesterday to follow Captain John Smith's trail of exploration around the Chesapeake. They are sailingin a boat designed like his and made by many of the same tools. They are going to attempt to complete the 121 day journey using only sails and oars. And they will be christening the first National Historic Water Trail. It sounds like a great adventure!
So I read to the bottom of the article and there at the end was a blurb about 70 protestors outside of Jamestown shouting "Black Power" and "Red Power" and protesting the fact that we were 'celebrating' the anniversary of a town that was the beginning of the decimation of Native Americans and where the first slaves in the United States were brought to.
What the heck is wrong with these people? We are celebrating the founding of our country. And like all countires, there are good things and bad things, but ultimately, we are celebrating the beginning of a great nation and we are celebrating the triumph of man over his environment and tremendous odds. I am sorry about slavery, but I also get tired of people acting like Americans were the only ones to participate in this foul institution. Slavery still exists today. The slaves that we obtained from Africa were sold to us by other Africans who also kept slaves themselves. Native Americans also had slavery, but the slaves were quickly assimilated for the most part. Can we give this a rest? Can we move forward instead of dwelling in the past?
I am more sad about the treatment of Native Americans. They were here first, after all. We did horrible things to these first settlers to America. But we can't go back and undo what has been done. We need to focus on today and strive to do better and to help the people we have hurt in the past, within reason. We cannot go back and make restitution to people whose forefathers were slaves. We cannot return land to the Native Americans that we took by force, by treaty and by lies.
But we can continue to work towards an integrated and fair and equal society. And I for one am celebrating, not merely commemorating the founding of Jamestown and the courage of those who laid the foundation for America.
