Rough
Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution (2006) by British Historian Simon Schama
Reviewed
by Ira Smolensky
Recommended
reading for Independence Day
By the time
this is read, Independence Day, 2007, will have come and gone.
Countless folks
will have taken part in cookouts, picnics, firework displays, and other such
forms of celebration, most of which are only vaguely related (if at all) to the
dayÕs substantive meaning.
Of course,
numerous Fourth of July speeches will have been made.
But few
will go beyond the level of clichŽd platitudes.
For the
truth of the matter is that Independence Day is not seen by most of us as a day
for serious reflection about the past, present, and future of our republic.
It is seen,
rather, as an excuse to party.
DonÕt get
me wrong. I like to party. I also like fireworks and hamburgers
freshly off the grill.
ItÕs just
that I also think our republic is in dire need of candid deliberation not only
about what we do well, but also about the areas in which we fall short.
Two of
these areas are interrelated and obvious to anyone with an open mind. The U.S. has deeply rooted, debilitating
socio-economic inequalities. These inequalities are linked, in turn, to our
long history of race bias.
This
assessment should not really be controversial.
Indeed, our
current President, a self-identified conservative, launched No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) in response to this grim reality.
And, so, I will be spending Independence
Day reading a book about the American Revolution that zeroes in on the
inegalitarian and racist part of our heritage.
In Rough
Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution (2006), British Historian Simon Schama tells the sad
story of how slavery played a role in the quest for American Independence. Much to our shame, it was the
Americans, purported believers in ÒinalienableÓ God-given rights, who played
the role of slaveryÕs defenders.
The British, on the other hand, became the promoters of emancipation.
Of course, the motivation of the
British was largely to gain leverage in their struggle against the wayward
colonies. Nor did the results do
much to help slaves. Since the
colonies won out, the promise of emancipation was an empty one for most
slaves. Those who did escape
bondage by reaching the British lines ended up in less than stellar conditions
in the inhospitable wilds of Nova Scotia or back in Africa as guinea pigs in
the half-baked political experiment that was Sierra Leone.
Still, the
truth remains that, rather than extending freedom to all Americans, the War for
Independence actually solidified slavery and laid the foundation for the
virulent inequalities that still plague us.
Lest I be
accused by folks like Dinesh DÕSouza and Ann Coulter of undermining and even
hating America, let me say right up front that I honestly believe the Bibical
injunction that the truth will set us free. It is, thus, out of love for my country that I seek to
understand the full depth of our sinfulness. How can we make ourselves better when we are afraid to look
ourselves full in the eye?
For
example, it may well be that a program like NCLB is doomed to failure if we do
not look at the psychological ramifications of our exclusionist past.
Can
children whose forebears were treated like second-class citizens (or worse) and
whose current socio-economic surroundings strongly infer the same message of
inferiority really be expected to routinely make full use of their academic
faculties?
Put more
simply, can we get children to learn who, on some deep level, have been
prevented from believing in themselves?
I am
optimistic that we can, indeed, meet the challenge if we have a profound
understanding of who we are and the nature of the problems we face.
By offering
a candid look at our past, books like Rough Crossings help to give us a more secure handle on the future.
I therefore
recommend that reading such books become a prominent part of our Independence
Day celebrations.
Just think
of them like firecrackers, only you get more bang for your buck.
7/4/07