We don’t get to rewrite our past

Reading Thursday’s article on the protest outside the Andrew Curtin statue reminds me that the only thing disappearing faster than the ozone layer is common sense.

Encompassing the larger issue of Civil War statuary (to which this is tangentially related), since when do we get to rewrite our past? The history of the United States contains a lot of characters and incidents both good and bad (a perspective often based on one’s political point of view), yet all of it is part of the fabric of our nation and all of it needs to be taught to our children.

Tearing down statues of prominent historical figures because their 17th- and 18th-century values don’t measure up to our enlightened 21st-century point of view is no different than the Soviets altering historical photographs and texts, or the Islamic extremists destroying ancient structures, or the destruction of traditions that occurred during the Chinese Cultural Revolution under Mao.

Keep in mind that 50 years from now the heroes of today may be the villains of tomorrow, and should we then erase them from the history books? Let’s have the maturity to accept all of it as the part of the march of history and devote our time and energy to more important matters.

This story was originally published September 2, 2017 at 10:37 PM with the headline "We don’t get to rewrite our past."