Let's face facts, America. We're not perfect. We've done a lot of things that, shall we say, aren't always discuss in school textbooks. While many of us might be familiar with some of the more common rewritings of our history (Thanksgiving was sort of a "slaughter" and the founding fathers weren't all great guys), there are some spots that need to have a light shone on.
Guys...we're not great.
Reddit user, u/Jobr95, wanted to learn when they asked:
What's a dark part of American history that doesn't get enough attention?
And They Just Let It Happen...
The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was pretty f-cked up. African American men were told they would get free treatment, but instead were left untreated so scientists could study the progression of untreated Syphilis.
Beating The Culture Out Of Them
the native american boarding schools
Here in Phoenix, one of our major roads is named "Indian School" after the school that was once there. It's a lot more recent than you'd think. I used to work with a guy whose father was a teacher there.
The Heard Museum in downtown has an exhibit which covers the school(s).
It is jaw-dropping. We took native children and for all intents and purposes tried to metaphorically beat their culture out of them.
"War." Yeah. Call It That.
The numerous war crimes that the United States military has committed but get buried and hidden away by American history for the sake of patriotism.
An example: General Jacob H Smith and his slaughter of tens of thousands of Filipino civilians during the Philippine American "War"... His famous orders were to "kill anyone over ten". His court martial was written off to preserve the honorable image of the American military and he retired and lived out the rest of his life in Ohio, and was later buried in Arlington Cemetery.
A Decision Of The Times
Marty Glickman who was faster than Jessie Owens , not being allowed by the American team (Avery Bundage) to run in the 1936 Olympics, so as not to offend Hitler that a Jew was the fastest man in the world.
One Awful Event Overshadows Another
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was our country's original 9/11 because it happened on September 11th, 1973. It was an absolutely despicable action that led to the deaths of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS. The U.S. government essentially funded the uprising of the most violent dictator Chile has ever seen, named Augusto Pinochet. This happened following an extended period of social unrest and political tension between the opposition-controlled Congress of Chile and the socialist President Salvador Allende, as well as the economic warfare ordered by US President Richard Nixon.
This was a terrible world event that got overshadowed by another terrible world event. I'm not saying the Twin Tower attacks weren't horrible; they were absolutely awful and dreadful. However, it's important to remember both events and be aware of it.
731
Colonialism in a nutshell namely the Philippines and Hawaii come to mind for me first
Also the pardoning of Japanese war criminals and paying for unit 731s data is a big dark stain.
It Was Everywhere
A lot of people think the Klan was mostly a southern thing. It wasn't.
In the 1920's, Michigan and other Midwest states had quite a lot of Klan activity. It didn't end there. When I was growing up in 70's Michigan, racism and segregation were still "baked into the cake" with redlining and - in the case of my hometown - running any black family who tried to move in out of town.
Nazi Ideals, Before Nazis Came To Power
Eugenics prior to ww2! Hitler obviously took it to a whole other level with his Aryan Race, but it was widely believed across the world that sterilizing or euthanizing people with mental illnesses or birth defects would lead to a better, healthier society.
Turns Out Not All White People Are Created Equally, Either
What really blew my mind was when we learned in school about the racism towards the Irish during the early 1900's. To me the most interesting part is that they were hired (with very low wages) to do jobs that people wouldn't send their slaves to do as it was to dangerous.
This is a huge one I think more people should be aware of.
White supremacists try to make it seem like there's a good reason for white people to be in charge. Some people hear that and start to think... Well, it was always non-white people who were treated as lesser in history, so maybe there is a good reason for white people to have all the power.
But then you learn about how Irish people were treated. Fun fact: Ever hear the phrase "luck of the Irish"? That wasn't a positive saying originally. What it meant was "These stupid Irish people are only succeeding because of pure luck, they obviously can't have the skill to accomplish anything legitimately."
Race is an imaginary concept, and people have used it to discriminate against any group they please. Racism is about putting someone below you, and that someone can be absolutely anyone. If the white supremacists did get their all-white homeland like they keep asking, by tomorrow they would have declared that some white people are better than others. And if you deported everyone of that new group they'd found, by the next day they would have come up with another group to hate.
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