It doesn't really matter what political party you align yourself with. For most Americans the past week has been somewhat surreal. Our President publicly criticized Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the nation he was then visiting. He labeled one of our closest allies and trading partners, the European Union, as a foe. And on Monday he publicly suggested that he believes the "strong denials" of Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Russia's meddling in U.S. elections, over the broad consensus and conclusion of the entire U.S. Intelligence community. And then he faulted the previous administration, once again stated his own innocence regarding collusion and finally, complained about the fact that some people still question the legitimacy of his victory over Hillary Clinton. All of this, at a press conference on foreign soil and while standing only a few feet from the leader of the nation charged with ongoing efforts to disrupt our democratic elections.
I would dare say, that at some point over the past week, nearly every American felt some sense of shame regarding the spectacle President Trump was making of our nation.
What was most difficult, was that President Trump aired our country’s dirty political laundry in a space, the international stage, that for centuries both parties have worked to exclusively, in fact nearly religiously, reserve for bipartisan demonstration of American exceptionalism.
Our collective tendency is to try to counteract the narrative which President Trump put on display. And this is exactly what most Democrats and even many Republicans are doing. Vehemently arguing that Donald Trump is misrepresenting us, because we want to believe, we need to believe, that we are exceptional. Senator John McCain, as he so often does, stated this argument best when he wrote, "speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad."
But remember, Senator McCain is talking about us, the nation that separates families at its borders. The nation that has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The country where people of color get arrested for sitting quietly in a Starbucks. A republic that annually celebrates a Declaration which dehumanizes its indigenous population as "merciless Indian savages."
As someone who has spent the past decade of my life studying the Doctrine of Discovery and the past year uncovering and lamenting the blatant white supremacist views and vile genocidal policies of the man we celebrate as our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. I recognize that the way I felt this past week, is the same way I have felt many times prior.
The pain is not that President Trump is misrepresenting our country. The pain is that President Trump is representing our country quite accurately. Our history is colonial. Our most beloved leaders were brutal. And our stated foundational beliefs regarding who deserves freedom, liberty and justice is extremely exclusive.
And there lies the pain. Not in the misrepresentation. But in the honest reflection.
The temptation is to say, “the emperor has no clothes.” But the truth of the matter is, it is our empire that is naked. It is our belief in the mythology of American exceptionalism that is being exposed. President Trump is merely a reflection of our nation’s history and character. And when we see it on full display, so blatant and public, we feel ashamed. As a country we now have a choice to make. We can either begin the humble process of acknowledging and covering our collective nakedness, or we can increase the resolve of our denial and continue parading ourselves around the globe as if we were dressed in the finest of robes. Fooling no one, but ourselves.
I believe it is time we stopped senselessly arguing about when we were last great, or how soon we can be great again. And instead committed ourselves to having an honest conversation regarding if we truly want to be a nation where "We the People" finally means "All the People."
*In reviewing the responses and comments to this article on social media, I realized the larger point being made in the body was getting lost due to the title and the final paragraph, both which stated "the Emperor Has No Clothes." Therefore, I have updated the title and final 2 paragraphs. Updated July 18, 2018 at 11 AM EDT.
The other day I was asked if Americans can or should celebrate the country we aspire to, instead of the one described in the Declaration of Independence?
For the past decade, I have been working to educate our nation on the Doctrine of Discovery and the white supremacists’ influence it has on the foundations of our nation. This is especially evident in the Declaration of Independence, where, 30 lines below the inclusive and benevolent statement "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal", that document refers to the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island as "merciless Indian savages." Demonstrating very clearly, that the only reason the founding fathers used the inclusive term "all men" is because they had a very narrow definition of who was actually human. I have written many articles regarding the Declaration of Independence, and I did not intend to write yet another one this year. But I appreciated being asked this question, and so I decided to respond.
First, if you are aware of the lie of white supremacy that is rooted in the Declaration of Independence and choose to celebrate the Fourth of July anyway, without acknowledging, owning and correcting the meaning and intent that document was written with, you are perpetuating the myth of American exceptionalism.
Many Americans deal with our white supremacists and racists foundations in this manner. Even MLK and the civil rights leaders referred to these documents as "a blank check" for people of color. While I appreciate all that our Civil Rights leaders fought for, this concession was devastatingly costly. Instead of challenging the foundations of our nation as white supremacist and racist, they essentially told white people that the foundations they established were good, they just needed to be better Americans. In other words, instead of confronting the systemic white supremacy and racism that is embedded in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, they ended up affirming the bipartisan value of American exceptionalism. I'm convinced this is one of the reasons the Black Lives Matter movement is happening today. Because we never addressed the fact that it is our foundations which state “black lives DON'T matter.”
A second approach is to acknowledge the problems in our history but tell ourselves they have already been resolved. Let me give you an example: In his final State of the Union, President Obama spoke about our nation's need for a 'new politics'. He said "We the people. Our Constitution begins with those three simple words. Words we've come recognize mean ALL the people."
That statement sounds beautiful, and it definitely appealed to white people, and to the mythology of American exceptionalism. But it's simply not true.
The problem is, as a nation, we have never collectively decided that "We the people" now means all the people.
Our Founding Fathers didn't believe it.
Abraham Lincoln didn't believe it.
The Civil Rights movement didn't get us there.
President Trump definitely doesn't believe it.
Yes, you read the last section correctly, Abraham Lincoln did not believe "We the People" meant all the people, nor did he believe that the Declaration of Independence applied to people of color. On October 15, 1858, during his seventh debate with Judge Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln was accused of applying the Declaration of Independence to people of color, specifically to black people. To that accusation he responded, "I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not mean to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all men were equal in color, size, intellect, moral development or social capacity."
Unfortunately, the carefully constructed mythology of President Abraham Lincoln is just that, a mythology.
Now I know many people will point out that this quote comes from early in Lincoln's political career and therefore argue that he grew and changed in regard to his beliefs on race and equality. I do not have the time or space to respond fully to that argument in this article but, in July of 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This act provided the resources and land to complete the trans-continental railway and telegraph line (manifest destiny). Within two and half years of signing that bill, President Lincoln had ethnically cleansed nearly all the American Indians from the states of Minnesota and Colorado, and from the territory of New Mexico (tribes who were in the direct path of the first proposed routes of the railway). So, during the time he was supposedly growing regarding his beliefs on race and equality, that is the exact time he was literally committing genocide against native peoples. In the 1860 US census, the count of "off reservation, tax paying, assimilated American Indians" was 44,000. Ten years later, after the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the population of "off reservation, tax paying, assimilated American Indians" was reduced to 25,713. For those who are counting, that is a genocide rate of 41.56% (and does not even factor in all the “savage Indians” who were slaughtered during that period). I invite you to watch the segment of a lecture I gave recently on the Doctrine of Discovery which addresses the entire legacy of Abraham Lincoln.
Denial is the challenge of our nation. We cannot fix a problem we falsely, and continually, tell ourselves never existed, or has already been resolved. EVERY road to healing begins with acknowledging and owning your problems. And contrary to popular belief, our nation’s primary problems are not individual, but collective and bipartisan. So let’s stop pretending that President Trump is the God-ordained savior or the ultimate demise of our union. The same with President Obama. Or even Abraham Lincoln.
What our nation needs is not for Democrats to be better Democrats.
Nor do we need Republicans to simply be better Republicans.
We need Americans, ALL Americans, to be better humans.
And collectively, we need to address our foundations.
The United States of America is not white supremacist, racist and sexist in spite of our foundations. Our country is white supremacist, racist and sexist BECAUSE of our foundations.
And until we fix the foundations, our problems will not get resolved.
This is why, especially on the Fourth of July, instead of simply watching more fireworks, I am calling the United States of America to a national dialogue on race, gender & class. A conversation on par with the Truth & Reconciliation Commissions in South Africa, Rwanda and Canada. I'm calling it Truth & Conciliation and my goal is 2021. #TCC2021
Ahe’hee’
(Thank you),
Mark Charles
Mark Charles is the son of an American woman of Dutch heritage and a Navajo man. He speaks and writes regularly about the Doctrine of Discovery. You can learn more about the Doctrine of Discovery and #TCC2021 on his website - Wirelesshogan.com. Mark is active on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube and Instagram. Video: The Doctrine of Discovery: A Lecture by Mark Charles
