Jul 15, 2020 2 min read

I take exception to Kenneth Britton’s statement that “Our history is being destroyed” in his July 5 letter. History cannot be destroyed. History is a record of past events large and small, witnessed and recorded in diaries and letters, in newspapers, unretouched photos and films, written public records (births, deaths, marriages), public meeting minutes, government filings, etc. These events cannot be reversed or destroyed: They happened.

Understanding and interpretation of history may change when new information comes to light or by subsequent events. Some histories omit or gloss over some events to serve their viewpoint and others may embellish or add to history for the same reason.

It seems to me that the United States has arrived at a time when recent events, Black men asphyxiated and shot in the back while running away have been filmed, have caused us to re-examine the history we thought we knew. Our homage to “All men are created equal” and “Entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit happiness” seems hollow, given what we have seen recently. We are trying to come to terms with our past and who and how our past should be honored.

We are not destroying our history; we are reassessing our past and finding it wanting in truth and justice. We no longer want to honor those who wanted to treat people as property. They may have been good generals and battle strategists; their feats should be reserved to military training. They did lose the war.

On the other hand, I agree with the letter writer in that we all need to read more history to supplement the history that has been taught in our schools. So much history is omitted or mentioned only in passing, some would say the exciting parts are missing, because of the time available to devote to the study of the subject.

Martha L. McFadden

Washington