Rick Santorum furthers the rights lies about American history | Opinion – pennlive.com

By George Magakis

Rick Santorum said that there was nothing here to speak of when Europeans arrived on the continent. He said that we birthed a nation, meaning white people, preferably English.

When Europeans arrived on the continent for the first time in the 15th Century, there were 60 million indigenous peoples with rich cultures that have influenced American culture. At the same time, there were 55 million people in Europe. Where did all of these 60 million go? Genocide over the centuries by white colonists & the people who birthed a nation.

Santorums statements are part of the rights attempts to present a white sanitized version of American history. In the 1960s, William F. Buckley in his debate with James Baldwin about racism argued that it was necessary to lie about American history and focus on its exceptionalism and ideals. Nothing would be gained from looking at the ugliness in American history. This was needed to be done for future generations, for the kids. White kids that is.

As a result, myth making has been integral on the right. The genocide of indigenous peoples is downplayed. Andrew Jacksons expulsion of indigenous peoples from the eastern states in the 1830s is hardly ever mentioned. Commentators like Bill OReilly have argued that slaves were treated well. Others on the right claim that the Civil War was not about slavery, but attacks on southern culture by an industrialized north.

White violence against blacks by the KKK & other southerners, the epidemic of lynching , false imprisonment of Back people, segregation, and Jim Crow laws that existed into the late 20th Century are glossed over on the right. Lindsey Graham has argued that there is no systemic racism in America, because we elected a Black president. He fails to mention that Obama never got a majority of the white votes. No wonder Republicans want to suppress minority votes.

Draconian immigration laws that forbade Chinese from coming here and becoming citizens is swept under the rug even though the ones that were allowed here built the railroads. This country was built on the sweat and labor of slaves and imported labor. Cotton was king in the first half of the 19th Century. Slaves were worked 12-14 hours a day, often beaten, families were broken up, and wives and daughters of slaves were casually raped by white masters.

Slaves were treated as units of labor and mortgaged to buy more slaves. Northerners and Europeans were heavily invested in cotton industry, which was dominant at the time. In the early 20th Century, the eugenics movement became popular and many undesirables were sterilized. And there were the infamous medical experiments on Black people in Tuskegee in 1931.

During WWII, Japanese Americans were interned during the war & their property often stolen by white people. As a result of all this whitewashing of history, many white people have no understanding of what Black Lives Matter is really about for example.

Santorum and others of his ilk want to sweep this ugly history under the rug and talk about American greatness & exceptionalism. The audience that Santorum speaks to do not know much about American history, have little interest in delving deeper, and applaud people like Santorum, because he makes them feel good about themselves in living a lie.

George Magakis Jr. writes from Norristown, Pa.

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Rick Santorum furthers the rights lies about American history | Opinion - pennlive.com