Tuesday, 5 July 2016

5 myths debunked by Howard Zinn (and others) about America’s ‘Independence Day’

America’s patriotic celebration every Fourth of July is enough to cause the more conscientious citizens to throw up their BBQ hot dogs.
The late historian Howard Zinn, as well as political prisoners like Mumia Abu Jamal, know the real truth about those early, dark days.
July 4 supposedly celebrates the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed and honors the Founding Fathers, many of them slave owners, who pushed through their own 'Brexit' from the English king.
But not everyone is feeling the freedom instilled by the iconic document’s promise of “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” particularly with the world’s highest incarceration rate and millions of poor and hungry children.
At the risk of ruining your festive holiday, here are five myths about Independence Day that have been debunked in recent years.
1) The Founding Fathers were heroic men
Zinn obliterated America’s Founding Father worshiping during his 2009 lecture ‘Myth of the Good Wars’ (Three ‘Holy’ Wars).
He blasted the history books’ perceptions that these were heroes on a par with gods.
“Our ‘Founding Fathers’ were horrible, horrible people. We must accept this historical absolute truth, if we ever wish to move beyond it. They were incredibly racist, misogynist, classist, unapologetic exploiters of the common working person,” he said.
He maintained these men were rich elites, interested in achieving US independence not for the people, but to make themselves even richer.
2) The Declaration of Independence was put into practice
Zinn called out the Founding Fathers for initiating the “worst genocide in all of human history” when they killed up to 100 million Native Americans.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Native Americans fought with Britain’s King George III. Many sided with people in theColonies, or avoided the conflict.
Many of those who did fight on the British side did so with the hope of saving their own homelands.
He also debunked the myth that the signatories were in favor of democracy. Instead he says they were openly anti-democratic and pro-republican.
Zinn called the American system “the most ingenious system of control in world history” and credited this  to the roots of independence.
“The pretense continued over the generations, helped by all-embracing symbols, physical or verbal: the flag, patriotism, democracy, national interest, national defense, national security,” he said.
3) America was based on Christian principles
Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration of Independence, had widely contrasting religious views to the Christian patriots of his era - and today.
He was considered something of an outcast among his peers who insisted America was founded on Christian principles.
While Jefferson was intellectually interested in theology, he was reluctant to speak personally about religion.
The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 by Congress after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, as a way to further this myth.
4) Liberty for all
Black revolutionary, writer, and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has spent more than 30 years in prison for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer, much of it in isolation on death row, has also spoken out about American-style independence.
He spoke to Truthdig ahead of the July 4 holiday and said: “We live in one of the most un-free systems on Earth.”
“Where is this American freedom they keep telling us about? I don’t see it. Black folks are more in danger, and being killed in even greater numbers, than during the reign of terror that was lynching and Jim Crow,” Mumia said.
Amnesty International has long called on the US government to end the practice of solitary confinement. The human rights organization has also called for a new trial for Mumia.
5) The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4
Perhaps one of the greatest myths surrounding the holiday is the date itself.
The Declaration of Independence wasn’t actually signed until what is believed to be August 2, and even then, a handful of delegates to the Second Continental Congress, including Robert Livingston and John Dickinson, never added their ‘John Hancocks.’
The Liberty Bell, the iconic symbol of American Independence, never rang on July 4, despite the legend, nor did the excitement over this event cause the crack.
Poor casting doomed the famous bell years before, first developing a crack in 1752 and becoming un-ring-able by 1846.
Even though schoolchildren still tap the bell gently 13 times every July 4, it wasn’t until July 8, 1776 that it rang in honor of the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence.

https://www.rt.com/usa/349482-fourth-july-myths-zinn/

posted by Satish Sharma at 05:03

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