More Ruminations...

This is what happens when we travel, as I sit in the car all day with a computer in front of me, and all kinds of inspirations for writing pop into my head. Yes, folks, this is fair warning that, once again, I am defying political correctness. This morning as we stopped at Mickey D's for breakfast (I do love their parfaits!), as we sat at a table, facing me was a huge poster, advertising the upcoming celebration of Black History Month. And once again, I must ask why on earth we do this.

It seems to me that it is time we as a nation quit trying to apologize for slavery. We have apologized already, over and over again, and it should be over and done with by this time. If the world needs to keep apologizing for all of the injustices, can one even imagine where we would be? Certainly, there is so much in world history that smacks of injustice, apologies could keep us busy for years, if not centuries.

The history of the US, as with the rest of the world, is filled with injustices which have occurred as each wave of immigration flooded American shores, beginning with the natives who first lived here. However, that doesn' t mean that each injustice should have a month dedicated to that cause. Can you imagine the results? We would not have enough months to accommodate all of them! Not only would the Native Americans lead the list, followed by "African Americans," but they would be followed by each incoming immigrant wave: Roman Catholics, Irish, Scottish, Italians, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Slavs, Hispanics from many sources and over many years, and Asian Americans in the form of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Indians, Pakistanis, etc. The list continues and is endless.

Isn't it about time that we just all celebrate our heritage as Americans, a melting pot, a smorgesbord of cultures, which do not need to be hyphenated or separated, but which can be enjoyed while blended together? If necessary, each group could still have one day, perhaps, to celebrate its uniqueness. Then on St. Patrick's Day the rivers could run green; on MLK Day the rivers could run black; on Caesar Chavez Day, brown; on Crazy Horse Day, red; on Sun Yat Sen, yellow; and so forth. I haven't figured out yet how the rivers could run white or pink. And, you may have some spectacular names for the chosen ethnic days, much better than my suggestions! If you get some ideas, let me know. What do you think? The inquiring mind wants to know.....