EPILOGUE
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A N EW C IVIL R IGHTS M OVEMENT
AS I ENDED THE previous chapter with President George Washingtonâs Farewell Address of September 19, 1796, I begin this chapter with President Ronald Reaganâs Farewell Speech on January 11, 1989. President Reagan encouraged the rising generation to âlet âem know and nail âem on itââthat is, to push back against teachers, professors, journalists, politicians, and others in the governing generation who manipulate and deceive them:
An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didnât get these things from your family, you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed, you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.
But now, weâre about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents arenât sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we havenât reinstitutionalized it. Weâve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedomâfreedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. Itâs fragile; it needs [protection].
So, weâve got to teach history based not on whatâs in fashion but whatâs importantâwhy the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, whoâd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, âWe will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.â Well, letâs help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we wonât know who we are. Iâm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Letâs start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.
And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen, I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents havenât been teaching you what it means to be an American, let âem know and nail âem on it. That would be a very American thing to do. 1
The consolidation of power, a mortal threat to the individual and liberty, is now the primary object of government. Yet too many are indifferent to the principle of liberty. However, the current societal predicament described in previous chapters, collectively pushing the nation to the brink of catastrophe, is the making not of the rising generation, for it is late to the sceneâalthough it clearly contributes to itâbut of the governing generation and its twentieth-century forebears. Somehow the notion that government dispenses freedom and rights, rather than erodes and threatens them when unbounded by constitutional limits, has become an article of faith. Perhaps true liberty is appreciated only by the few. If not, it is time that younger people acquire the knowledge and muster the courage to defend themselves and future
----
A N EW C IVIL R IGHTS M OVEMENT
AS I ENDED THE previous chapter with President George Washingtonâs Farewell Address of September 19, 1796, I begin this chapter with President Ronald Reaganâs Farewell Speech on January 11, 1989. President Reagan encouraged the rising generation to âlet âem know and nail âem on itââthat is, to push back against teachers, professors, journalists, politicians, and others in the governing generation who manipulate and deceive them:
An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didnât get these things from your family, you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed, you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.
But now, weâre about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents arenât sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we havenât reinstitutionalized it. Weâve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedomâfreedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. Itâs fragile; it needs [protection].
So, weâve got to teach history based not on whatâs in fashion but whatâs importantâwhy the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, whoâd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, âWe will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.â Well, letâs help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we wonât know who we are. Iâm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Letâs start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.
And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen, I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents havenât been teaching you what it means to be an American, let âem know and nail âem on it. That would be a very American thing to do. 1
The consolidation of power, a mortal threat to the individual and liberty, is now the primary object of government. Yet too many are indifferent to the principle of liberty. However, the current societal predicament described in previous chapters, collectively pushing the nation to the brink of catastrophe, is the making not of the rising generation, for it is late to the sceneâalthough it clearly contributes to itâbut of the governing generation and its twentieth-century forebears. Somehow the notion that government dispenses freedom and rights, rather than erodes and threatens them when unbounded by constitutional limits, has become an article of faith. Perhaps true liberty is appreciated only by the few. If not, it is time that younger people acquire the knowledge and muster the courage to defend themselves and future
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