From Patriotic Alternative.
Edward Saunders
One of the startling things about being on our side of the political spectrum is the ability to look at everything else with a sceptical, clear mindset. You aren’t caught up in the left vs right clown show that wastes so much time and energy yet achieves so little. This is no better demonstrated than in the subject of history, where many commentators – either through self interest or stupidity – fall wide of the mark. Historical inaccuracy has become a genuine problem, as modern narratives only mention the points that align with it and ignore everything else.
Let’s take Sir Francis Drake for example. Recently, a school in London decided to rename itself, fearing that being associated with him was wrong because of his links to slavery. Leftists ignore the fact he was a vice admiral in the fleet that defeated the Spanish invasion campaign of 1588, because they only care about deconstructing history and thus only focus on the negative. Yet the conservative response shows why they are also living in a fantasy world. They criticise the media for saying Drake had links to slavery, even though he did, because apparently that puts him in a bad light and overshadows everything else. No it doesn’t! A logical perspective would be to celebrate his military success whilst learning about the slavery. But both sides refuse to permit this, it either has to be one or the other.
Successful adventurer
As a national hero of the (English) people, it doesn’t matter if he was a slaver because his achievements transcend anything else that may be considered morally questionable. The problem though is that because we live in a diverse society, conservatives can’t argue this point because it offends certain groups whom they wish to court at the ballot box. As a Puritan, Drake actually had a Jewish navigator and a Black assistant named Diego, and was quite a tolerant man by the standards of his day. Yet most people either are unaware of this and cannot point this out, or historians refuse to do so because of the inevitable media pushback. The reality is that Drake’s career was remarkably successful on the high seas well before the Spanish Armada turned up – yet nobody is ever taught about it.
And this leads me to my next point – the topic of race in the past is a lot more complicated than either liberal or conservative activists realise. Drake for example could employ a free Black man he found in Panama as a member of his crew, despite previously serving on the slaver ships of his cousin and making money from it. The idea that a White man could enslave Blacks and then be friends with other Blacks is too complicated for the modern narrative of ‘good vs evil’. It either has to be one way or the other, and this is why people have such a warped view of the past.
Commentators, even non-White conservatives in America, have argued that race is a social construct created in the modern era by liberals. But the reality is that people in the past were actually even more specific about racial categories than we are today. Not only did they see race, but they openly espoused such views in their literature and art. The Greek historian Herodotus is the best example of this, as is the Berber scholar Ibn Battuta. Indeed, the latter’s comments on sub-saharan Africans were so severe few dare mention them.
The bizarre thing these days, which is completely alien to how it was 20 years ago, is that you can’t even quote the negative comments of others in regard to race. Even if you quote somebody else using the ‘N-word’, this apparently is just as grave a sin as the person who originally said it. It’s as if the word has taken on some kind of religious significance, which of course it has. This is one of the reasons conservatives have to deny Churchill was racist or that Drake was a slaver, because today’s morality is based around whether you’re racist or not. The historically accurate (balanced) truth is simply disregarded, and the inevitable denials are used as a cowardly shield. It’s ironic because Churchill’s comments on non-Whites make us look moderate, yet conservatives want to paint him as an anti-racist war leader. Was it Hitler who said ‘the Aryan stock is bound to triumph’? No, it was Sir Winston.
Reality of race
As the left and centre-right continue to battle it out over a culture war the left has already won, it’s important to note that neither side cares about the truth. They are simply using narratives to fulfill their own short term pointless objectives. The reality is that race – a biological construct – is very real and is historically significant. Admitting that a historical figure was racist isn’t an own goal like conservatives believe. Rather it is a statement of fact – people in the past favoured their own group and relentlessly pushed their interests. The reaction of our people should be to understand this, and to explain that all non-White groups behaved in exactly the same way. The British Empire expanded and enslaved, just as the Ottoman and Mongol Empires did as well.
The dumbing down of education is one of the most significant factors causing all this besides minority activism. The history curriculum is so diabolical that a balanced understanding of the subject is almost impossible for young people to learn. Instead it requires youngsters to go out of their way to buy history books or go online to find the truth, something which only a minority of them are interested in doing. Nothing can stop us remembering the heroes of the past, as their greatness is far beyond anything their modern detractors are capable of. However, in order for their memory to be understood by the population-at-large, a new education system is needed.
From Patriotic Alternative.