Like, free festival, man!

Editorial:
The Courageous Thing

There was once a man named Robert Moses, who did pretty much whatever he pleased. From state parks to parkways, bridges to zoos, golf courses to housing projects, if Moses wanted it done in New York, it happened, and in most cases, not even mayors, city councilpeople, legislators or governors could stand in his way.

Moses did some great things, but he was also a tyrant. It is estimated that he displaced half a million people from their homes during his decades-long reign as City Park Commissioner, City Construction Coordinator and member of the City Planning Commission. His Cross-Bronx and Brooklyn Queens expressways are credited with ripping the heart out of once-vibrant neighborhoods. The backlash finally came, beginning in the 1960s, when activists and community groups said “enough!” and fought successfully to stop certain projects.

As a wise person once said, history swings like a pendulum, and if we flash forward a few decades, we find ourselves in the position of having gone too far in the other direction. Local activists with political agendas of their own, or just out of plain spite, can now sometimes derail even the most worthy projects through any combination of media manipulation, fear mongering, back room dealing or misuse of existing laws. As the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan is quoted as saying in a New York Times piece inspired by the failed attempt to build a stadium on Manhattan’s West Side, “In the 1970s, civic reputation began to be acquired by people who prevented things from happening. There are some things you shouldn't do, but many things now get stopped for no reason."

Of course, whenever New York feels embarrassed over some example of self-defeating civic hari-kari, it can always turn to Philadelphia to feel better. Just look at the mess over the Route 15 (Girard Avenue) trolley, which burst back into the news earlier this month after the Local ran a column linking the mothballing of the project to political gamesmanship. At least the arguments against the West Side stadium were valid and substantive. In our case, there is no good reason whatsoever not to immediately resolve the conflict over a miniscule parking issue on 59th Street in Councilman Michael Nutter’s district and get these trolleys running. We’ve already spent $82 million in taxpayer money to restore the line and refurbish/upgrade a fleet of beautiful, historic PCC trolley cars. They’ve been gathering dust for a year now as ward leaders preen contentedly over their ability to make local politicians cower and create even more scorn for the city in the state legislature.

I’ve asked this question before in these pages: how is it possible that embarrassments that would be career-enders for public officials elsewhere become just another chip in Philly’s political poker game? When will citizens finally say that they’ve had enough and demand better?

When will we be able to go to the zoo on a trolley?

Last Thursday, Mayor Street finally weighed in on the issue, noting at a press conference that, “the needs of a few can’t be allowed to stand in the way of the public good.” Kudos to the mayor. Now let’s hope those who are in a position to bring resolution to this issue will do so. Quickly.

We have reached the point where one ward leader can wield the kind of power Robert Moses once did — the power to stymie the most powerful. He eventually felt the heat of those that refused to be pushed around any longer. Let’s hope our politicians show the same courage.

James Sturdivant

Op-Ed:
To serve its purpose, history must be taught carefully and well

By GEORGE STERN

It was inevitable that I would be asked, “What do you think of the School District of Philadelphia’s decision to mandate a course in African and African American history?” After all, at Northwest Interfaith Movement we deal in diversity – of religion, race, ethnicity and national origin. Our staff works with adults and children who speak Korean, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more. Our congregations are Unitarian-Universalist, Roman Catholic, Jewish (three congregations, three “denominations”), Muslim and Protestant (including several Baptist affiliations, Church of God, Church of the Brethren, Episcopal, Friends, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, and Presbyterian).

In my heart of hearts, what I feel is sadness – that we have ignored the story and role of “minorities” in this country for so long that we now have to resort to specialized courses intended to right the wrongs of centuries. Intellectually I agree with Jonathan Zimmerman, a Narberth resident and teacher at NYU, who recently wrote in the Inquirer: “[Ethnic] histories aren’t distinct at all. You simply cannot understand American or world history unless you know about African peoples; by the same token, ‘black history’ will make no sense unless it is embedded in the larger story of our nation and our world.” He echoed James Baldwin, who almost 40 years ago testified before Congress: “My history is also yours. My history, though, contains the truth about America.” Baldwin worried that, by presenting black history as a separate tale, American schools would evade its troubling implications for the nation at large.

Ideally, our world history courses would be just that: world history. They would span the continents and tell the truth about the forces that turned the southern continents (and briefly North America) into vassals of Europe (and, some would add, of the United States). The glories of the Khmer of Cambodia, Great Zimbabwe, the Maya, and Chinese and Japanese dynasties would be displayed alongside the glitter of Renaissance Italy.

Similarly, American history courses would examine all aspects of American society, including the cruelty of slavery and its economic role in both South and North; the treatment and abuse of blacks, Chinese, Irish, Latinos, Jews, and other ethnics; the excesses of 19th-century capitalism that had to be reigned in and regulated (surely a discussion applicable to today).

It is all too tempting when presenting the history or culture of a particular group to sidestep the controversial and avoid being seen as judgmental. But if the aim of teaching African and black history is to be more inclusive, then it needs to include the problematic aspects of the story. History is not apologetics, nor does it exist to exalt one group over another. If it is to have any significance, it must be comprehensive. The teaching of history must encourage students to use their minds to learn the moral and practical lessons of the past in order to understand — and hopefully improve upon — their own world. When teaching the Crusades, it is important to examine not only the religious motivations behind them, but also economic and political factors and the effect of the campaigns on the Jewish and Muslim communities put to torch and sword. Students should wonder how fighting “in the name of God” both strengthens and subverts religion. Similarly, while an honest course in African history would most certainly explore the glories of Mali and Great Zimbabwe, it would also teach about the pan-African slave economy that preceded European intervention and then fed it. It would examine how slavery enriched Africans, sustaining the elite there as it supported plantation owners and others here. If students are to truly understand slavery, they would examine its biblical precedents and how the Bible was used by pro-slavery and abolitionist preachers alike, and they would study the contemporary sale of human beings as cheap labor and fodder for the sex trade. An examination of child labor would also be in order.

As a “corrective” to centuries of pretending that American history is merely an extension of European (white) history, the school district course makes some sense – assuming it is truly well formulated and executed. As a student of history who is saddened by the way it is so often taught, I fear that the course may only perpetuate poor approaches to history and social studies. If the students receive only a compilation of factoids meant to be regurgitated “for the test,” the course will reinforce the notion that history is useless – black history as well as white. Well conceived and taught, this course and others like it will be effective – even “subversive” – tools for understanding the complexities of the contemporary world.

Rabbi George Stern, a native of Mt. Airy, is Executive Director of Northwest Interfaith Movement, a coalition of 41 Christian, Jewish, Unitarian, and Muslim congregations. NIM trains child care providers and personal care home workers and provides services for older adults living at home. NIM ombudsmen assure the rights of nursing and personal care home residents.