A Time for History
Welcome to Season Four of 15-Minute History! We are delighted that you have joined us again as we walk in history’s footsteps fifteen minutes at time. Last season, we took you through turning points in history and selected events that shaped our world into what it is today. This season, our goal is to show the value of learning from history so we can better understand how to interpret our world today. We will start, as always, about a historical person, event, or place and talk about how each topic has influenced the world in a way that affects you right now and in the future.
If the whole of history took the form of a human and appeared before us, the first thing we would probably notice would be the scars. Pockmarked and scraped, the body would be a heap of bruises and sprains. One or more bones might be broken or in the process of healing, and the rest would reflect trauma from centuries of stress and malformation. The injuries of the past would highlight the miracle of the present. That this person could stand at all reflects humanity's gradual healing process from the horrors we have inflicted upon one another. We would see in their eyes a past filled both with pain and sorrow and also love and victory. These contrasting visions reflect our own collective past, and like this personified character of history, our own histories are a mixture of triumph and tragedy. Unless we understand the past, all experiences are new, and we would not be able to compare the current circumstances with what has come before us.
People like you and I who try to study history in an honest manner without the need to confirm existing biases may see our world today as part of a cycle--after all, though history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme. Some people draw comfort from this idea of a cycle, as it shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel rather than a train. When the world seems to be turned upside down, we know that this is not the end. Others might look at the past and be inspired to take action, to sustain good times or prevent a breakdown that could lead to darkness. Both of these views of historical knowledge have merit, and we at 15-Minute History hope to have an honest dialogue each week in this season to provide perspective about the past and help to clarify the future.
But what happens if we ignore our history, or if we look at it dishonestly in order to prove a political or cultural point. The past is a collection of facts, but interpretations are nothing more than opinions. They can be grounded in truth, but an agenda often drives people of any faith, culture, or creed to distort reality to make an argument. Such a view of history may lead to passionate disagreement in a classroom or on social media, but it can also create real-world problems. Those who do not share a particular interpretation of the past might be branded as insensitive or spreaders of hate. It could even lead to violence in the streets. Discussions of history are vital in a civilized society, but we must always remember to let facts be our guide. If we cannot do that, what else is there but the tyranny of the strong over the weak?
To open this season, Joe has prepared three stories from history to give us some perspective about the world today through personal experiences in the past. Each one contains both sadness and triumph and, as a result, gives us an honest assessment of life that reflects the time and culture in which our eyewitnesses lived. They also provide a lens through we we can view current circumstances.
The Spanish Flu, 1918-1920
The first wave of what would later be called, “The Spanish Flu” started with the first recorded case on March 4th of 1918 at Camp Funston in Kansas with an army cook complaining to the medical staff of flu-like symptoms. Within a few days over 500 soldiers were reporting the same symptoms. As infected soldiers were shipped to Europe to fight in World War One, they took the virus with them and it quickly spread through France, Great Britain, Italy and Germany. From there it spread into several other nations as prisoners of war were traded and released, there was an increase in troop transport, and trade increases among nations supplying the war effort. This strain was relatively mild, affecting only those who had health complications and the elderly. The spread dissipated during the summer of 1918 and while it caused very little disruption in civilian quarters it caused massive challenges with the military as forces on both sides fell ill.
The second wave started in August of 1918, being transmitted by soldiers returning from the trenches of World War One. The strain that made up the second wave was believed to have mutated in the disgusting froth of rotting corpses, rats, puddles of raw sewage, and lack of even the basic of sanitary conditions that existed in the trenches. This much deadlier strain quickly spread throughout the United States and eventually, the entire world. The severity of the symptoms in this second wave increased from basic aches, pains and fever to serious complications such as bleeding from the ears and eyes and bacterial pneumonia which was often the cause of death. Unlike the first wave, this new mutated strain affected all people regardless of age. Quarantines were issued for many American cities as the spread continued and people separated themselves while instituting the wearing of face masks to stop the spread. The second wave continued into the fall of 1918 and calmed during the holiday season. During this time, 290,000+ deaths were recorded in the United States. The third and fourth wave of this disease had a much smaller impact due to growing immunity to the strain as populations around the world were exposed. The last recorded case of this flu was in 1920. After that, it vanished.
Scientists have since have concluded that the danger from this strain was the human body’s overreaction to it. Called cytokine storms, the body would uncontrollably release inflammatory molecules that are designed to fight the infection. The uncontrolled release would overwhelm the physical body causing serious complications including pneumonia, bleeding from the ears and eyes, and other severe side-effects. Today, such responses can be controlled with drugs like Hydroxychloroquine and others that work to control the immune system response. In the end, the human body’s ability to fight and destroy the disease combined with herd immunity caused the death of this strain.
With this perspective, we may look at current circumstances in a different light. We can look at the current circumstances, be thankful for the medical advances since 1918 and know that this too, shall pass.
Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954
In 1896, the US Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that facilities could be separated by race so long as both facilities (white and black) were equal. This devastating “separate but equal” ruling mandated that segregation of black public facilities was lawful as long as it was “equal” to white public facilities. It required African Americans to use their own buses, schools, and other public places. This abhorrent ruling would dictate public policy as it pertained to race for the next sixty years.
In 1951, a public school in Kansas refused to enroll the daughter of Oliver Brown. Oliver was an African American and chose the school because it was the closest to their home. Brown and A Time for History By Joe Parker & Jon Streeter twelve other black families filed a class-action lawsuit against the school, eventually finding representation in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The suit continued up through the court system until it was heard by the U.S. District Court of Kansas who issued a verdict against the Browns citing precedent from the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. The NAACP petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case, which was accepted in 1953.
Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over the court and spent much of the time investigating the Fourteenth Amendment and the 1896 ruling that used the amendment to reach its conclusion. The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate that the amendment was inconclusive when it came to to public education. The court then redefined public education as “one of the most important functions of local and state governments” and that the court would need to consider public education within this light. With this in mind, the court issued a ruling that would forever change the face of this country, for the better: “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Despite this victory, Democrat-controlled states opposed the ruling, and even used the National Guard to keep African American students from joining white students at school in Arkansas. Federal troops were deployed to block the national guard from doing so, and for the first time in history, nine African American students joined a white student body.
Perspective granted through this event in history can be summarized by the US Supreme Court—“separate but equal is inherently unequal.” This ruling rings true for all sides of the racial conversation. It is a logical fallacy to say that a group needs to be seen separately and treated separately and still believe that such separation will inherently be equal. Additionally, there is an inherent danger in separating people into groups.
History can show us countless examples of what happens when the individual is forgotten, and the group is emphasized. Groups have no faces. Groups have no voices. Groups are conceptual, dehumanized, easy to support given the inferred perception of the viewer, and even easier to dismiss given the reference has less to do with actual humans, and more to do with our perception of them.
Without the perspective of history, sins of the past are often cited as stand-alone grievances, used by talking heads both on TV and in government to further political and ideological agendas. Rarely are such sins seen in context with the remedy applied to them. The process of racial equality cannot be summed up by a single event or horror, but rather the progression from the absolute evils like slavery and Jim Crow, to the actions and bravery of individuals who worked—and continue to work—toward the an end summarized by Dr. Martin Luther King, “where a person is judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.
The Gulag Archipelago, 1973
The Gulag Archipelago, written by Soviet dissident and prisoner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, is a collection of journals, interviews, and first-hand experiences of the Soviet gulags the ultimate reflect communism in its fullest form. The book gave first-hand accounts of what happened to anyone who fell under the judgement of Soviet leadership and illustrated how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The effects of the book can be summarized by a quote from Jordan Peterson in 2017: “The Gulag Archipelago systematically deconstructed the concept and promotion of communism in our culture and educational institutions in the 1980s. Its realism burned the arguments of those in favor of such an ideology so badly, that it is now only beginning to recover.”
When asked about communism, our person of history physically flinches. Both as a concept and practice, communism is one of the blights on the history of the world akin only to undeterred fascism and corrupted absolute rule by a single group or individuals. It is an utter failure in every respect, shown unable to facilitate its own promises or to advance anything but absolute power, misery and death.
Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, is quoted as saying, “Bad ideas go to university to linger.” Those who have never pushed the plow or worked to consequence can easily speak to the glories of both while excluding basic motivations like profit and improving one’s position for themselves and their community. They can ignore the cries of entire populations who were tortured and skinned alive and sum up the ideology that spawn both with questions like, “What’s wrong with sharing?” In reading The Gulag Archipelago, we gain perspective that allows us to challenge those who promote communism under any guise. Through this perspective we can understand and come to our conclusions that either take into account the threat posed by such an ideology, or dismiss their arguments entirely, knowing that the speakers do not have the best interests of society in mind.
A Time for History
Today, our world is witnessing what might be called a revolutionary moment when it comes to history. Debates over statues, curriculum, and the place of the past in our current worldview rages in many countries. We at 15-Minute History believe that understanding the past is vital for many reasons, and although we do not intend to get involved in political or cultural clashes in our podcasts we do want to provide some clear and valuable lessons from history this season. It is our hope that you, our audience, will continue to appreciate what the past can teach us. As we have said many times, understanding the past is key if we are to know ourselves in the present and where we are going in the future. We welcome you to Season Four of 15-Minute History and are excited to have you with each week as we walk in history's footsteps, 15 minutes at a time.
