Reclaiming Authenticity, July 1, 2022
Reclaiming Authenticity with Dr James Houck
Title: The Sterilization of American History Rethinking the Cognitive Dissonance.
Reclaiming Authenticity
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Reclaiming Authenticity: The courage to reclaim that which has always been in you.
No matter who we are, where we were born, and into what family we were placed, ours is a world full of relationships. Indeed, we are social beings who spend our lives making sense of our world by trying to find our place in the world. As social beings, it is often within the context of relationships that we experience tremendous pain and suffering. From overt acts of betrayal and cruelty that someone may have inflicted against us or vice versa, to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, many people bear the scars of physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual wounds. And yet ironically, just as we experience our woundedness in relationships, it is also within the context of healthy relationships that we find our healing and authenticity. The difficulty, then, is often finding the courage to discover that which has always been in you.
For over 25 years, Dr. James Houck has been helping people discover their authentic selves by integrating spirituality into their mental and emotional health. As people are able to integrate these disciplines, they often discover core issues that have been keeping them wounded in relationships.
mental health and spirituality. Dr. James house
okay well hello hello good afternoon everybody wherever you are in the world at this time welcome to reclaiming authenticity helping you find your courage to reclaim that which has always been in I am so happy to be with you here this day and guess what it is the first day of July 2022 can you believe it we are in July and don't blank because before you know it we're going to be singing Christmas carols or Hanukkah songs or or however you celebrate the holiday season coming up in the fall / winter months sell but for now we are just starting with the month of July and just I want to wish everybody just an early Fourth of July weekend out there it's interesting I've been talking to a couple of emergency room doctor friends of mine and those who are working this weekend then they say this is going to be the busy
what is the busiest day of the year the weekend for them just because I shouldn't be mixing alcohol and fireworks and so that you know what they're mine. It's never a good combination cuz they often see people come in with missing fingers and third degree burns and everything else so I tell you what folks be very very careful out there celebrate of course celebrate celebrate this is a time for a coming together with family and friends and potato salad and everything else but please do it responsibly still at responsibly so anyway so again just wish everybody just an early happy Fourth of July so each week with these broadcast so I just want to remind people who just might be turning in for the very first time that the Eastern Standard Time in the afternoon
to the integration of spirituality and our mental health very intentional very specific this topic well I am dr. James hauke and if you would like more information about me or if you want to leave me your comments about Today show I just invite you to visit our website at www.ge.com forward slash reclaiming authenticity alwan work there so www.bbnradio.org cam reclaiming authenticity and if you would like to call in and be part of the show I invite you to do that here is the 800 number is 888-627-6008 at 888-627-6008 and I will be taking your calls in the second half of the show and also just wanted to remind everybody that these broadcasts are also podcast
to go back and listen again to this particular show or if you want to go back into the archives and listen to previous shows again invite you to do that in case you've missed an episode or couldn't stay a whole hour with me at one point or another or if you're just going down the list and something you know catches your eye if you want to hear more about it so it just again you go on the website and just look in the archetypes and Bisquick on that you'll be able to pull it right up and listen to it and I appreciate that well how is your heart today I hope your heart is well I hope you are well I hope all is well with your salt and I hope that if you are even struggling the littlest the least bit today I pray that you will find rest comfort and the piece that you need psychologically emotionally physically even spiritually
and so again for the sake of those who might be tuning in for the very first time I was just like the share just at the very beginning just two deep-seated beliefs in myself that have helped to shape my Outlook on why this show is titled reclaiming authenticity and the first is that I truly believe that people have the answers within themselves because this is what I mean by that because you know the kind of life you want to live you know how you feel you know what brings you peace and joy and hope and happiness and so forth and you know what doesn't and the second is I also believe that everybody comes into this world with what they already need in terms of this life and in terms I should say I have their gifts and talents and Graces and skills and the very best parts of who you are but we all
go through life and we experienced some pretty unpleasant events or perhaps we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and we end up suffering some pretty traumatic injuries and though these experiences we have that we may have the the Tennessee to stop believing in ourselves that because of these things that have happened to us where because of our past and so forth that we just don't really believe anymore that we are filled with our values and dignity and worth that night just cause us to want to hide our giftedness the high the very best parts of ourselves so let's say that these will not be exploited by others but end up going through life you know just being in relationship with one another from a place of woundedness and and we get frustrated and angry and we just can't find any satisfaction
and peace in this life and instead I think we're all intended to be in relationship with one another from a place of healing and wholeness but we may still have a lot of work to do in terms of our own healing and wholeness and this is the whole point of reclaiming authenticity helping people discover what has always been in that I said welcome to the month of July and come about you but the past couple of weeks or so I just been getting the messages and dreams and just other things coming to me and it's just it's the same message and it gives me a lot of Hope because the messages have been about transformation or moving from Death to life or walking in newness of life and certainly leaving the past behind us without forgetting the lessons we've learned along the way
and that's huge that is huge, because I just want to remind you of a just a well well used quote it's that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it and then actually came from George something I know he's an Italian poet and philosopher of all around good Statesman basically what he said was just another words the mistakes will be perpetuated over and over again until people see the total falsehood of their destructive actions and attitudes and assumptions now you might be more familiar with Winston Churchill who used part of this or I should say he paraphrased at this quote from Santa Anna when he was addressing the British Parliament in 1948
although he actually said that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it
I've been thinking a lot about The Lion King song of you I've seen it on Broadway maybe you've seen the you know the Disney version of it or that applications and so forth but there's just one scene. Just goes hand-in-hand with this you know people who do not learn from the mistakes that they make you know from history are forever doomed to repeat it if you remember the scene when Simba the lion and wise animal in there and you know he think I learned this lesson of what who are you and I just didn't know and you know at one point the I should say Rafiki and Simba
not missing a beat says why you know what it doesn't matter cuz it's in the past
and right away Simba says yeah but it still hurts and Rafiki comes in with the classic line yes the past can hurt but the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it
not bad for a Disney you got to give Disney as props on that one okay so it's all saying the same thing you know that those who cannot learn from history those cannot learn from the mistakes you're going to keep repeating them I'm going to keep repeating them everybody has to learn with what's been coming before us so that we do not discontinue make the same mistakes or just you know the emotional psychological or physical and even spiritual cans down the road and say not my problem again in when we do that all the while innocent people become hurt this quote from The Lion King and from Winston Churchill and actually from something out of himself actually has bearing on today's theme of the sterilization of American History rethinking cognitive dissonance
well couple of weeks ago I'm sure that you've seen the news the fact that the national museum of the American Latino will probably not be completed for at least another 10 years but this huge step was taken towards its realization and it said it's coming but they are going to do some things in the meantime and this realization when the future Smithsonian museums first exhibit opened up as what being referred to as as a pop up on the National Mall in in Washington DC now for centuries we have diverse Latino communities who have played very foundational roles in building the United States and shaping its National culture and with the Latino communities they're just Rich history and Legacies that just predates well well well before the United States was ever thought about becoming
and these are deeply rooted in our country's pursuit of democracy and freedom and a celebration of multiculturalism and Economic Opportunity and their stories and perspectives really actually help us to the deepen our understanding of the United States and what it means to be American and that's a quote from the national museum of the American Latino in December of 2020 there was a legislation piece of legislation that passed calling for the Smithsonian to establish the national museum of the American Latino and this new Museum will be the Cornerstone for visitors to come and walk the Halls to learn how Latinos have contributed and continue to contribute to the United States through their art their history their culture and their science
and additionally it will serve as a gateway to other exhibitions and Collections and programming at other Smithsonian museums and research centers traveling exhibition Services now there is an article from NPR that was it was back in June 18th just like I said few weeks account title of present-day and that's what they're calling this national museum of the American Latino and this present covers for themes Colonial Legacy war and u.s. expansion immigration stories and the shaping of the nation
okay but then let's say that famous quote together those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it okay just keep that in the back of your mind cuz I find an interesting you know that there are over 35,000 museums throughout the United States and each museum is unique in and of itself and they all focus on a specific time in history or Humanities achievements and also focusing on individuals who exemplify let's say the American Spirit
now indeed you can certainly get an education simply by spending hours and hours walking up and down the car doors and you know these museums and reading descriptive tags under photos of gadgets and paintings however what I find equally astonishing is that not every Museum always displays and tells the whole story
because oftentimes museums will put on a good face for the public you know that is offering seminars and free tours and I don't even invite guest speakers to promote these programs but still there are many times when the shall we say the ugliness of American crimes against humanity remains hidden from the public eye
and this exclusion often creates this cognitive dissonance throughout Society whereby there is a distortion of our perception of let's say in consistent information another words when our beliefs and actions do not line up a classic example of this meal I can give is like wow I know that smoking is bad for me versus but I'm a heavy smoker so I either have to quit or I have to justify my smoking
that's cognitive dissonance okay and just staying with this just a little bit more and trust me I do, while tied back into what's going on with American Museum social psychologist Beaver name is that Carol tabbris and it's in title of mistakes were made but not by me why we justify foolish beliefs bad decisions and hurtful axe might even be an essay that she wrote she also had written an essay on design flaws that occur in our brains that has to lie to ourselves about horrific mistakes we've made and then we go and we make them again
cuz she says she goes on to say that most people when directly confronted by evidence that they're wrong did not change their point of view or course of action the but actually justify it even more consistently and we even irrefutable evidence is rarely enough to pierce that mental armor of self-justification the quote mishap furthermore in this horrifying web of self-deception the greater the pain we inflict on others the greater the need to justify it to maintain our feelings of decency and self-worth and other words it doesn't matter what I do to somebody I'm still a good person and you know and so on so forth there's like no repentance there is no remorse there's no what can I do to make amends and so forth
now I know my audience out there and then you're probably ten steps ahead of me right now by thinking what does cognitive dissonance have to do with genocide and museums and not learning from the mistakes of History
everything
against those who fail to learn from their mistakes in the past are destined to repeat them so what are the mistakes that you know from our past that Humanity keeps making over and over again what are what are the mistakes that keep us from continually going down the road of destructive actions or or just destructive attitudes and assumptions
well interesting Lee enough The Western Isles world of mental health therapy and medicine and spirituality and Physiology I think they also have to discover the benefit of knowing how history continues to speak through the living and perhaps despite what we've been taught in biology or theology or psychology classes various personal experiences reveal that the history AKA that is the dead do speak in many different ways the fact they speak to us in our dreams through our condition behaviors or attitudes and perceptions or thought processes or learned helplessness or work ethics or interpersonal relationships and phobia is an addictions and so forth all handed down to us from one generation after another
perhaps you might even know somebody in your family who has a certain mannerisms that is a spitting image of a deceased relative whom they've never met and in my family is my grandmother always used to tell me that I reminded her of her deceased grandfather who died in the coal mines when my father was two years old you know she used to say you know whatever you say it like that and hold your head a certain way why you laughed you always remind me of George
and yeah it's just because I like I said I wasn't even born yet never even met the man but she says you know just by what you do you know who you remind me of him and as of what I didn't know what she meant for the longest time but for her it was as if George continues to live on in the family and indeed he does
well family secrets and personal stories of Injustice is that were intended to be taken to the Grave also live on in present generation in fact you know those so-called family and Society secrets are often revealed again and again and again through traumas that have been passed down through the language of blood and the voice of the Soul intact for all of our feeble attempts to sanitize human history blood that has been spilt in the name of murder genocide Manifest Destiny cover-ups the doctrine of Discovery slavery for starvation and Camp mints lynching exterminations to name a few are still evident in both not only the land that holds the energy where the blood was shed
but it also has a tendency to ensnare the souls there
an interesting you know these these phenomena are especially true when such violent crimes against humanity were committed in the name of God that is something that still baffles me to this day it's like how do we use the name of God to justify is just is this just another form of cognitive dissonance Perhaps it is a fundamental belief that is often used in the name of God to justify such mistreatment of humanity is what Kevin at it you know who is the foundation of or the powder I should say of the international tribunal in the crimes of church and state he also describes it as this that when God is on our side we can commit any crime because we believe we are absolved individually from that crime believing we have a higher sanction
and that's the danger of religion it allows people to do that
so how did we get here
well let's take a trip down memory lane with the doctrine of Discovery and the emphasis of the doctrine of Discovery was due to its dependence on the collaboration of the church and state that cemented the fate of indigenous people and popes had given their blessing and anointed these rulers as Representatives as Sanctified conquerors to go forth and confiscate and control of their lands of anything they discovered not already claimed by Christian rulers and other words the Catholic Church treated indigenous peoples as if they were animals they had no European title to the land on which they lived and then here's a good example 40 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 okay it was a pope Nicholas the fifth he issued the king Alfonso the fifth of Portugal
the Romanus pontifex where the doctrine of discovery
and this doctor and specifically sanction war on all non Christian people and gave Explorer such as Columbus and Cortes and Pizarro and cook and Hudson and all the rest both legal and moral license to do whatever they wanted to do and then they could do anything they wanted to do to the people in the lands that they encountered and these explorers not carry the papal authority to conquer and colonize and exploit all 9 Christian lands but also to capture and Vanquish and subdue enemies another enemy of the Christian church and take their possessions and property and this papal bull as his preferred to was often viewed as an extension of the socio-political theological stance of the Crusades you know medieval centuries of military campaigns that are that were designed to expand the territory of Kristen dump across Europe and Africa
and the Middle East and although these Crusades stretched from the 11th to the 15th centuries they had no shortage of volunteers who while we're up so I'll come there since all the while Killing In The Name Of God those who did not follow Christianity so by the time Columbus sailed in 1492 you know how do you authorization to take possession of any lands he discovered that were not under the Dominion of any Christian rulers and furthermore in 4093 a year later Pope Alexander issued the interest cetera which granted Spain's Catholic king and queen Ferdinand and Isabella the right to conquer lands which club has had already found as well as any lands which Spain might discover in the future including any people discovered in such lands would be subjugated and Broad
the faith itself and this act ensured the Christian Empire would continue to expand throughout the brutal acts of genocide committed by these explorers and his and their men against indigenous people of the Caribbean another places and 1992 indigenous law instituted spearheaded the movement to revoke the center cetera the doctrine of Discovery and over 60 and digenous delegates drafted a declaration of vision at the parliament of world religions back in 94 okay and they they wrote we call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy to persuade then Pope John Paul the second to formally revoke the intersection of bull or the doctrine of discovery of May 4th 1493 which would restore our
fundamental human rights and that people document called for our Nations and peoples to be subjugated so the Christian Empire and its doctrines would be propagated
now the US Supreme Court ruling of Johnson and McIntosh in 1823 adopted the same principle of subjugation expressed in the doctrine of Discovery and its people pool has been and continues to be devastating to our religions are cultures and the survival of our populations now interesting Lee enough last year in 2021 it was the bishop of Syracuse at Douglas Lucia the bishop of Syracuse New York spoke out against the doctrine of Discovery and he urged Pope Francis to renounce this Doctrine but to date no such renunciation has occurred
so again those who fail to learn the lessons of History are forever doomed to repeat it it just keeps occurring and reoccuring and reoccuring now by the mid-eighteenth-century Spain really sought to extend its claims in Northwest California as well as strengthening defenses against the English and Russian Empires who are also seeking their clients and
again this perspective was seen again as the Divine Right in a set forth in 1493 when the law granted Spain's dominion over all lands that Columbus had located now in 1769 just a few hundred years later Spain sent Franciscan father unipro Sarah does that name ring a bell to not only spread the gospel by building a series of missions along the California coast but also to make the indigenous people productive and loyal members of the New Colony although Father Serra is given credit for building nine of these missions you know a total of 21 missions were built and they still are still there today but prior to Pope Francis canonizing Father Serra the Vatican held firm its belief that Sarah was a man of his time
in fact Father Serra help Spain colonize California by converting thousands and thousands of indigenous people to Catholicism
on the other hand from any descendants of Native American Indians and other indigenous people Father Serra was the one responsible for destroying their ancestors traditional way of life for example in exchange for their labor Father Serra was the one who promised the Native American Indians and other indigenous people gifts but they were quickly enslaved in these missions in which they lived and worked and worshipped under the authority of the Spanish priests and soldiers and their their whole native way of life their language culture religion renau stripped from them in exchange for adopting the Spanish ways of life
and I take a quote out of Castillo's book and he says the goal of christianizing the Indians was a failure due largely to The Franciscan belief that it was unnecessary to teach the Indians proper Spanish or for the fryers with a few exceptions to learn the native time so they can fully explain Christian doctrine to the people when decades later in 1833 the Indians were freed many of them manifested their resentment and anger toward the Friars by immediately casting aside their Catholicism further the Spanish government required the teaching of Christian doctrine Doctrine only in Spanish and not in any native language
well in an interview with Vincent Medina he is the assistant Museum director at San Francisco's Mission Dolores
it is recorded that native people were enslaved in those missions they were whipped if they spoke their language if they tried to escape they were forcibly brought back and flogged and punished and kept in stocks and the people were getting diseases there are horrible places to be and so forth and others have noted that this treatment reflected an attitude, at that time but missionaries could and should treat their Wards like children including the use of corporal punishment
so this theme of how many villages does it take to raise a child or destroy a child's life is something that we're going to take a look at and the second half of the show as well as if we are going to be building museums that by all means absolutely should uphold and enhance various ways of life and to honor the history of a people
let's tell the whole story let's be honest with what happened instead of just trying to whitewash over the whole thing and to sanitize American history because again
every generation has to learn these lessons or they will forever repeat those less than the attitudes of the assumptions that still plague people today well I really love to hear your hearts on this matter so if you would like to call in and be part of the show I invite you to call in that number is 888-627-6008 that's 888-627-6008 and as I said I'll be taking your calls after the break you are listening to reclaiming authenticity of your host dr. James hauke
hey welcome back I'm dr. James how can you are ruining to reclaiming authenticity well earlier in the show I was talking about how museums and other public places that display historical artifacts and pictures excetera to put on a good face present to the public but still there are many other aspects of American history that are not displayed and you have to wonder why why don't we get the full history of a people that is to be celebrated and although I started off the show with focusing on the national museum of the American Latino Latino American no way am I picking on the American Latino in fact I think all cultures need to be celebrated for certainly there are is just a rich history and people but when the American history comes along and the special
somebody placed in Washington d.c. to put on a good face and scrub it up and make it nice and shiny and by all means highlight of a great people but should we just wink at the fact that during the colonial days of the colonial era of American History that's well that was just the way it was or there's nothing we can do about it now well again let's go back to that quote I started with those who do not learn from history are forever doomed to repeat it because the colonization is not going on today and a lot of these aspects have occurred centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries ago still the attitudes the perspectives the prejudices and so forth you know for
the most part have gone unchecked you know there are still pockets of of cultures that experienced tremendous tremendous hate crimes and tremendous stress and suffering you know politically or theologically or within Society itself okay so the first half the show just by tossing out there this again another quote that we like to kick around a society that it often takes a village to raise a child and when you look back over American history or even world history and you look back over the just
when one form or another let's say the indigenous boarding schools and so forth we find that it's not just one person it's not just one Village but they're often entangled together just a conglomerate of the the same religion or politics or the educational system or something that. No one aspect in society work by themselves okay so is interesting this theme of how many villages within the church and state does it take to hide a history of abuse and neglect in genocide even continues to this day and if you recall back in 2015 that's when Pope Francis visited the United States and that's when he officially made father unipro Sarah a saint at a mass that he celebrated at the National Shrine of the immaculate
conception in Washington DC and ironically to canonize a saint who is considered instrumental in American history as well as marking this ceremony in the American Capital was hailed by some as a great day in the Catholic Church
however you know there was one Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles he called the canonization of fathers are the most important dimension of the Pope's visit to the United States still others view the event as just another example of how the church and the state work together to perpetuate centuries of socioeconomic prejudices or oppressive attitudes and contempt for people who are considered weak and wounded and we're over years prior to the Pope's visit to United States Catholics advocated for Native American Indians mother indigenous people around the country they were asking the church to not only recognize this terrible history in the church is past but also to understand the concern indigenous people have for the canonization of such a figure
and also back in 2015 and it was in February long before Pope Francis visited in an open letter to Pope Francis written by Valentin Lopez he was chairman of the Jetson tribal band he stated his disapproval for the canonization of universe are because the missions that are all up and down the California coast were brutal on Native Americans and Indigenous people and he wrote the reality of the California emission system has yet to be accurately taught in California schools or recognized by the Catholic Church alright 2015 elementary school children tour mission grounds and are taught that native people were docile and childlike Savage pagans and they were saved by the king but Evelyn Padres but in reality the human remains
thousands of indigenous people are scattered beneath the grounds of the missions that were built by indigenous slaves that's Garrison's for the church in the Spanish Crown indigenous people died of rape and beatings and diseases introduced by the Spanish conquistadors in California and Spanish priests did little to recognize indigenous people as humans I didn't come to the rescue when women were being raped by soldiers and settlers and with an over 90% indigenous mortality rate Sarah hardly saved many Souls
now just between you and me I would like to walk the 21 missions of the California coast is there on you know or near Highway 101 it's called the California historical Mission Trail it's about a 650 mile track and I'll call it a bucket-list thing is just something I feel like I I need to do just to see for myself but again this letter that was sent and and just the insensitivity that many people felt that in spite of the history again Pope Francis just kind of nice father Europa unipro Sarah
so what's going on here is it just blatant disregard for history or is it just a lack of learning the lessons from the past so we keep making those mistakes over and over again
I don't know you tell me
but you know there is another aspect of let's say intergenerational trauma that haunts a people who have been victimized over and over and over again. That seems to go hand-in-hand with people or communities in ability to move on and that's the public apology and I'm sure you like me you've noticed with in recent decades there has been a steady stream of public apologies made on behalf of government and ecclesiastical leaders for the inhumane treatment sexual abuse is prejudiced behavior and outright Slaughter of people for many cultural backgrounds
and the public acknowledgment of such Behavior comes often as result of uncovering crimes against humanity or investigative reporting and or the work of Truth commissions just to name a few I'm not poo poo in the idea of public apologies but I'll be at a step in the right direction some people believe that these public apologies for the historical atrocities often include what I would call just an air of dismissive justification again, detective dissonance of well that's the way the world was back that and there's no explanation for the mistreatment of people for the greater good of a Nation or a world
I'll take time out right now and I'll just throw out two words for you Chavez Ravine okay if you know the history of California you know that Chavez Ravine that has a rich history of the Latino population rich rich history and if any of you this after the Fourth of July celebration if any of you out there are going to be watching the All-Star Game baseball All-Star game is going to be held in Los Angeles
Dodger Stadium
now what in the world does Dodger Stadium have to do with Chavez Ravine
I'm going to give you some homework I'm going to let you search that one out okay cuz it's it's interesting you got eminent domain in there you got the you know the say the people of Chavez Ravine pulled a fast one on them and a lot of people who are forced out of their homes and so forth all for the sake of let's say taken possession of prime real estate and building Dodger Stadium back in the 1960s okay but I'm not going to say anything more about that I'll tell you what do your own research come up with your own conclusions but just if you're going to watch the All-Star Game and brought Dodger Stadium this year on Tuesday night okay
just start connecting the dots that's all I'm going to say and then so anyway getting back to public apologies in a sense you know the Contemporary leaders of today you know often or often offer an apology for the past without accepting any responsibility for doing anything wrong let alone not acknowledging being part of less a socio-economic or political or educational and or religious systems that still perpetuate oppressive ski
again those who fail to learn the lessons from history will be forever doomed to repeat them, so whether it was the advancement of science sore Manifest Destiny or a belief of all I'm in the divine right or violence in one form or another it's always been Justified against their weaker or under educated under civilized or an underdeveloped people
and this is not my opinion let history speak for itself and ironically this rationale for Force always seems to come from the perspective of people who use their military might or a political power or religious Zeal and or an outright less to hang on to their piece of power and control for as long as possible
in fact history often Bears witness to this kind of phenomenon from generation to generation to generation okay and so again if you want to Google this type in eminent domain and Chavez Ravine Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles okay and then we'll come back to that one but let me know what you find and it's interesting to say the least so how do you move beyond your past how do you as a quote from The Lion King how do you put your your behind past you okay and which you know Puma got it wrong so it's like how do you put your past in the past okay how do you move on with your life without somebody saying you know what it doesn't matter what you do doesn't matter what you say doesn't matter how educated you are
or how much money you make we know who you are because we have these preconceived notions and we have these ideas about your type of people and that's all you're ever going to be and so systems are set up to kind of
naked people a fair chance not give them the same opportunities that everybody else does or whatever the case may be okay but how do you get past that how do you as a person who wants to get ahead in Life or wants to celebrate the richness of their history the culture the Arts the music the Customs the Norms the languages and so forth how do you do that when you have other people saying not so fast
well for one thing you ignore the people who are saying not so fast
they've fully don't understand history they do not recognize how the people who are considered weak and wounded the vulnerable populations the richness that they have brought and how it was so easily discarded so by all means the Latino American Museum the national museum of the latino-american I should say quote that properly by all means will I visit it absolutely yes cuz I do want to celebrate the American Latino I want to celebrate all cultures but I think they need to have a section of all museums that say it needs to begin with an apology an apology or an acknowledgement
and then tell the whole story
tell the whole story from a people who had to endure such atrocities and the Brazilian see that it's stirred in them to pretty much say you know what didn't matter what you did to us in history were still here we are still here
I know this is something I've got shared with this audience already but this was something that I learned from my Lakota friends who came out to Philadelphia area and they were out here you just doing a weekend speaking engagement and and they wanted to see the Carlisle boarding school and the cemetery that was there because you know they've never seen it before and I go are you sure you want to do this because I know the atrocities of the Carlisle Indian boarding school and so they wanted to go and when we got there we walk the grounds and there was many tears there was many guys feel sick to my stomach that this happened to my people and so forth and we walked up and down the you know the cemetery lots and the tiny tiny head stones that were there that had names
children who died at the boarding school
and there was some very few Stones there compared to again the historical accounts of well many children just went unreported and I would say the one thing that really hit me in my stomach was when I saw my friends stop and tear up over the headstones that were marked unknown
I had no idea this child did not have a name to stay didn't recognize this child's culture or what tribe they were from whether they were Lakota Cheyenne Apache whatever it was just no acknowledgement of that and they stood there or why should say we stood there and then one of my friends took out a pinch of tobacco and gate made a little offering and just said dear grandfather or grandmother we acknowledge your life we celebrate your life because we your ancestors are still here
and I made a huge impact on me
but when you have an indigenous people and when you have indigenous cultures who have been run roughshod over and through American history even though American history stories are not being told or shared or you may not see them in museums or other displays are going on the people are still here
they haven't forgotten
and they continued the struggle because they still faced policies and attitudes and assumptions that are against them
so what has changed
are we really learning the lessons of history or are we just kicking the can down the road for the Next Generation to try and figure it out
what sucks I don't have to tell you to go look at a newspaper or watch the evening news or even talk to your neighbors we know what's going on we know the world in which we live because it's the world in which the one way in one form or another week created
when is it going to stop
when are we going to learn that enough is enough that we don't just have to do better we need to make a change that the change first begins with us with all of us
speak up when public policy is against a certain group of people or it's going against just the basic human rights of everybody
the American people have been silent way too long
and like we could 22 well I don't care it's not my problem or why I'm waiting for somebody else to do it those those excuses they don't fly anymore
we have to acknowledge the past if we are ever going to move on and have a secure future we're going to end up an eye lighting ourselves
everyone
comes into this world already gifted and graced with the skills and talents and the very best parts of themselves and why do we not recognize it is it because of skin color is it because the religion they choose or the sexual orientation
what is it about America what is about Humanity in general that. Just really struggles to look beyond the externals and they fail to see what's in a person's heart what's in their soul who they are as a soul
let's not just do the right thing because let's do the right thing because we live in an echo and what we send out comes back to us
and we expect healing in our lives we can't treat one another
lousy we cannot harm one another because we're harming ourselves
reflection of who we are and we have everything we need to be able to turn it around so that we're not sending out hatred or bitterness or age or prejudices or any other type of messed up stereotype
that's out there but it has to begin with us first and foremost it has to begin with us
and that's how you learn from the past that's how you learn from history learn history find the mistakes find the assumptions in the underlying values that drove those things and work to correct them first in ourselves and then with one another
a Doctor James how kind you have been listening to reclaiming authenticity thank you again for sharing this hour with me and I would very much appreciate your comment about today show if you're listening to it life or if you have to be listening to it on a podcast again send me your comments at www.bts radio.com reclaiming authenticity well until next time May everybody be safe and have a good safe Pleasant Fourth of July weekend and do research on Chavez Ravine and if you're going to watch the All-Star Game Dodger Stadium this year you'll know what I mean okay so in the meantime everybody be safe and God bless
4000 comments or product to buy a book by dr. hope it's all there just to calm and we'll see you next Friday at noon Pacific Time on CBS Radio TV