re: #132 srb1976

Just to play devil’s advocate for a minute…While I don’t think that that sort of thinking is OK by any means… There is a very large difference between private citizens thinking that way and the State thinking that way.
It’s one thing if you have a group of people bending over backwards to try not to acknowledge the accomplishments of , and this is creepy, but not nearly as creepy as having a government decree that scholars MUST not acknowledge or cite the accomplishments of
(Realizing how much trouble I’m having typing and REALLY hoping this makes some small amount of sense)

It definitely makes sense, and you’re right, there is a difference. (Hi, srb!)
What bothers me is the similarity in sentiment. In both cases there’s a kind of uber-nationalism, a need to believe that all accomplishments come from the chosen nation, and a need to wipe out the idea that other nations or peoples contribute, even if that means distorting history itself.
You also get this blending of the State or the Nation with the idea that acknowledging the contributions of others is somehow a betrayal of the State or Nation. It creeps me out, and I think the seeds of that sort of thought are present on the wingnutty right— cf Pat Buchanan’s blather about ‘real Americans’ and ‘white America’.