[QUOTE=Laker14;2001002]
Quote:
Originally Posted by n8xwb
I read this early today ----
"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) determined recently that America's founding documents may be "harmful or difficult" for some users to view since they reflect "outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions."[/QUOT
Here's a link to the NARA site, explaining further that statement.
NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Content | National Archives
I think what the site attempts to explain, at the top of the page, is that documents from the past, and subsequent archivists' descriptions of documents and events may contain language that, at the time, was accepted, but now is not.
As I read the page, I understand it to say that they are working to eliminate racist, and exclusionary or otherwise offensive language going forward, and providing insight as to the general attitudes of society at the time the historical documents were drafted and archived, but NOT to rewrite or change the original documents, or archivist's explanations as they were originally drafted.
I hope this is what they are saying and doing. It is important, in order to avoid repeating bad history, to know what it was, and not to whitewash it into what we wish it was, or what we would like to believe it was. |
Thank you for that. The Original Poster seems to have completely misunderstood the web site, which is explaining why the records wii NOT be changed but will continue to offend some people today. Hooray for that! I’m sick and tired of people trying to erase people from history because they were people of their times. (For example, a couple years ago I visited Monticello and was astonished to find that Jefferson’s political career was barely mentioned. Instead, I was given the idea that the most important thing about him was that didn’t free his “enslaved persons” or had them.)
Here’s what the site actually says:
“ What harmful or difficult content may be found in the National Archives Catalog and our web pages?
Some items may:
reflect racist, sexist, ableist, misogynistic/misogynoir, and xenophobic opinions and attitudes;
be discriminatory towards or exclude diverse views on sexuality, gender, religion, and more;
include graphic content of historical events such as violent death, medical procedures, crime, wars/terrorist acts, natural disasters and more;
demonstrate bias and exclusion in institutional collecting and digitization policies.
Why does the National Archives make potentially harmful content available?
NARA’s mission is to preserve and provide access to the permanent records of the federal government. NARA, working in conjunction with diverse communities, will seek to balance the preservation of this history with sensitivity to how these materials are presented to and perceived by users.”
So they aren’t rewriting it, but trying to present it in a way that will avoid complaints. That makes sense.