Barack Obama loves history. More than any other president, he has made discussions of our history—in particular our historical narrative as a country—part of his political rhetoric. While he is not the first president to talk in a way that includes the story of marginalized groups, there is no question that his level of inclusiveness—both in terms of breadth (for example, he broke new ground by mentioning Stonewall, the seminal event in the movement for LGBT rights, in an inaugural address), and simply how often he has done so—far exceeds that of his predecessors.
The way the president describes our history is central to his larger project of transforming the way we understand our national identity, how we define ourselves as a people, our relationship to one another, and to the country we share.
Having President Obama speak last week at the dedication of the new National Museum of African American History & Culture—built on the National Mall, at the heart of our collective, national public space—offered him perhaps his last opportunity while still in office to tell our story. He didn’t disappoint.
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2dQWrvD
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