The Cost of Political Correctness

"He who refuses to study the past is destined to live it again." This was quoted to me by a history teacher in high school. I scoffed at it -- I didn’t enjoy history at the time -- but I never forgot it. And the longer I live, the more I see for myself that it is true.

Don and I watched the movie Song of the South (best known for the song "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah") last night, which someone loaned me. I didn’t ask questions. The movie has never been released for home viewing in the United States, so I knew I had a rare treasure on my hands.

Why has it never been released? Disney does have some quirks about what they release and when, but the word is that the racial issues in the movie are now considered politically incorrect.

The movie never states exactly when it is set, but it was apparently around the time of the Civil War. It depicts black people (now called "African Americans") as slaves, or possibly recently-released slaves who chose to stay on with their owner, who seems for the most part to show them kindness. They speak in a dialect that is rarely heard today and are basically subservient to the white people in the movie.

One of the main characters, a black man named Uncle Remus, develops a close bond with the children in the film, both white and black, captivating them with his stories, teaching them to laugh and be happy in spite of their circumstances, and to stand up for themselves. He eventually helps to save a white boy’s life, and is a hero when the story ends. The film was released in 1946, and at that time it was not considered controversial.

So why is it so controversial now? Our society seemingly can’t accept this movie now because it depicts black people as slaves. Though it may seem harsh, the truth is, slavery REALLY HAPPENED. The movie is fictionalized, but, as far as I can tell, historically accurate, though some may object that it glosses over the horrific aspects of slavery.

Are we denying the past in favor of political correctness? Do we not want our children to know what happened in the history of our country: how a race of people was wrongly treated, and what it took to correct the problem? This movie doesn’t directly depict all of this, but I believe that’s the essence of why it hasn’t been released.

Perhaps if we had studied that time in our history more closely, we would have been kept from making a mistake which, in my way of thinking, has many similarities to slavery: the legalization of abortion. Once again, we are regarding a group of people as less than human, treating them in heinous ways because we find it necessary to support our own way of life. I believe that somewhere in everyone’s heart they know this is wrong, but they are more afraid of losing their freedom than they are of having to answer to God.

It took some of the darkest days in our nation’s history to end slavery. A country divided, a horrible war fought in which over 1,000,000 soldiers were either killed or maimed. Many people lost all they had. Freed slaves found themselves without shelter or food. A president was assassinated. The country, though legally united afterward, still felt a huge rift for many years to come. I believe that even now, nearly 150 years later, we are still suffering the consequences of all this in some ways.

Will it take something so horrible to end abortion as well? What about all the other things going on in our country today that ignore God’s commandments?

I believe the breach between those who stand for what is right and those who stand for what is wrong is growing greater and greater. I don’t think it’s something that’s just going to work itself out. I hope and pray that it won’t take another civil war or something worse to bring our country back around to what it should be, that we will learn from history before it has to repeat itself. May God have mercy on us all.