We seem to be obsessed with defeating heroes. It started with figures like Washington and Jefferson and now includes figures like Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez. Every time we look at a statue, someone points out the person’s biggest failure.
Focusing on flaws makes our history feel like a battle between legend and accuser. The people who shaped this country were complex and imperfect. If we continue to replace simple myths with harsh critiques, we will miss the real story of how we got here and how we will live together.
Removing statues or renaming holidays does little to hide the reality that our foundation is built on people with profound moral flaws. Although the street names may change, the history of the area remains the same. George Washington was a slave owner. Thomas Jefferson had a child with an enslaved woman, Sally Hemings.
Other leaders we admire were a little better. Woodrow Wilson didn’t just ignore the prejudices of his time. He openly supported racism. Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. The John F. Kennedy affair posed a national security risk during the Cold War.
René Girard’s concept of the scapegoat shows that a hero can be both a member of a group and an outsider. Old myths recognized this. Romulus founded Rome, but killed his brother. Cain, the first murderer, also built the first city. These stories remind us that one person can be both a hero and a criminal.
Initiatives like the 1619 Project often replace national aspirations with a focus on historical injustice. This approach emphasizes the victim’s suffering over the founder’s achievements, reframing achievement as guilt and excellence as privilege.
History used to be written by the victors. It is currently edited by survivors. But there is a simpler problem. Who could bear it if one of us, let alone our country, were to commit the worst act?
Historians today are caught in the crossfire of this conflict. Our culture wars are a harsh retribution for the soul of our people. Qualities that once symbolized greatness are now exchanged for a new currency: our history of iniquity.
Some people look back to the pioneer days and emphasize the power of the individual. Others focus on America’s long record of injustice. Trump and his MAGA supporters often exploit the frontier’s distrust of the federal government and use Confederate symbols to assert a narrow concept of what it means to be an American. Influenced by the protests of the 1960s, many in Blue America see the country as a diverse country, dependent on the federal government to protect the rights and opportunities of all people.
When we forget what we’ve accomplished together, these stories can make unity feel like a betrayal. We begin to see each other not as neighbors, but as suspects.
The answer is not to trade one simple story for another simple story, but to tell the truth. The Founding Fathers who built and betrayed the nation, the deep neighbors we have ignored, and the nation that has experienced both successes and failures.
The country’s mythology shows that change is possible. What we do and the words we use to describe it ultimately shape us. Arguments may win arguments, but stories change positions.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Fight for the things you care about, but fight in a way that gets others involved.” Without respect and a story that helps us understand ourselves, trust is out of reach.
notes and reading
Narrative politics: stories and collective action—Frederick W. Mayer (2014). Mayer synthesizes the sciences and humanities to explain how stories serve as a primary driver of political collective action.
Confusion: National Mythology and America’s Battle—Richard Slotkin (2025). Reconsidering America’s founding myth and America’s role in political divisions.
Popular revolt and crisis of authority in the new millenniumMartin Guri (2018). Digital technologies change the information balance between elites and the general public, allowing networked movements to challenge existing institutions.
> TikTok indicates the exponential function of meMeticism and compressed storytelling across conflicts involving the United States, Israel, Russia, Iran, and Ukraine are aptly captured in the slogan: “Trends start here.”
“A story of prayer and fire” in forest gate—Elie Wiesel (1995)—The effort of remembering, even just telling the story, is enough to accomplish miracles.
In memory of memory—Maria Stepanova (2021). Russia’s greatest living poet has been shortlisted for the 2021 International Man Booker Prize, bringing together a range of ideas and figures to rethink how cultural and personal memory works.
ruth bader ginsburg“Fight for what you care about.” — Harvard Radcliffe Institute (2015). Ginsburg was responding to a question about the advice she would give to young women today.
Women are not mentioned in “Falling Heroes” along with men, perhaps another sign of ongoing oppression.
good friday world
please save us
Approximately 2+2=5
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
