American history is not all about the glorious white Puritans? No me digas eso! You're crazy!

All sarcasm aside though, the fact is that most Americans know very little about our history hence the reason it is so easy to trick them into believing that it is all about the 13 colonies and the rich, white men who declared that this country was no longer a colony of England. You know, the ones who conveniently forgot that this land was actually not theirs to begin with?

So many of we proud Americans haven't a clue about the myriad influences of the various nations and ethnicities that have made this country what it is today and we are far too lazy to research it on our own so we look to people like Burns to spoon feed it to us and never realize that it is one sided and incomplete.

It's a sad, sad thing.

On the one hand, I agree that there's a danger that isolating Latin@ involvement in American history and giving it its own separate museum runs the risk of making it seem inessential, both separate from the "main attraction" of White Murkan history, and less important to boot. On the other hand, you have to start somewhere. I actuall think some of this stuff is really interesting and would be very important to include in any narrative of our national history. I'm thinking especially of the participation of Latino troops who fought against the British in the Revolutionary War. This, I think, is important not only because it highlights the fact that Latin@s have been a major part of American history for as long as there's been an America, but also because it presents a different story about our "Struggle For Independence." Rather than heroic Murkans fighting everyone ("with us or against us") you have a tale of cooperation and reliance on allies. Latino allies. Just sayin'.

true enough, heraclitus. perfect/enemy/good, etc.

you have to start somewhere.

Ah, but there are a few museo's around, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, New Mexico has a big one that just came on line just a few years ago, National Hispanic cultural center, the brand fuckin new Smithsonian partnered Alameda in San Antonio, many cities have smaller and community based Museums...Here in Denver it is the Museo de las Americas. I think the question begged to be answered is how to get Latino History on par and into the dominant culture's Museums without taking a back seat. Well, here's a start....Read "Exhibiting Mestizaje: Mexican (American) Museums in the Diaspora" by Karen Mary Davalos,a Loyola Marrymount Chican@ studies Prof. The back history of museums in amerikkka alone is worth the read.

cronological entry of spanis involvment in the american revolution
http://www.sar.org/mxssar/sphist.htm

Like identity politcs itself, this is but one necessary step. The larger, harder task, is to widen the mainstream narratives to include everyone's stories, along w/ an unflinching look at how power dynamics have played out between our many ethnicities. I take that task as incumbent on us all to 'assimilate' true diversity in the stories we tell each other about who we are. Mainstream america has a lot of listening to do.

Hmm...I wonder if there's a parallel study to figure out what kind of impact establishing the museum would have. I guess it's comparable to the National Museum for the American Indian in what it may try to accomplish, and I found an interesting article from the director of that museum. Here's a quote:

Viewed in this light, the NMAI possesses the potential to be more than a “museum.” We have learned that you cannot put culture in a cabinet. You can put cultural objects in cabinets, vitrines, and exhibitions, but to truly reveal the vitality of Native cultures, you need to open up the intellectual and psychic space. At the NMAI a quite extraordinary array of Native cultural expression starts to suggest the ways in which the museum has the capacity to become a larger social and civic space.

The article is a PDF, so it may take a while to load.

This statement kinda ties into a positive you've mentioned, especially in light of the long war on Mexico about which you write:

Of all the museum's exhibitions, Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories is likely to hold the greatest appeal for historians. In the exhibition, visitors are invited to question, What is history and who writes it? as they look at the last five centuries from the vantage point of eight groups of American Indians. The installation suggests that, since contact, nearly every Native community wrestled with the impact of deadly new diseases and weaponry, the weakening of traditional spirituality, and the seizure of homelands by invading governments. That said, visitors are encouraged to view indigenous history, not as a story of destruction, but as a story of survival—a story in which Native peoples intentionally and strategically kept their cultures alive.

The only thing is I'm having trouble finding what people take with them as they leave the museum; I'm only seeing presentations of what to expect when you walk inside the museum. Here's an article from Indian Country Today asking tribes to embrace the project as it began forming. It's only been about three years, but I'm wondering about how much awareness it's raised about the different Native American communities here and their cultural preservations as well as their troubles. If there's going to be some claim that opening these museums will impact the public discourse, it'd be nice to see examples of that happening, no? The first article makes mention of a group using the museum as the setting to protest a federal policy, but...what else has happened?

Here's a more critical article about the presentations of the NMAI. He argues that it teeters too far on the other side of poor representation -- that the tales of pain are glossed over for the tales of strength and survival. There's no equilibrium, and he tries to pin the blame on the Indian cultures who prepared their contributions themselves. I disagree with his premises because perhaps people do want to focus on their survival rather than their defeats over time, because historical portrayals are often written by the "winners" -- even if those winners sometimes sympathize with the "losers."

I hope this little sampling won't derail the thread, but I just thought it'd be a good idea to do a small comparison study because it might help with concretizing patterns of reactions and behaviors to opening a museum of this caliber for American Latin@s. You know? *end ramble*

Wow, Sylvia. I really appreciate all this time and information you've kicked in here. I'm going to take my time with this this evening.

Personally, as a simple fan I'm in love with the NMAI project. I've been to the downtown Manhattan museum innumerable times, indeed used to go there during lunch break just to hang out in a quiet place and be around all the lovely artifacts and pictures (a respite from the white corporate world, ya know? I'd also spend my lunch time in cathedrals, so maybe I'm weird). The stories that are told will always have critics in terms of emphasis and inflection, and rightly so. I still think such projects can only be good for us. For me at least, I find such cultural spaces tremendously valuable.

sylvia, you and kai bring interesting views, or rather, deepen the somewhat opposing views presented here originally. and i'm still not sure where to land on it. i think for me this is somethign to think on for a while, keep my mind moving, find where i'm at with it. thank you for the experiences you offer and the documents, too. i appreciate these contributions. i will use them in this thinking.

Yes, there should. If there is a Black Heritage Museum, there should be a Museum Heritage Museum. If there is Jewish History in the Military National Museum, there should be a Latinos in the Military History, NATIONAL Museum.

Yesterday I showed for the first time at the National Women in the Arts museum and it was so wonderful. I can imagine the pride I'd feel if it was a national Museum of Latinos in the Arts.

:-D
Zulma

Postmodern Sexgeek, do you the that the Spanish colonial possesions where held by poor, dark Spainards? That is one thing that our "community" must face; the Spainards were also rich and white and just as bad as the English rich whites.