#577 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Tuesday February 7)
Good morning,
WISDOM AND PERSPECTIVE FROM HARRY TRUMAN
A month or so ago I commented on the rhetoric of two great Americans of the 1950s—Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower, both of whom offered themselves up for president. I was moved by their essential humanity, searing logic, and challenge to their fellow citizens to simply be better. Before their battles for the presidency, there was an “accidental president.” Harry S Truman (the “S” stands for nothing, by the way) ascending to the presidency upon the death of the beloved (or, in some circles, reviled) FDR.
Truman was uneducated, didn’t seek the presidency and brought with him a certain “down home” wisdom. In an era where every thought by Donald Trump is broadcast far and wide on the Internet, when every consideration of every issue is discussed on the national stage, it bears noting that many of these people had “inner thoughts” that were written for self-reflective purposes and for future generations. This makes these words, in contemplation of the Atomic Age and America’s immense power particularly incisive, contemplative and humble, in a way we don’t see often these days:
“I thought of Carthage, Baalbek, Jerusalem, Rome, Atlantis, Peking, Babylon, Nineveh—I hope for some sort of peace—but I fear that machines are ahead of morals by some centuries and when morals catch up perhaps there’ll be no reason for any of it.” Harry S. Truman, diary entry, July 1945
WHOSE ARTIFACTS ARE THESE?
Speaking of Carthage and Rome, I continue to ponder the recent controversies about works of antiquity that are housed in the great Western museums in New York, London, Paris, and Rome. They were gathered together over the past several hundred years by explorers, colonizers, art museums, and historians. There are those who believe that these items have been “looted” and should be returned to their country of origin. Museums the world over are now trying to review the provenance for these items, which in less than half the cases actually came from indigenous people.
My beef is that two ideas—that these artifacts are the property of the local population as well as that these artifacts belong to everyone—can exist simultaneously. Neither one is demonstrably incorrect but neither one “100% true.” By way of example, there is little doubt that the Benin Bronzes belong to the Benin and Senegal—to a point. The question is not whether they should be returned, so much as “how many should be returned?” I would submit that France is entitled to retain some of these artifacts, so they can serve to educate and enlighten other people to the cultures of Africa.
My knowledge of the history of Benin, Nigeria and neighboring countries is rusty, but I think it fair to suggest that the current inhabitants are no more connected to the ancients than the current Italians “own” the Roman culture or Greeks are the only descendants of the ancient Greeks.
My point is that we are all part of a single family (or, at least, that’s what we would like to believe). As such, it is incumbent upon our shared culture to make artifacts of prior worlds available for viewing and study by a broad number of people. Imagine if, before the “first Taliban era,” all Assyrian artifacts were sent to Afghanistan. We all know the end of that story—the wholesale destruction of important religious, political and social artifacts in the name of a current (and hopefully temporary) regime that holds these works to be heretical.
WHO OWNS THE PAST?
Hanna Barbos Cesnik wrote a wonderful essay on this subject in the Summer 2021 issue of The American Scholar. In it, she asks the question of who owns patrimony. Ms. Cesnik (a first year law student at the time of publication) excerpted our Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as instructive. That Act is imperfect but forward looking, describing such items as:
“…having ongoing historical, traditional or cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, rather than the property owned by an individual Native American…”
Basically the law suggests that, unless a single individual has the ability to alienate or convey such an item, perhaps that item belongs to all people.
Among the more persuasive observations she quotes is Kwame Anthony Appiah, who “…asserts a universalist understanding…that makes plain that the value of cultural property is to people and not to peoples.” These things are owned by all people and not specific peoples (or individuals).
In her words, “…It isn’t people…who experience and value art. It’s individuals. And individuals deserve to see a diversity of art wherever they are; European art should adorn African museums, and African art should grace the walls of South American galleries…”
DOESN’T IT BELONG TO ALL OF US?
Basically, these items add to the culture of the world—and not simply the culture of an indigenous tribe far back in history and certainly not just the people who claim to be descended from that tribe. And who owns artifacts of a nation or society that no longer exists?
Ancient cultures have left behind beautiful statuary and art and, through their art, are sending us a message that they were once here and creating these artifacts for future generations to share and understand who they were. Just as the inhabitants of “Whoville” in Horton Hears a Who, and like the Voyager satellites we have sent out beyond our solar system, perhaps Etruscans, Anasazi, Greeks and others have sent us a message with the works of art from their time: “We are here. We are here.” It is up to all of us to hear them, acknowledge them, and learn from them.
In order to honor their prior existence and their importance to the current world, we must get the word out to as many people as possible—and that means sharing their artifacts broadly, throughout the world.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: