Ethical Dilemma of Historic Preservation...

What, this sounds strange to you? What possible dilemma could I have with preserving old buildings? Blame it on my world travels, or my guilt ridden Catholic upbringing, or my sensitive nature...I'm not sure what to blame, but I definitely struggle with the idea of preservation in America.

The key here, is preservation in America, I don't struggle as much with say, preservation in Europe, though I still question it. I've always been a very sympathetic and worldly-conscious person. I've always related to the struggles of others, the poor, discriminated, neglected, persecuted, even if they were half a world away. I've often felt that their problems were my problems too. And I do believe this, if there is persecution and suffering anywhere in the world, it brings down the spirits of all humans, there's only one energy in the world, and we all share it. Ok, but let me not get too off track. The point is, I'm sensitive to human life, and this is where my dilemma comes in.

When you consider Historic Preservation in the U.S., we're talking about relatively young time periods, 100, 200, maybe even 300 year old buildings. Child's play to the thousand+ year old homes in a lot of the world. With our history so young, it's not hard to relate to only 100 years ago. I mean, our grandparents were likely living in these 'historic' times. So when I think of American history, inevitably, I think of Native Americans.

The history of the Native Americans since say, oh maybe 1492, sucks. Any person living in America can tell you that the white European man came to these lands 500 years ago and destroyed the way of life that Native Americans were living. I'm not saying that they lived in Utopia, I'm not saying that their way of life was idealistic. Certainly the land was fraught with war, violence, drought, starvation, disease etc. But it also saw thousands of tribes that flourished, and lived reciprocally off the land, and had harmonious relations with their neighbors. They lived their lives as they saw fit. After Columbus' 'discovery' however, the 'savage' way of life was changed forever. Native Americans were killed with astonishing speeds, they were driven out of their homes and their lands, they were forced to learn English and the 'civilized' way of life, they were forced into Christianity and boarding schools, they were placed on reservations and introduced to alcohol, they were exposed to diseases and terrible white man food...etc. etc. No one can argue that they have suffered a terrible fate at the hands of the 'pioneers'.

So lets switch gears for a second, think of some of the cute little towns historic towns in America like Williamsburg, Savannah, Jonesborough...etc. Oh their so cute and so quaint. They just scream America! They're so fun to walk around and look at the old buildings, and window shop in the cute little antique stores. I am guilty as charged. But what do these towns really represent? Is this America? Is this the true pioneer spirit of our forefathers? What is missing here....

What is missing, is the true history. What was here in Williamsburg before these cute little colonial homes? Hmmm, how about locals such as the Pamunkey and Mattaponi. Where are they now? What, you've never even heard of the Pamunkey and Mattaponi? Most Americans haven't, and that I think, is a big problem. This is the foundation of my dilemma, do I, as a historic preservationist, want to be involved in preserving a building that (in my mind) directly represents the persecution of thousands of peoples? The wigwams, longhouses, tepees and lodges are gone. We can now walk the streets of the perfect little neighborhoods with white picket fences and nice Christian families. I might seem bitter here, well, I am! What has happened to the first peoples of this land is horrendous. And the bigger problem still, is that their situation is still grim today. Native Americans have very unproportional rates of debilitating illnesses like diabetes, alcoholism, HIV, heart disease etc. Their unemployment rate is far beyond the average for non-natives. The struggles from the past are as present today as ever.

By now it should be easy to see my problem. I'm not saying that I am completely against preserving Americas built environment, obviously I'm not or I wouldn't be in this program. I believe it's important to promote community solidarity, preserve the past for education purposes, and to preserve the environment as much as possible (preservation is very green). But I am very conflicted by what should or should not be preserved and glorified.

I've talked to a few good friends about this, and I keep getting the same answer. It's our history, like it or not. It should still be preserved. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I was in Germany this past summer, and while there are a few concentration camps preserved for educational and memorial purposes, most of the Nazi error propaganda has been destroyed, rightly so in my opinion. Ok maybe that's not the best analogy, but you get my point. There's also the idea of life being circular, not lineal like we live it today. This also happens to be a strong theme in Native American life, coincidentally. There's a big part of me that respects this way of thinking. Like we are born, live through adolescence, the teen years, adulthood, old age, and then die. So does all of the world. We wouldn't want to preserve our dead relatives, so what's the difference in preserving our old buildings. Why not let them live their lives and be recycled back into the earth. What's the point in holding on so long....what are we trying to prove?

I don't know the answers to these questions. I didn't expect to be faced with such problems when I chose this career path. But there they are. And to be honest, I tend to have such dilemmas no matter what I'm doing (again with the Catholic guilt). It doesn't mean I'm going to abandon this field. Like my brother told me, 'you have to follow your true passion, and don't forget to keep asking questions along the way'. So for now that is what I'm doing. I continue to ponder these ideas, and question what is best (I don't think there is a right or a wrong here). I think it's important to ask ourselves such questions no matter what we do with our lives. That's just being human I guess.

In the meantime, I'd love some thoughts, feelings, suggestions about these ideas...