As an immigrant from Jamaica, it wasn't until I saw our National Parks that I desired fervently to become an American citizen. A country that would save its most scenic lands from development even as it protected the places where pivotal history was made inspired my respect and made me yearn to be part of it. Shortly after my husband Frank and I returned from our road trip around the country when we "discovered" the National Park System in 1995, I took and passed my citizenship test. What a great day!
Twenty year later, I was privileged to spend the week before July 4, 2015 Independence Day, at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. In many ways it was a reconnection, as we'd visited the monument on our first trip out, and this time the Park Ranger leading our tour was an old friend from Everglades National Park in Florida. (One of the best parts of being a fan of the parks is that I run into friends wherever I go, as Park Rangers have the freedom to transfer to any park in the country.)
But something was different about Mt. Rushmore this visit. Seated in the amphitheater at the nightly lighting ceremony, surrounded by about 2,000 of my countrymen and women, many with young children, I felt a sudden shock. The patriotic music flowing over me in waves, the sudden breathtaking sight of the Presidents bathed in light on the mountain, and the powerful words coming from the speakers struck me like a lightning bolt:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
"A house divided against itself cannot stand....I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. ...I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." - Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858.
My mind flew to the uproar over the right to fly the divisive confederate flag since it was revealed to be a contributor to the motives of the Charleston killer. How is it that we are still fighting this "battle" for the soul of our country and our common humanity when it was established 239 years ago in the Declaration of Independence? Perhaps those who would hurt, maim and kill their countrymen for "pride" and "heritage" should come to Mt. Rushmore, I thought, and hear again from the mouths of the Founding Fathers.
But they need not travel that far, actually. At Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia, you can see the actual table where Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant sat when he accepted the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from General Robert E. Lee sitting across from him April 9, 1865. At this site, you can learn every detail about this seminal act of surrender leading to the conclusion of the Civil War. This is settled history, and the fact that the place where it happened was granted permanent protection by Congress in 1940 as part of the National Park System is an incontrovertible testament to the baseless irrelevance of the current controversy.
I cannot overstate the effect it has on me when I stand in one of the historic sites, national battlefields or national trails in the National Park System where history was made. In Tennessee last month I spoke at a conference hosted by the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, The Trail of Tears and the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. Some of the events they immortalize happened over 10,000 years, such as the Natchez Trace trail being worn 444 miles into the forests by the feet of generations of Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw. European settlers used this trail to make their way westward into the heart of our country.
This immigrant learned American history from the 400-plus units of the National Park System, even though I've only visited 171. The experiences I've had in them make me a strong believer in the redemptive power of first-hand knowledge. Too many Americans have only a vague idea of what happened here, but the Park System allows us to experience it fully - from the artifacts of giant extinct animals that I picked out in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, to the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement that I followed along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama.
As the National Park Service - which manages the Park System - prepares to celebrate its 100th Anniversary in August 2016, the greatest gift it can give our country is more information and an invitation for all to visit these great places and literally find "our" place in them.