What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism by Rather Dan

Author:Rather, Dan [Rather, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Politics, History, Biography
ISBN: 9781616207847
Goodreads: 36711006
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2017-11-07T08:00:00+00:00

Books

Danny, show them your library card.”

I was a young boy, on my first journey downtown to the main branch of the Houston Public Library. It was the most spectacular building I had ever seen. And I was being told I had a special key—a library card—that could unlock all the knowledge that surrounded me: the thousands of titles printed in the card catalog, the stacks that seemed to go on for miles. I, the son of an oil field worker, now belonged here among the books. I dug in my pocket and produced my prized possession.

This experience was not unique. In small farming towns and big industrial cities, in immigrant neighborhoods and in wealthy communities, young children and people of all ages could, and did, head to libraries in large numbers to access a world of knowledge for free. Hundreds of libraries across the nation, often among the most beautiful buildings in their communities, had been built over the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries through the largesse of the industrialist Andrew Carnegie. As a young man, Carnegie hadn’t been able to afford a fee to a private library, and it was an experience he never forgot. He believed there should be no barriers to books and study, that knowledge should be democratic. As with so much of the American story, a glaring exception to this narrative centered on race. Most libraries in the South—including Houston—were segregated, and some Carnegie funds were set aside for “colored” libraries.

I recognize a quaintness in waxing nostalgic about libraries in an age when we have instantaneous access to more information than was contained in all the combined library collections of my youth. Still, libraries represent an aspirational notion of democracy. They were, and still are, civic institutions that welcome anyone who wishes to become a more informed and independent citizen. In books we can find expert and trustworthy scholarship on any subject imaginable. By reading books, we can continually challenge our own biases and learn beyond our level of formal education. These are qualities that are needed now more than ever.

Historically, leaders across the political spectrum have encouraged a reverence for knowledge. There was a belief that our civic discourse should be infused with informed and well-reasoned arguments. This has been a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy, stretching back to the birth of the United States. Just as we have statues and memorials to great battles and political leaders, we have monuments to knowledge. Perhaps one of the most elegant examples is the Dome Room in the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. If you stand in the center and look in all directions, you will see columns framing magnificent windows with sweeping views. Hidden from your sight line, in an ingenious piece of architectural design, are grand bookshelves radiating out toward the windows like spokes in a great wheel of learning. The expanse of the beautiful Virginia landscape is what is visible, but the words, the scholarship, and the books, though invisible in the moment, are what give the space its meaning.

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