In the interview regarding the shooting in Charleston, Ken Burns highlights that it is a generally accepted practice for the American population to pass through the burning stages in the development. In this regard, he emphasizes on the importance to take sometimes the role of the silent observer in relations to the events that impact directly the further development of the nation and the country in general. Moreover, the historian states that such events cover the civil wars, numerous manifestations during which one particular group of the society gets the idea as to what has the real meaning for the proper living of the individual. In addition, by virtue of the examination of the historical development of the country, the citizens can get the idea of the personal values and benefits. The same fact is supported by the lessons learned from the spread of the slavery within the North American colonies and numerous conflicts in the early centuries. Meanwhile, Ken Burns believes that any event taking place at the historical path of the country has the both positive and negative influence over the society. Even from the slavery, the population got new ideas as to the development of the culture, while the negative consequences referred to the interaction between the several groups of the population. Furthermore, the expert highlights the inevitable effect of the world events on the life of the population. The same situation exists in relation to the bad events during which the populations unite the efforts and have the intent to cooperate at one particular goal to maintain the peace. Accordingly, the expert states that the majority of the people treat the historical events in the wrong manner due to the lack of the information providing the evidence about the origin of the particular event and its causes. For example, within the previous years the flag of the Flag of the Confederacy. Despite the fact that majority of the people believes that this flag represents the union in form of the Confederacy, the real meaning and pictures presented in the flag symbolize the variety of the battles flags of the Northern Virginia. In this regard, the notion of the Confederacy flag was adopted in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, in 1954 the people started to fight for their rights while the flag was used for the reflection of the intention of the people to obtain the appropriate civil rights which should be equal between the white people and people of the color. Besides, the second half of the twentieth century was featured by the process of the division of the education facilities for the different groups of the population in the manner that some people of the color were deprived of the opportunity to get the eduction with the rest of the white people. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of the United States of America had to consider the submissions of the people of the color regarding the discrimination exposure between the people. Meanwhile, the event happening in Charleston has drawn the attention of the society in the manner that the citizens of the USA decided to look at the origin of the flag. In this regard, the reconsideration of the history is necessary so that to stress the value of the particular notions of the highly importance for the population. At the same time, the expert believes that acknowledgment of several historical events allow to take the reasonable decisions which should address particular events in the social life of the citizens ("Ken Burns: Charleston shooting a chance to "reexamine history"", 2016).
In contrast, the next episode Ken Burns discusses the attitude of the population of the United States of America with regard to the civil wars. In fact, significant portion of the population stands to the idea that approximately all civil wars in the USA have the basis on the existence and facilitation of the slavery between the classes. Moreover, the numerous works of the writers resembled the situation in the same manner as it is confirmed by the text of the “Gone of the wind”. In this respect, one may state that people sometimes have no desire to investigate the true essence of the event due to the fact that it is much easier to believe in the facts presented by other people by virtue of mass media, pieces of arts, world literature, etc. In addition, the historical evolution of the USA presents that the civil war was deepened by the cultural differences in the people of the North and South. Besides, the essence of the civil war in fact was concerned about the slavery as even the titles of the shops and posters reflected the attitude of the white people to the people of color and any other categories of the population that were treated in the discriminatory manner. Furthermore, the slavery serves the role of the cause of the murders within the civil was that took overwhelming amount of the people that even can not be compared with the amount of the killings due to the war in vulnerable territories as Iraq, Afghanistan. Therefore, the main concern and strengths of the population of the USA is to take care about the freedom. This pillar should be maintained by all groups of the society regardless of the origin of the individual. Accordingly, one of the most important goals for the USA today is to realize the idea of the collective freedom. Besides, the contemporary state of the society of the United States of America shows that even now not all people can accept the fact that the person of color may be in the office of the managing authority in the state. This attitude is reflected in the ambiguous treatment of Barack Obama upon his election. The reaction of the population is quite interesting due to the people could not accept initially the fact that the person as Barack Obama gained the opportunity to rule the further development of the United States of America. In fact, this attitude was formed through the stages of the historical evolution of the country. However, in comparison to the current election process one can not state that Barack Obama differs from Donald Trump. Their policies and actions are quite similar, while the only difference between them is the color of the skin. Besides, the American society should get accustomed to the idea that there is no room for the discrimination so that all minorities and classes of the society should be treated equally without any ambiguous perception. Meanwhile, the expert believes that the United States of America still can not pass through the stage of the racial discrimination what is seen as well in the behavior of the state bodies, law enforcement agencies, conduct of the ordinary individual, etc. Therefore, given the development of the contemporary society in terms of the democratic principles it is inevitable for the United States of America to behave appropriately in order to respect the existing rules and norms. At the same time the issue of the elimination of the racial disparity is relevant for the current election process due to the fact that people regard the maintenance of the equality between the minorities and different groups of the population as the necessary policy for the American society. Despite the fact that the slavery in its initial form does not exist in the contemporary society, all individuals in one community are dependent on each other due to the fact that the activities and the production of the goods are quite related with each other. In this regard, the racial disparity and discrimination should not exist in different forms in the community, while the civil rights of the individual should be protected for the achievement of the legal order and prosperity of the country ("Ken Burns: 150 years after Civil War, America is not post-racial", 2016).
Works Cited
"Ken Burns: Charleston Shooting A Chance To "Reexamine History"". Cbsnews.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"Ken Burns: 150 Years After Civil War, America Is Not Post-Racial". Cbsnews.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
