To be honest, I never got into the Wizard of Oz as a child. There were things I was supposed to like in those days but I don't think anyone ever explained why. Then I had a daughter who liked the magic of the movie and I kind of got hooked. The purity of Judy Garland's voice in itself had me looking over the rainbow.
The author of the Wizard was one of the dark characters of his time. L. Frank Baum called for the extermination of the Lakota Sioux in editorials that led to the massacre at Wounded Knee. His editorials appeared in a newspaper he edited in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Baum never repudiated his racist stand.
Wounded Knee was termed a massacre by General Nelson A. Miles. Thirteen years earlier Miles dogged Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce to within 50 miles of the Canadian border and forced his surrender. Miles made many promises to Chief Joseph which were never kept. The fault lie with his superiors. He later came to the defense of the Nez Perce after he rose in rank. Miles City, Montana was named in his honor. He is buried in one of only two mausoleums in Arlington National Cemetery.
NPR reports that some Baum family members are in South Dakota this week to offer apologies from the family for the racist remarks. It's a pretty weak start for the State that glories in Oz and Baum but it's better than nothing.
Americans like to think they own the moral high ground at home and abroad. We can't understand why anyone would hate us. We have too many people like Baum, that's why.
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