Ep 7 - American Diversity in Three Classic Songs and 'Who Was George Washington?'

<p>Continuing our weaving of <em><strong>The American Tapestry Project</strong></em>, today, searching for the “common objects of our love”, we’ll examine America’s great diversity in three classic American songs – Irving Berlin’s <em>God Bless America</em>, Woody Guthrie’s <em>This Land Is Your Land</em> and James Weldon Johnson’s <em>Lift Every Voice and Sing</em>. We’ll also ask whatever happened to Washington’s Birthday and what is the <strong>Uniform Monday Holiday Act</strong> that created Presidents Day? Speaking of Washington’s birthday, in a mini-bio we’ll examine George Washington, the man whose name everyone knows and about whom most know nothing at all beyond he could not tell a lie (he could) and he chopped down a cherry tree (he didn’t). Whose view of Washington is correct – the <em>1776 Project Report</em> that says he is “a peerless hero” or the San Francisco Board of Education, who, scorning him, removed his name from a school building? (Hint – neither; he is both greater and more complicated than either seem to understand).</p>