I thought I should try to write something in personal recognition of our country’s recognition of Juneteenth.
The title of this post obviously implies a different focus, but there is a connection of sorts with Juneteenth. Just as Texans willfully ignored the end of slavery as a by-product of the end of the Civil War, too many continue to willfully ignore the injustices that plague this country and try to find ways to impose this ignorance on others who might be willing to learn the facts of reality. Juneteenth was about recognizing truth – the folks in Texas were still being treated as slaves when they were not. This had to change.
Some politicians use inaccurate terms to label practices in an attempt to confuse and misrepresent. Such has been the case with the Republican branding of political actions that benefit citizens as “socialism” and now the use of “critical race theory” in an attempt to prevent educators from teaching the facts of racial injustice. As has been the case with socialism, I doubt most could originally define socialism or critical race theory in a meaningful or accurate way. The words have a connotation that sounds scary or threatening.
I would refer folks to Wikipedia for a discussion of critical race theory. I believe most are quite capable of understanding that critical race theory is not about the basic historical facts of slavery or the theft of lands from indigenous people. I would describe critical race theory as more an academic position or philosophy to be debated which can be easily differentiated from the facts of history. One can use the facts in such debates, but the facts stand alone unchallenged.
Allow me to address the teaching of the facts of history. Let me begin with the intent of learning most subjects. I would describe one important goal as seeking the truth. While some may argue about the truth associated with certain phenomena (e.g., evolution vs. creationism), this is not an issue within the disciplines – e.g., science, history. If the discipline is religion, the presentation of the belief system within that discipline may be different. Truth is slippery in both science and history, but at least those who practice these disciplines realize this, and the processes of the disciplines are designed for improvement – i.e., embracing new facts as they are discovered and supported by evidence.
If I can work this out, I would think those with the background preparing them for public office can do the same. From this, I conclude that what Republican politicians present to the public when it comes to processes such as socialism and perspectives such as critical race theory are examples of purposeful ignorance. You can translate this as purposeful deceit (lies) if you need to recognize this in a more blunt way.
Let’s be honest about our historical past. This acceptance is not about making learners feel bad about themselves, but about making them better and more knowledgeable people. Each generation should want the next generation to improve and you don’t improve by ignoring personal or historical failures.