American history is repeat with half-truths.
As a society, we have been willfully duped into believing, memorizing, and reciting only half of the American story and, because of this, there are generations of children who have no idea about their true heritage. Whether they are black, white, yellow or red, the stories of our country's history makers have been skewed in our school systems in an effort to pacify those who consider themselves to be far left and far right. History should not be divided by racial lines and no one should be willfully omitted from its pages; it should be studied as it happened so that we can make intelligent decisions that will keep us from erring into the ways of the past.
A local radio host had a very interesting topic on the air today. His son was asked to give a speech on someone from history whom he admired. His son chose to go to school dressed as Muhammed Ali. Enthusiastically, he gathered his shorts, his robe, his belt and gloves, and a can of black shoe polish. "What is the polish for, son?" his father asked. "To paint my face, so I will more look like Ali," he said. At this point, the white radio announcer had to pause and explain race relations in America and tell his son why this was not accepted. My question is this: "Why have we removed the injustices of our society from our history books rather than teach them alongside our successes?" If we were taught our true history, we might actually improve race relations instead of making less of situations that our country would rather forget.
What would we gain from the truth? A better perspective on where we are today.
I remember my third grade teacher asking the class what we wanted to be when we grew up. When she got to me, I proudly announced that I wanted to become the President of the United States. My teacher smiled and told me that was nice. Then, she added, "But, you may want to choose something a little more realistic." As a child, I didn't understand why I was already limited in my potential. Why did my teacher already have minimal "expectations" of a star pupil? I didn't understand that she thought that my skin had placed an "invisible ceiling" on the height of my promise - at least - in her mind.
I remember my third grade teacher asking the class what we wanted to be when we grew up. When she got to me, I proudly announced that I wanted to become the President of the United States. My teacher smiled and told me that was nice. Then, she added, "But, you may want to choose something a little more realistic." As a child, I didn't understand why I was already limited in my potential. Why did my teacher already have minimal "expectations" of a star pupil? I didn't understand that she thought that my skin had placed an "invisible ceiling" on the height of my promise - at least - in her mind.
This year, I will celebrate my 44th birthday, but I have already decided to call it my Barack-day and I will also celebrate my 44th President. Not because I align myself with his every thought. Not because I blindly applaud his accomplishments. But, you see, another child who was my age and from my same generation was brave enough to pursue his dream of becoming President although his skin was a tapestry of historical omissions. He, somehow, was encouraged to excel and defy the odds and, for that, I will celebrate his accomplishment and hope that he will add a new page to American history that may make it easier to go back and edit the forgotten pages of our past.
Then, as all children - regardless of their color - are taught real history, they will be capable of understanding the struggles of the past. They would, then, also take more pride in who they have become and- quite possibly - act more responsibly. When a culture is deprived knowledge of its past, they remain unaware of their true potential. But, in the same token, strategically omitting history allows others to limit the potential of an entire culture and place an invisible "glass ceiling" on their realistic expectations...
A friend of mine who currently lives in Paris, France recently told me that "the African in America has had an incredible existence. Undoubtedly, you are a part of one of the strongest people in the world... To have gone from royalty to slavery to becoming recognized as a world leader in sports, medicine and politics is quite an accomplishment. The only reason your youths act the way they do is because they really have no idea who they are or who they could become...". Out of darkness and mis-education, today's youths walk out of the house with a similar polish cloaking their identity. They are emulating the wrong ideals (sagging pants, broken English, gold teeth, tattoos) because their true history has been concealed with masks of deception.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar has recently released a book entitled, What Color Is My World. This book explores, in detail, the many accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans that have been omitted from the history books. I have not read this book yet, but I did just order one from Amazon.com. Already, I look forward to sharing this book with my family and any youths within the sound of my voice.
But, this is just ONE Man's Opinion... What is yours?
As a minister I minister on several topic's. When I minister about racism, I start out explaining my view on it that it comes from hate which comes fro the Devil, and the other reason it comes from ignorance. I do not believe it is a heritage that needs to be cultivated, but we as African American's have and need to evolve and rise above. We The People.I also know this song that say's no matter what color we are as long as our blood is red, or Jesus loves the little children all the children of the world. Red and Yellow BLACK and white we are precious in His sight. I am a white minister that is a black activist, and I cringe on how the black history was and still is. And the KKK which should have been outlawed a long time ago needs to be put away. I would probably act as not a christian if I was to come across them. I told my dad which is black I would easily douse them with gas and set them on fire. The black people are my people, and are the best people in the world.
ReplyDeleteThis article took me back to the 2nd grade. My teacher at the time was an older white woman who was by no means racist. One day she made an interesting comment to the class. The only thing I recall was there was a racial undertone, and although well intended it rubbed me the wrong way. I remember going home that day and pulling "Message to The Black Man" by Elijah Muhammad from my Mother's book shelf. The next day I walked right up to my teacher gave her the book and said "You need to read this." That was all. The interesting part of the story is that I had not read that book prior to giving it to her, but I knew who Elijah Muhammad was to some degree. Beyond that is at 7 years old thanks to my family I knew myself enough to identify racism or misinformed perceptions of Black people. I had access to a great source of information and I knew that although I hadn't read this book I was exposed to a number of others to support my stance and to set the record straight. Are parents equipping their children with the resources to know who they are?
ReplyDeleteDuJuan,
DeleteYou bring up a fascinating point. Ignorance, like knowledge, is a learned behavior. I did not feel that my teacher was being racist; she was being a realist by every interpretation of her own reality. She was raised in a world where she saw the limitations placed on an entire culture based solely on color.
As a teacher, her eyes may have been opened to the fact that the learning capacity of a curious mind was not limited by the pigmentation of a person's skin; however, she also became aware of the "invisible ceiling" that existed regardless of how bright her pupils were. In my opinion, she was coddling me; preparing me for a world of rejection, scrutiny, and ridicule. As great a nation as America may be, there are still many racial barriers which have yet to be crossed.
Am I angry? Not at all. Am I saddened. Yes, I am.
I take a great deal of pride in my own family lineage. I am even more proud of the historical facts that the internet has opened our eyes to as a nation. I find it disheartening to know that so much history has been intentionally omitted from the history books from which we teach our children and the hap-hazard month-long teachings of "black history" that gets crammed into 20 school days only once a year.
We as parents, teachers, neighborhood novelists, and soap-box preachers need to embrace enough of our own history to begin teaching in our homes. As a voting public, we need to lobby and petition that America's history books be corrected, but until such a time occurs, the responsibility lies with us.
Each one, teach one. Instill the strength of knowledge in your child and his peers. Failure to do so is no more than a willful allegiance to ignorance