The effort to prevent teachers from teaching the truth about racism and white supremacy is doomed to failure. The whole argument about stopping the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” is but white supremacy and Jim Crowism all over again. According to Education Week, “Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.” It is hard to imagine why anyone would disagree with this—unless they are trying to avoid the truth. I never liked academic terms that make it difficult for people to understand and in this light I will address the TRUTH.
The new Jim Crow buffoonery being paddled down the racist stream by lawmakers will not stand the test of time. Teaching the truth is not racism in reverse as long as the idea is centered on the understanding that “race” does not exist in any scientific way, but once it was invented it became a hammer to oppress people of color. According to Education Week, “States across the country have been the victims of legislative decisions that want to dictate what students learn in the classroom.” This bigoted effort has come to Texas in the form of HB 3979. The law was approved by the Texas legislature and now is on the Governor’s desk for his signature. The bill would impose rules of how Texas teachers can talk about current event topics and the true history of American racism in the classroom. This law is a shameful chapter in Texas history for it allows old-time bigots to attack the truth and curriculum efforts to provide uplifting educational instruction that teaches we must all fight racism and white supremacy.
Teaching the history of racism in this country is not racism in reverse as these political clowns suggest, but simply the true history of how racism was used to develop democracy. Teaching the truth does not involve being racist against whites. Whites have benefited from the truth about racism and white supremacy, and it has shown itself in the protests against police abuse. Millions of “white” people have taken up the banner of anti-racism as evidenced in their participation in the Black Lives Matter Movement. It is apparent that racists are losing their foothold on the white population and are going insane in trying to stop whites from understanding how race was used to trick them and oppress others. We have a whole bunch of white activists that are the new abolitionists and are living in the spirit of John Brown (the white abolitionist that fought against slavery).
The teaching of history has always been racist and based on falsehoods. As long as white supremacists were teaching lies everything was ok, but now that people are learning the truth about slavery, racism, white privilege, presidents who owned slaves, Tulsa, and other issues of truth it being challenged. Well, guess what? We are not going to stop teaching the TRUTH. Some of us may stop teaching “Critical Race Theory,” but we are not going to stop teaching the truth! Hitler tried this in Germany, and bigots in America got away with it for centuries. The Civil War was about slavery, human beings were lynched because of the color of their skin, and police violence is real. The battle for truth in education will not end because of a racist law.
