Why Some Say the History We Learned About America Was Built on Myths
From birth to death, we have been told what to believe about the history of the United States. Much of it is myth, lies, or half-truths. The reason for this is that the country was born of white supremacy. In order to make it look like Whites were “superior,” they had to twist the historical record in favor of “whiteness.”
We all have observed people of color being oppressed, women being beaten by egoistical, narcissistic, and misguided men, the poor treated very badly, and the false justifications for these unjust actions. You can deny reality all you want but the truth will always rise to the surface. As I witnessed the ugly manifestations of racism, misogyny, and classism, a sense of justice was born in my mind years before I ever became an activist. I was a victim of the lies of those in power. I was born into a system in which behaviors were corrupted by the oppressive social order.
Related: White Supremacy Didn’t Disappear. It Adapted.
We were taught one lie after another by teachers that did not even know what they were saying. Many of use who became critical thinkers began to dive deep into the waters of American history instead of going along with the shallow falsehoods.
Of course, many political thinkers and teachers, some of whom never read the critical works of those that have seen through the cruel game of oppression, have been denied the thoughts of a more enlightened view that can provide explicit details as to how defiance of the norms within a society can be challenged and defeated.
We are taught that “race” is a genuine reality when it was invented. We are taught that women are inferior and only cunning creatures, that lighter skin is somehow a path to superiority, that fighting for a small place at the political table is all we should do, and that all of this can only be fixed if we wait around long enough. As much as we love Martin Luther King, he was wrong about how long this struggle would take. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “How Long, Not Long” speech was delivered on March 25, 1965, at the end of the 5-day, 54-mile Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march. It was only the beginning as the right to vote is being threatened again. White supremacy is a permanent structure and if we accept this as fact then the struggle will also be permanent.
We must acknowledge that the system of white supremacy is now stronger than ever.
We must once again learn how it is used at work, in school, and in the hood. We must learn that silence by Whites when others are being mistreated is complicity, much like the Germans did as Jewish neighbors were being slaughtered, or when Palestinians are being murdered by Israel in Gaza. Don’t let anyone tell you that removing a racist statue is removing history, as former mayor Ivy Taylor attempted to prove, it is removing a historical lie.
Be aware that evil men hold flags and wear red hats while praying over bombs.
Do not rely upon the hero worship to move civilization forward. Movement toward a society of justice, are moved by those that know how we have been fooled with false education from the past.
We can control the future by exposing the ghosts of education past. One social scientist put it this way, “White America was built on social engineering, designed to reward silence and lies, while ignoring or punishing the truth. This is why they oppose Black and Brown history.
