Our History Class is Unsurprisingly Racist (0) Intro Letter

   Our history classes are unsurprisingly racist. There's a disproportionate focus on eurocentric stories, eurocentric history, and eurocentric people, which is dangerous. It gives credibility to the unjust racism plaguing our society today. Many people know of or have heard of Albert Einstien, Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire but know nothing of some of the most important historical figures like Frederick Douglas, Mansa Musa, or the Kingdom of Kush.

  The history we do have is racist. It is riddled with all sorts of misconceptions that perpetuate racist ideas. The idea that Black people come from nothing, the idea that Black people were just "spear chuckers", the idea that Black people were uncivilized, the idea that Black people were poor. Most dangerous of all, there's a misconception that Black history starts with slavery. Every single one of those is a blatant lie. Even now you may have some skepticism about the claim that all of those are lies. You might've grown up being taught those same lies. It's disgusting to see these lessons and so many other misconceptions perpetuated by a major disregard for the truth.

   The history we have fuels White supremacy. Any non-racist self-respecting person will, after learning the truth about this history, do everything in their power to unlearn and unteach these false narratives. All of our leaders, all of our scientists, all of our historical figures, all of our stories, that we learn are White. There's no doubt that those contributions and stories are important, but to believe that all contributions to history were made by White European people is racist, incorrect, and a suppression of the truth. It instills an idea that only White people have ever done anything while every other group of people is lazy, stupid, or uncivilized. When you pull back the curtain you realize that that couldn't be further from the truth, yet so many people believe it to be. Our White students are learning they were the inventors, they were the rulers, they were the winners. It's not surprising to see many White people today feeling a sense of entitlement believing that other people just need to work harder, believing that their rightful place is at the top of society because that's just "the natural way of things".

   But the White supremacy narrative isn't solely created by what we do learn. We also create that narrative through what we don't learn. So many stories, so many leaders, so many injustices are hidden from our classrooms to protect White students. To make them feel like there's nothing wrong and there's no need for healing. Making them feel like everything bad happened in the past and there's nothing wrong today while turning a blind eye to the oppression and murder of Black people going on today, turning a blind eye to the Black people being packed into prisons, turning a blind eye to the blatant racist in a society that claims to bolster equality for all.

   These twisted White supremacy world views affect our kids today. We're failing our Black students and our Black children. To be told that all of history's winners are people that don't look like you, and to see that your people are always painted as the losers and the oppressed, creates an internalized self-hate. We see this in the 1940 Clark Doll Experiment in which Black children were asked to choose between a Black and a White doll and decide which one was good and which one was bad. Most of the children preferred the White doll to the Black one and when asked to identify which doll they looked like some of them would even run out of the room crying. Kenneth Clark recalled, "These children saw themselves as inferior and they accepted the inferiority as part of reality." Just as we are taught to believe these bad things happened in the past, you might be inclined to believe the indoctrination of children into White supremacy only applied to children in the 1940s but this study has been repeated countless times in the 21st century. In 2008, in 2012, in 2015, all with the same results. Some of the children who took those tests are not even in high school yet.

  There are no more excuses for why we fail our students. But there's a silver lining that has always been there. We have a chance to do right by truth, justice, and history. We need to unlearn the false history we've been taught by diving into the history we're not taught, the truth. We have a chance to teach our Black students what has been hidden from them for so long, that they have a rich history and that they have something to be proud of. Cramming Black history into Black history month is a common pitfall we must avoid. We need to give credit where credit is due. Black people are American people therefore Black history is American history and it needs to be taught as such. Slavery is not Black history it is White history, Slavery is what Europeans did to a group of people, it was Europeans first contact with Black people, and so it is where we believe Black history starts, but Black people have existed for a millennia before said contact. Slavery is the interruption of Black history. We have this chance to make it right, to do right by our Black students, to raise a generation of children that know.

   Learning this history has been one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life, shifting my worldview, and shedding a light on the racist ideas I have subconsciously held on to. I'm excited to take you on this journey and I hope you come with an open heart.

   I would like to note there are other cultures plagued by eurocentric history and a suppression of their truth, but this blog will focus solely on Black history as the racism we have experienced is quite unique.

   After reading these blogs, it is important to not just think about them but to act on the information. Whether you take notes or not, after each post I invite you to write a "first step" you can take to get this information into the minds of students.