DeJuana L. Thompson
Black History is American History: We Will Not Be Erased!
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Black History is American History: We Will Not Be Erased!
DeJuana L. Thompson
Founder and Chief Believer, Woke Vote
“To handicap a student by teaching him that his Black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst sort of lynching.” - Carter G. Woodson, Miseducation of the Negro
The attempted erasure of Black history, culture, contribution, struggle and ancestry constitutes violence. And one must ask themselves - what is behind this coordinated attempt to diminish and demoralize Black people?
I have heard it argued that the telling of Black history creates an uncomfortable environment for the descendants of those who perpetuated systems like Jim Crow, slavery, mass incarceration etc. My concern with this argument against that claim is threefold. First, education is meant to expand, challenge and provide a critical lens to observe and participate in the world around us. Second, I have yet to see statistical data which proves this point. However, if we are to hold this as true - we should not teach about the American Revolution, the Tea Party, Pearl Harbor, or any other difficult, bloody, complicated or uncomfortable component of our history. If we do not believe our students have the ability to comprehend hard concepts without internalizing them into self hatred, hatred of country or community then we must cease all “uncomfortable” teaching. Third, the hypocrisy of being concerned about the mental state of the white child learning Black history and not the historical impact of trauma or reliving of that same history for the Black child is insidious.
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I believe the real concern is not individuals being uncomfortable with this country’s record on the treatment of Black Americans and the African Diaspora. Rather, it is the uncomfort that comes from having to acknowledge the fact there would be no United States of America without Black Americans. This country's success and failure is woven into the complicated histories of ALL its people, its policies and its struggle to balance its ideals.
There is power in accurately and fully telling our nation’s story! The preservation and sharing of our truth is what proves to the world what it means to be a more perfect union. To run from the truth and attempt to submerge parts of our story to benefit one’s own narrative reveals a country who has yet to mature. We must grow up, America!
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I am from Birmingham, Alabama - a hero city. A city where four little girls' last breaths breathed possibility into the passing of the Civil Rights Act. The tearing of student flesh and the tiring of feet worn from bus boycotts starved the Jim Crow.
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As stated by Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (1966), "[s]ome men may little note or soon forget what we say here: but the Nation will never forget what we did here together. We were not satisfied with the few scattering cracks in the Segregation wall, and decided to effect a major confrontation with evil.” What happened in cities like Birmingham made the world take notice and it demanded this country live up to its values and its ideals.
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Let us be clear - you cannot have it both ways. You cannot applaud the brilliance of Black people while simultaneously attempting to erase our contributions. To erase black history is to erase American inventions.
No Black history means no Garrett Morgan, inventor of the traffic light.
No Black history means no Marie van Brittan Brown, inventor of the home security system.
No Black history means no Frederick Jones, inventor of refrigerator food trucks.
No Black history means no Dr. Marian Croak, inventor of VoIP.
No Black history means no Dr. Gladys West inventor, of GPS technology.
We are in a dangerous era of illogical revisionist and romanticized history where some people want to pick and choose the story written in the history books to fit a narrative not representative of this country’s truths. America is beautiful because of the composition and that is not always a pretty composition. Our history is one marred with violence, filled with rape and fueled by hate! But it is also a history overflowing with resiliency, stocked with hope, and protruding with ingenuity. We must tell the full story, and that full story is Black history as a part of American history.
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Every great nation shares their complete history because they understand something we seem to struggle with and that is - no matter what the history, it is ours. Imagine the healing that could take place if we embraced, explored and emerged from our history instead of using it to further divide us. The power of collective memory is that it can spur collective action. When we work together, remember what we have accomplished and how we have moved from tragedy to triumph - that is the story of a great nation. A nation which holds itself accountable for its greatest fractures allows herself to rebuild with truth. And truth endures to generations.
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Black history is American history. There is no getting around that. There is no erasing that more than you can erase the White House. And by the way, Black enslaved Americans helped make that possible too!
References
Shuttlesworth, F. (1966). 10th Anniversary, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights [Speech transcript]. Speeches and letters from The Shuttleworth Collection at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, https://www.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2011/10/excerpts_from_the_shuttleswort.html.