When the 1619 project was publish it represented a clear and present threat to what we had been teaching in this Country for centuries. Those on the right were so concerned that a wholesale effort was launched to suppress the teaching of the history laid out in the 1619 project. The Heritage Foundation took the fight to a new level by starting a campaign to blur the lines between the 1619 project and CRT. The alt right took the position that exposing innocent white children to the truth that it would be traumatizing and make them hate themselves.
That rationale would be funny if it weren’t so hypocritical and sad. Black children had been exposed to lies and fictionalized accounts of history since they were allowed to pick up a book. I think about my own experiences growing up. I’m ashamed when I think about all of the Saturday mornings I spent watching Johnny Weissmuller beating up Africans on their own content. Here I was a black child brainwashed into believing that these Africans needed to be put into their place by the great white savior.
Cowboy movies were just as bad. When Errol Flynn was playing George Armstrong Custer and being slaughtered we were rooting for Custer. Little did we know about the real story. When it came to playing cowboys and Indians we always want to be the good guy cowboys rather than the bad guy Indians. We were brainwashed and no one cared a hoot about the trauma we were experiencing.
Until we stop pandering to fragility and deal with real history we can never hope to bridge the divide. America’s history is not just peaches and cream.
Even now we still Don’t get it. We’re concerned with the growing influence of China on the African continent but we ignore our own complicity. In fiscal year 2020 we spent a total of less than 9 billion dollars in aid to African countries. Conversely China spent 153 billion in support of Africa. The biggest recipient of US foreign aid is Isreal.
Historically we have been quick to label African leaders who did not bend to American will as being under Communist influence. No other illustration validates this more than the case of Patrice Lumumba. There is unconverted evidence that there were various plots by our own CIA to assassinate Lumumba. When he was assassinated he had asked for US help and been rebuffed. While no one from the CIA was shown to have participated in his assassination no one had remorse a out his death and what it meant for the Congo.
There are always consequences for what we do . Are we prepared to continue to suppress the truth and accept the consequences.
Think!!
Eyes Wide 👀 👁 Open!!!