New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
The history lessons taught on Jan. 6, 2021
Amid the chaos Wednesday as a mob ransacked the nation’s Capitol, one image that kept flashing on screens captured U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, apparently documenting history on his phone. It’s important to have the poise to record and process events that have never before occurred. This was one of those rare days that inspires observers to save copies of newspapers as the first draft of history.
Once again a heavy burden is placed on our teachers. Our educators share rooms, albeit some virtual, with the next generation. In the wake of the assault on the Capitol, children need answers, context, assurances of the prospects of healing.
And teachers, as well as parents, must not flinch from ugly truths exposed or amplified on Jan. 6, 2021. Here are some of the lessons that must not be fleeting in an increasingly ephemeral news cycle:
Our nation is at war — with itself. The rioting within the halls of the “People’s House” seemed like the explosion Donald Trump’s critics have feared since he took office, because the president has, metaphorically, relentlessly attacked the nation he is charged with leading throughout his four years in office. While a line in American soil was crossed for many of his supporters, we do not doubt that millions would still vote for Trump if a new election were held tomorrow. Contrary to the “Pledge of Allegiance,” we are clearly not an “indivisible” nation.
This was a day like no other. It’s not the first time the Capitol has been breached. It was burned by the British in 1814 during the War of 1812. But this time it was Americans who pursued upheaval of democracy, as they sought to thwart certification of Joe Biden’s election to replace Trump.
Dynamite exploded there in 1915; five members of Congress were injured in 1954 as Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire; a bomb went off in 1971, an expression of objection to the Vietnam War; another bomb was ignited in 1983; two Capitol Police officers were killed by a gunman who slipped past security in 1998. None compare with the hours of unceasing indignities suffered this week.
The distinction between protesting and rioting. We live in an era when Americans are appropriately and successfully raising voices to protest unjust social causes. Educators can forevermore point to Jan. 6 as an example of “riot.”
Losing with grace. We embrace youth competition as an opportunity to teach children how to accept defeat with dignity. When those lessons are never learned, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Leadership. Trump’s response will be recorded, reviled and mocked as one of the worst presidential reactions to crisis in history. He was quickly banned from social media like a spoiled teenager. Biden showed appropriate
Our educators share rooms, albeit some virtual, with the next generation. In the wake of the assault on the Capitol, children need answers, context, assurances of the prospects of healing.
poise with a grave address encouraging Americans to recognize the distinction between “dissent” and “sedition.” Vice President Mike
Pence essentially took over as commander-inchief as he helped mobilize the National Guard and addressed rioters with the clear message that “you did not win.” Pence, who has long been an enabler of Trump’s, showed moral courage at this hour of reckoning.
Lingering stains on our nation. This was a shameful day in U.S. history, but as important to discuss in classrooms as slavery. For many Americans — particularly people of color — it was surreal evidence that not all protesters are treated equally. It was hard to fathom that so many people in the melee armed with cell phones were not getting the message that occupying the Capitol did not make them loyal Americans, but a mob. Eight years ago, an unarmed Black woman from Stamford tried to ram her car through a White House barrier, then led police on a chase down Constitution Avenue with her 1-year-old in the back seat. Congress was briefly in lockdown, while she was shot to death by police.
These lessons, of course, should not be limited to America’s youth, but there are others that demand immediate attention. Clearly, security protocol at the Capitol needs an overhaul.
The hope for every American should be a shared passion that common principles can burn brighter after this fire is extinguished. But we must not resist gazing into the flames to recognize what has been lost while we embrace that which can still be recovered.