The threat is not Critical Race Theory — it’s racism
Slavery is America’s original sin. Racism made slavery possible. Americans profited from an immoral and pitiless labor system. Hundreds of thousands died in the Civil War to abolish slavery. After Reconstruction, the South instituted a policy of segregation, intimidation and voter suppression of Black Americans that was racist and violent. This system lasted for a hundred years, enforced by courts from top to bottom. Racism endures in all aspects of our society. We hear it in Mitch McConnell’s words and we see it in voter suppression targeting Black Americans.
Black Americans face a disparity in wealth and general medical care, and adverse birth outcomes. They face higher rates of incarceration and discrimination in real estate, financial transactions and employment. Educational outcomes are worse. Black people are underrepresented in almost every aspect of leadership in our society. Why? Racism.
A Brookings Institute report found systemic racism the most important issue in the United States. The CDC defines racism as a driver of health issues for Black Americans. The American Civil Liberties Union has said “to end systemic racism, ensure systemic equality.”
A Fall 2021 USA Today poll found: “63% of parents want their children to learn about the ongoing effects of slavery and racism in schools.”
Critical Race Theory examines American history and the continuing legacy of racism. Primarily taught in graduate and law schools, most teachers do not teach it in public grade schools. The right has defined this fight. Rashawn Ray of Brookings has written: “CRT does not blame white people living today for what people did in the past. It argues white people living now have a moral responsibility to do something about how racism still impacts all of our lives today.” CRT should not be an excuse to eliminate teaching about American slavery and racism.
Ohio House Bills 322 and Ohio 327 are political censorship. HB 322 prohibits teaching that government facilitated and protected slavery. It did. The three-fifths rule in the Constitution, the Fugitive Slave
Acts and lynching are the historical record. The Supreme Court ruling that Black people had no rights whites had to respect helped bring about the Civil War. Ohio 327 applies this prohibition to colleges, universities and governments. This legislatively mandated amnesia will not further education nor the progress of racial equality. As historian Ibram Kendi says, “the very heartbeat of racism is denial.”
In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in voting regulations. Now, Republican legislators are busy reenacting the Mississippi Plan, which destroyed Black voting rights in the South until the Voting Rights Act. A study of the history of American racism might help us keep the last, best hope from disappearing.
I came to Dayton to be closer to my grandchildren. They are my joy and they are resilient enough to hear the truth and process it for good.