The Lynching of AP-African-American Studies To Hide American History
Or- Why they scared of African American History
LETS BE REAL. The same states that are banning AP AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES. Are the same states that lynched African American Men, Women and their children and some did it for sport. I guess if I were Arkansas and Huckabee-Sanders I’d try to hide that history also.
Facts-
From 1882 -1968 there were 284 lynchings in Arkansas. 226 were black and 58 were white. Arkansas ranked 6th in the country in lynchings. Such as the lynchings of 1899 in the “Little River Race War of 1899”- Not really a war, more like wholesale murder of black men - see “Race War is On. Whites of Arkansas Killing off the Colored Men.” Nebraska State Journal, March 24, 1899.
Or how about in the spring of 1904 in St. Charles, Arkansas County where a white mob rode through the town murdered and lynched 13 black men. Quote “they wanted to exterminate the negro race”. They grab men, women and children, those who resisted were shot. They were driven from their property put in a warehouse. The most hateful of the bunch wanted to burn down the building with the people in it. What did they do. They Stormed the building grabbed six men, took them to the highway put them in a line and shot them dead- (and we wonder where the SS and Gestapo learn their atrocities from). The incident in St. Charles is one of the deadliest mass lynchings in American History. (The true number of the dead is unknown) see- “13 Negroes Were Slain: Wholesale Killing Occurred in Arkansas Co. Race War Last Week.” Arkansas Democrat. March 29, 1904.” These are prime examples of domestic terrorism. The country has had Domestic Terrorist for hundreds of years.
So the governor of Arkansas and her secretary of education (right-more like secretary of propaganda) Can use terms like CRT and Indoctrination. We know what this is really about. It’s about once again racist bigoted frightened ignorant people, taking another people’s history. They are like the Holocaust deniers. Trying anything and everything to erase black history and heritage from this land. Abusing a group of people whose ancestors were in their own lands, minding their own business. monsters took them, enslaved them, sold and separated then, took their names from them, beat them, raped them, bred them like dogs, and worked them from sun up to sun down making a profit from their labor.
Know this Huckabee-Sanders, DeSantis and all other black history deniers, you can attempt to extinguish African American history. You can close libraries, you can ban book. But it won’t work. As long as orators exist. Big Mamas, Madeas, Aunties and Papas. African American history will survive. As long as historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists exist so will African American history.
We shall not be moved. #AfricanAmericanHistoryIsAmericanHistory.
Black history IS American history. Children should be taught the good, the bad and the ugly. Not this crap like saying Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat because she was tired and her feet hurt. That probably was true but her brave protest enhanced the other bus protests that had occurred. It’s possible to more fully explain who MLK was, what he did and why it was important. The progression through Black history can illustrate not only the hate but also slowly improving race relations across whole country. There is much to share and much to do. Providing Black history is not brain-washing or indoctrinating it’s inclusion and shines a light on how far we have to go before equity and equality thrives. Personally I believe it wouldn’t hurt white people to feel some shame. Racism must not be tolerated. And that is probably going to piss off some white people who are deluded.
I grew up in Oregon where Blacks mostly lived in cities and in specific communities. I was born in 1954 and lived in the country and rarely saw anyone of color. Oregon and U.S. history barely touched on the ugly parts of Black history. But we did watch newsreels of World War II including death camps and mass graves filled with emaciated bodies. Why? Because these were white people that American soldiers saved.
My general assessment of Oregon’s unique liberal culture created in my mind a completely wrong view of slavery in Oregon and civil rights. Just a few years ago, I happened to catch a documentary which included stories of Blacks in Oregon. Oregon had always alluded that slavery was forbidden in the state which is true. BUT, the truth was Black people were illegal in Oregon. In 1844, a a law was passed that prohibited Blacks from entering or living in the state. Current Black settlers could be punished with “ not less than 20 nor more than 39 stripes” (whip lashes) for every six months they remained.
Additional laws were passed in later years. All of which were because of pro-slavery and anti-black ideas. They created an excuse that Blacks might rile up Native Americans and cause an uprising. Various laws regarding people of color were added to the Oregon Constitution until 99% of them were repealed after the 14th Amendment was ratified. The other 1% remained in the Oregon Constitution until 2002.
If you could have seen me after learning the truth about Oregon’s anti-black law, I was beyond pissed. Never had anyone told me (as a student) our ugly truth. By omission, Oregon Public schools lied to us. And this was during the well-documented fight for civil rights across the South. I would bet that today’s students are still in the dark.
I no longer admire the “liberalism” that I thought made Oregonians better. I know the people of Oregon were just as complicit as the Southerners.
History is history, nothing can change the truth. Whether it is taught or not taught, truth is still truth.