A Sobering Reflection on Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, I’d like to bring your attention to the year 1954, dubbed, “Higher Ground” in the anthology My Soul is A Witness, A Chronology of the Civil Rights Era , 1954-1965. I’d like to follow in the footsteps of my brave dear friend and colleague Valerie Alexander who is a true ally and expert in the area of unconscious bias, equity and inclusion. She authentically shares in her most recent post a tiny slice of Black history. The irony and reality of recent legislation must be understood in the context of history. As Valerie points out, nearly half the states in our country have already passed or are actively working to pass laws that prevent teachers from even discussing our true history! This is actually happening in 2022!?

Have we forgotten the image of 6 year old Ruby Bridges being escorted to school by U.S. federal marshals in 1960, six years after segregated schools were made illegal? It is indeed a terrifying site to see the people in this picture, outraged and filled with violence towards a harmless child for risking her life for a desegregated education. This important historical event and Brown v. Board of Education, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, may now be considered ‘divisive’ or ‘cause discomfort’ for students. As many have already observed, if black children can experience racism, then white children can learn about racism.

A brief history lesson….While the United States government was well on the way to ending segregation in the armed services, a process begun during the Truman administration, very few Americans, especially southerners, believed that the U.S. Supreme Court could outlaw segregation in public education. Many whites were initially shocked by the Brown v. Board of Education decision; African Americans were joyous. When it became apparent what the decision could mean to the “southern way of life,” many southern politicians declared, “Never!” While the Supreme Court’s Brown decision clearly placed American society on “Higher Ground” with the coming of the massive resistance movement, the White Citizens Councils, and violent opposition to school integration in Delaware, it was unclear to many in 1954 how it would remain there.?

Recent legislation and teacher anti-critical race theory bills are the 2022 version of the resistance to desegregation in 1960. We have to accept the fact that large sections of the U.S. cannot accept the truth of history, and are willing to take legal action to ensure that the accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement are effectively decimated. This Black History month, I am sobered to contemplate the words of philosopher George Santayana, ‘Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’