History is filled with ugly truths.
Slavery, genocide, war, famine. If you flip through the pages of history, there’s more than enough tragedies, hardships and afflictions to make you squirm. Yet it’s important that we educate our children about such events as doing so enables future generations to avoid making the same mistakes of past generations.
You know the drill. . .
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Of course, sometimes it can be uncomfortable to discuss certain events that make us cringe. But that doesn’t mean they should be ignored or swept under the rug. So I must admit, I was pretty floored when I read about a Michigan middle school teacher who was recently suspended after showing his class a video about blackface – a style of entertainment that began back in the 1800s that was based on black stereotypes.
Filled with racist imagery that once portrayed black folks as racially and socially inferior, blackface is an ugly truth about racism in the United States. Yet it’s something that, if we truly believe in freedom and liberty, must not be forgotten. And it’s definitely not a discussion that should be avoided in an attempt to placate moral do-gooders and politically-correct cowards.
Have we really come to a point where we’re so desperate to protect our children that we’re not willing to teach them tough lessons about inequality? Are we so plagued with guilt that we’re not willing to confront the not-so-pleasant realities of this nation’s long history of racism and discrimination?
If our schools get so caught up in not wanting to offend anyone, how can we expect our kids to avoid the same mistakes of our ancestors? The fact that American students can’t watch a video about Jim Crow laws and minstrel shows is a tragedy. In fact, I would go so far as to say that such politically correct behavior has the ability to breed racism.
Fortunately, Alan Barron was reinstated after being removed from the classroom. But you can be sure that the next teacher who wants to teach a valuable history lesson may think twice before doing so. And that’s unfortunate.
