Freedom From White Supremacy Comes With A Reexamination of Our Education System

 

We were educated in the disease of white supremacy. It is time we realize this education is not good enough for our children. In order to expose the lies, embrace the truth and to give our children a more progressive education, there has to be a deliberate and collective effort for change.

                                           -L.J. Douglas

If you think it is cool to drop your feelings about Charlottesville and then jump onto the next trending topic on social media, you are part of the problem. If you think giving condolences to Heather Heyer, her family, and to the many individuals who were injured in the horrific domestic terrorist attack is enough, you are part of the problem. If you believe letting this domestic terrorist attack be the focal point of the media for a few days before we resume business as normal when this was one of the most crucial terrorist attacks on American soil, you are part of the problem and you should stop wasting your time.

I truly believe parents, educators, and administrators around the nation should use these most recent events on our soil as a way to open up the door to change education for our younger generation.  They should be taught the information shared by these hate groups is misleading and derogatory, to say the least.

White supremacy wasn’t just the physical capture, owning, and selling of other human beings, but it was the systematic and deliberate installation of information and untruths that contributed to brainwashing, confusion, and the intentional rewriting of history. It is woven into the DNA of this nation and that DNA is worn as a quilt of comfort even by those who claim to despise white supremacy and to be on our side.

We have arrived here, at this point in history, because we have accommodated white supremacy. Where were we during the rise of these Neo Fascist, Neo Nazi, and so called White Nationalists? Are we going to sit idly by on the sidelines and be cool just as long as it doesn’t come to our doorstep?

White Supremacy is a learned behavior and I am not going to sit and be silent while a faction of this country wants to see it function again like the days of Jim Crow and Reconstruction. Some people say these monuments and symbols are not hurting anyone. I think they should be mindful and educate themselves on the history and placement of these monuments. An article in The Atlantic gives proof of blatant disrespect to the civil rights movement by the strategic placement of many monuments:

A timeline of the genesis of the Confederate sites shows two notable spikes. One comes around the turn of the 20th century, just after Plessy v. Ferguson, and just as many Southern states were establishing repressive race laws. The second runs from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s—the peak of the civil-rights movement. In other words, the erection of Confederate monuments has been a way to perform cultural resistance to black equality.

White Supremacy is on the rise again. Really, it has never gone anywhere.  This past Friday, we witnessed a Klan march and rally with foul individuals who didn’t even bother to mask up and I suspect that’s because many who claim to be on the side of righteousness are not speaking up.

So what do we do?

Baby boomers to IGen(Gen Z) must decide what side they are on. The side of the just individuals or the side of systemic evil. It is a decision many people were faced with yesteryear and as far as I’m concerned there is only one right choice. We must proceed to educate one another and learn through unconventional methods of today.  Our past generations paved the way with blood, sweat, tears, and some with their lives.

We must bring our children to council meetings, PTA meetings, city planning meetings, and involve them in the civic duties that come to every citizen once they become of age.  Civic engagement must become a frequented occurrence for our children in order to teach them vividly in living color the ends and outs of prejudice, racism, bigotry, and supremacy. Parents must instill positive information and not shield and protect our children from the horrors of the world. I have heard so many times since Friday’s horrific march, “How do I explain this to my children?” My answer is slowly, thoughtfully, and completely with the utmost of compassion. Schools must reinforce the information from home while simultaneously weeding out and exposing the falsehoods and lies taught to us in the past. White supremacy can only be educated away. Education is constant, but somewhere along the way, we thought we made it and got over. Consistency is a crucial component.  Give thanks for the awakening and EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE!

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