Currently, there is a lot of talk about Critical Race Theory. I believe it is much ado about nothing by individuals who are concerned with nothing, and it is of little importance to me in and of itself. What matters is the truth, which all humans should pursue since not knowing the truth is living a lie. Is there a connection between Critical Race Theory and the truth, or are they two independent routes going to different destinations? To consider the possible conundrum, consider "America's" most prominent emblem, the Statue of Liberty.
"I am not whining, nor am I protesting," the narrator states in Ralph Ellison's famous novel Invisible Man. When Black Americans express the realities regarding their life in the United States, they are frequently labeled as whining or protesting. Any slightly competent Black person in the United States should understand that complaints and, especially, demonstrations are both half-baked and futile; because history's proof does not lie, even though history itself may. I'm not one for fool's errands, therefore my goal is neither complaint nor protest.
My purpose, like the Invisible Man's, is to discover who I am. The only way to do so is to discover the truth. As a fact seeker, if that truth is buried behind decades of wreckage and debris, I must exhume it, regardless of the sickly-sweet stink of decay that results from its excavation.
Few will deny that the Statue of Liberty is the image that most people associate with the United States of America. The iconic image may be found on anything from postage stamps to movie logos to US money. To appear on US money is a rare and significant occurrence, and I hope the reader will pause at the concept.
I went to extremely good schools, and I'm not bragging or whining about it, since I came from a blue-collar family that lived in the ghetto; an infamous Crip-Set known in Los Angeles as "the Rollin' 60's." For whatever reason (and there were many), my parents determined that they would make sacrifices for me to have a decent academic foundation. In many of my scholastic settings, I was frequently the only Black Person in the United States, and I even had courses with four of The Brady Bunch kids, as well as other famous children. I can't help but wonder how I would have felt about myself if I had been taught that the Statue of Liberty is, in major part, about slavery.
The polar opposite of those revered and exalted lines from The New Colossus. All the more so, I wonder how my European-American colleagues would have felt about themselves, not just about me. Given that the material is readily available, would such a revelation, particularly during the formative years, constitute Critical Race Theory, the truth, or both?
Black children in the United States are frequently stigmatized and associated with poor academic achievement. Not just European-Americans, but also Asian-Americans, Latino-Americans, Arab-Americans, and, yes, other Black Americans, are taken aback when they see a high-achieving Black kid.
If I ask the typical individual in the United States to name a renowned Black Person in the United States, I am prepared to bet that they will name an athlete or entertainer; no one from the academic or intellectual realms. Martin Luther King and Barack Obama may be the lone exceptions. Despite my hoity-toity schooling, I was never taught that Africa was home to the world's first university. I was an adult before I realized what it meant.
The Negro Act of 1740 not only made it illegal to educate Black people in the United States to read and/or write, but it also made it permissible to murder them, which was never assigned to any other group in the United States.
#blurt #blurtstory #life #trave #temple #history #die #blog #nature