Throughout history, people with strong beliefs have often taken their beliefs too far, provoking an opposite reaction from those who believe otherwise. Such appears to be the case with the Trump administration drive to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
The stated goal is to end the cycle of blame when ostensibly trying to correct past and current discrimination.
The Trump administration’s anti-DEI campaign, as well as other conservative efforts along the same line, threaten to eliminate what is considered black history because much of it is seen as negative toward the white status quo. Well history is what it is.
Looking at only the parts that make a group look good while ignoring their mistakes and their hateful actions conveys the wrong, destructive message to all.
Personal Encounters With Incomplete History
The first training mission I took to Africa was in the company of a young white assistant raised in the state of Tennessee. He saw me reading Cheikh Anta Diop’s book The African Origin of Civilization and asked: “Do you really believe that?”
The other black people I knew who understand history would never ask me that, but others in the Diaspora who hadn’t been taught a more complete history might have asked that question too. It was clear this young man with whom I traveled to Africa just never learned comprehensive history.
In the years we worked together, he never demonstrated a conscious superiority complex, but how could he not harbor inner feelings that people in the Diaspora were less than his people?
Bridging Cultural Gaps Through Shared Experience
I attended George Washington University (GWU), which was and still is predominantly white. I was the first black student I was aware of who worked for the school newspaper.
At first, when I would be in a meeting with my white colleagues, and I would say something intelligent they hadn’t considered, they looked shocked – as though the family pet had stood up and spoken. Over time, they realized that I was just as intelligent as they were, and we became good friends; those friendships in some cases have endured for half a century.
Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t have the occasion to learn someone from an unfamiliar culture as we did. I say we because black people also have preconceived notions about white people.
I had hesitated before joining The Hatchet staff at GWU, but not doing so would have stunted my journalism career because I would have been unwilling to take a chance on my white colleagues as they took a chance on me while we all learned together. What we all say about outsiders when we are in our ethnic and cultural groups would not contribute to color blindness because we all still operate on stereotypes to some degree as our society has taught us.
The key is whether we can overcome our initial reaction and become comfortable with those of a different ethnic group.
The Dangers of Whitewashed History in Education
When society commits to skewed history, color blindness is impossible because we become locked into the oppressor-oppressed dynamic. The stereotypes with which we are reared shape our view of other people, including those in our own group who don’t believe the same facts as we do.
That explains why black Democrats and black Republicans in America can be so at odds with one another despite being in the same general cultural group.
So, let’s consider how DEI is being deconstructed and what the impact on society will likely be.
According to a paper written by black history educator LaGarrett Jarriel King entitled Teaching black history as a racial literacy project, those who would teach black history in schools are too often ill-prepared to do so. “Many teacher-educators express concern about pre-service teachers’ lack of critical racial knowledge”.
Beginning teachers often adopt liberal principals about race, sometimes ignoring it so as to avoid offending racial groups or sounding racist (Marx and Pennington 2003). Because many of these pre-service teachers will become teachers at schools with high numbers of students from diverse racial backgrounds, teacher educators must develop conceptual frameworks and instructional methods to help increase pre-service teachers’ racial knowledge,” the study said.
Beyond the lack of competence of black history teachers, the “whitewashing” of history means that unpleasant items are simply eliminated or explained in a less harsh way. When I heard in 2023 that the state of Florida had adopted standards teaching that some black people benefited from slavery by learning useful skills, my first reaction was to assume that those in charge of education in Florida were searching for some positive light to present to make their ancestors seem like they had some good will toward those who were enslaved.
However, this erasure of negative history involving black people went far beyond trying to break free from the oppressor-oppressed dynamic.
The Consequences of Historical Erasure and Segregation
It is said that those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. As unimaginable as some would like to believe that to be, over recent years there has been an effort to resegregate in the name of creating safe spaces.
At some schools, white students have been turned away from such spaces created to make black students feel safe in an environment where they are the minority. Unfortunately, the lack of exposure to people from different ethnicities and cultures only cripples the ability to navigate an inclusive society.
You can’t mind control everyone to feel the same way, and without allowing them to meet and mingle with those outside their group, they will not likely become comfortable through knowledge of “others”. Thus, those not like them will always be considered a potential menace.
The Thurgood Marshall Institute paper, Whose History? states that the deliberate manipulation of history is not a new phenomenon. “The current efforts to silence discussions on race and its intersections with inequalities based on sexuality and gender are not the first attempts to distort and erase U.S. history.
This is a centuries old war on truth that continues to evolve. Today’s attacks on truth are born out of a broader history where a small minority tries to use their power and privilege to eclipse racial justice progress,” the paper stated.
“One way in which truth is attacked is through controlling the narratives told in children’s history textbooks, a practice dating back to the U.S. Civil War.”
Many within the Diaspora have decried the manipulation of history, such as Carter G. Woodson, whose book The Miseducation of the Negro is considered a seminal examination of how black people are steered toward the view of their history as something special only to them. In his effort to elevate black studies and the celebration of black culture and achievements, Woodson was instrumental in the creation first of Black History Week and then Black History Month.
However, separating the events and figures in black history from general history sends the message that white students aren’t required to know these facts, which then become talking points for black people that are not necessarily accepted by whites. How many white students do you think voluntarily sign up for black history courses?
Even if they do accept and integrate what they learn into their knowledge base, how effective will that information be in changing the minds of their peers who didn’t study this more complete history? I have observed white students being taught black history, and they appeared to feel alienated because the focus was on black people and what whites had done wrong.
There are stories about black scientists, inventors, statesmen and businessmen and their impact on the broader society that get lost on those who are not in the classes where this information is taught. Their stories become at best trivia question answers mostly brought out during Black History Month.
It is increasingly acknowledged that race is a relatively recent concept in history used to justify trans-Atlantic slavery, but it continues to be used to keep people separate. If you watch little black and white children interact before school age, they can get along and form bonds easily.
Those who grew up in the segregated South know of situations in which white and black children were close friends until school age. That is when they are taught the lessons of inferiority and superiority that causes such bonds to dissolve.
If conservatives continue the effort to purge history of the major role black people in America have played in the foundation of this country, many white people will remain locked in the idea that their ancestors created everything, and many black people will tenuously hold onto the stories of black achievement, wondering if they really matter.
This effort to purge black people from history generally is as damaging as was the destruction of black enclaves in Tulsa and Rosewood. We all need to know the good, the bad and the ugly of American history to put the past, present and future in the proper context.
We all deserve to know the truth, learn to deal with it and resolve to not repeat the sins of the past and even the transgressions of the present. We cannot, we must not, continue to play the blame game that gets us nowhere.