I do this monthly posting on my FB account called "Random Musings" that covers current topics of interest. I'm cross posting this months here as I feel it's relevant to this discussion. Let me know what you think.
Random Musings: On Critical Race Theory
Ok, here we go. Once again something that has been misunderstood by a segment of the population has been co-opted into a new moral panic by those who are ignorant of what it is exactly they're fearing. We did this with Heavy Metal music, Rap, Dungeons and Dragons, books, and a whole litany of other pieces of art and history. It's never worked then, it's not going to work now. I encourage anyone who thinks it will to look up the Streisand Effect.
I get it. You don't want to be made to feel guilty for something you didn't do. No one does. But here's the rub, just because you don't want to feel guilty doesn't mean that history didn't happen. You can put "Unfavorable to the South" in front of as many books as you like, history is history. It happened. I'm sure the Persians didn't want to talk about Thermopylae either. You cannot ignore and rewrite history to fit your narrative then cry "but why are things this way!?!"
The fact of the matter is this, white colonialists are directly responsible for the complete destruction of dozens of indigenous nations in North America. White colonialists are responsible for the slave trade starting and being maintained in North America. White American's are responsible for redlining communities to segregate People of Color into their own communities and when those communities started to thrive destroying them to show people of color their "place." White American's are responsible for countless lynching's and murders of people of color for perceived slights. White American's are responsible for erecting monuments to seditionists and traitors in the 1950's South as a means of psychological warfare against People of Color. White American's are responsible for directing the narrative of history taught to our children. White American's are responsible for gerrymandering voting districts to suppress People of Color's right to vote. White American's are responsible for placing Japanese Americans into concentration camps.
No one is saying YOU PERSONALLY are responsible for any of this. Maybe you're a terrible human and actually ARE responsible for some of it, but just because you are a particular color doesn't mean you're inherently guilty of a crime.
Now there's a thought. Maybe the reason a portion of our population is panicking and up in arms right now is because the very thing we've been doing for generations to People of Color is now being done to us. You don't like it? Neither do the oppressed people who have been demonized for generations because of a skin pigmentation. Philando Castile was a law abiding citizen, exercising his Second Amendment Rights like a good conservative, in a car with his girlfriend and children. He had committed no crime and was pulled over simply because he "looked like" someone who was suspected of committing a crime. He volunteered that he was lawfully carrying a concealed firearm, which he was not legally required to do. He was civil, polite, and honest. In return he was shot multiple times by someone who should have never been in a position of authority.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana
If we ignore or repress our history as a human species, not Whites, Blacks, Latinos, etc, we can never comes to terms with it. If we cannot come to terms with it we will always misunderstand why things are the way they are. You don't like feeling like the bad guy? Good, don't be that guy (or gal, I'm not predigested)! You're not responsible for the actions of your ancestors. You are responsible for your actions today. Ignoring the actions of your ancestors makes you no better than the people who perpetrated those actions. My ancestors perpetrated one of the greatest human rights violations in recorded history, the Holocaust. Am I personally responsible for that? No. But I AM responsible for remembering it happened, teaching my children about it, and working to ensure nothing like that ever happens again.
Race is a social convention, not a scientific one. We are all one species, just with different traits. To hate someone because of their color or origin is to hate yourself. Oppressing someone does not elevate you, it only shows the failures in your character.
We are all HUMAN. Any other belief is just White Washing.
I'm just sayin...
