How are we meant to celebrate a culture’s history when it is actively being erased in front of our eyes?
It’s black history month, yet across the country, historical information is being removed from major landmarks, museums, and even government websites. The current administration is trying to eradicate the past sins of the U.S. when we should be learning from these horrible acts and changing our ways.
Prior to these removals, inaccurate and whitewashed tales were told. History books have always been told from the “winners” perspective, and because of this, the country’s past and current racism has been downplayed to everyone. But the people who took their learning past what they are told in school know the truths from the real people who persevered and survived these horrors.
It’s hard to think about, but our education system and government are failing us by doing this.
They aren’t giving the graphic truth, so here it is:
Slavery wasn’t only forcing those of color to work for no pay. It wasn’t just whips and chains and the selling of people. Slaves weren’t only killed for what was seen as poor quality labor, or running from this life, or back-talking their master.
They were killed to be skinned and made into leather. They were killed to be cooked, served, and eaten. They were killed like animals when they were people. People whose voices deserved to be heard.
People who weren’t given “equal rights” until 100 years later, and even now, they still aren’t seen as equal everywhere. They still face racism everywhere they turn, especially in current times, because our government has now become the epitome of it and has shown it is okay to act this way when it is far from it.
By erasing this history, they are taking away the few voices that were heard.
The few voices that advocated to no end when they knew they would never see the results of what they were fighting for. Voices that are being silenced for the millionth time because our government doesn’t think it’s patriotic to talk about.
But it is patriotic to think about all the men, women, and children who fought for the freedoms that people of color have today. It is patriotic to talk about what happened and to see how far we’ve come as a country. It is patriotic to keep learning from this and keep changing so that one day we are all fully equal.
History was never meant to teach us who won in the end; it was meant to teach us why there was a battle to begin with, so we don’t repeat the errors in our ways. As it’s removed, we fall farther and farther back in time. When history stops being taught, we lose the reason why we are here today.
But we must remember, you don’t ignore history when it stops being taught, you search for the truth yourself. You engage in those hard conversations about ancestors of the past; you embrace the hardships that were fought to get here. You take the time to keep learning and keep moving forward, not back.
Just because you don’t see it in history books or on museum walls anymore doesn’t mean it never happened.