Will the Attempt to Erase Black History Spread Across the Nation?

By Donald James Senior Writer, Real Times Media

Black History Month 2023 is almost over, and once again, the plight of African Americans since 1619 has been spotlighted across mass media platforms. Yet, it’s difficult to understand why the Florida Department of Education, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, continues to defend decisions to ban an Advance Placement course on African American studies.

According to DeSantis, the Black studies program “lacks educational value” and “leaves large, ambiguous gaps that can be filled with additional ideological material, which we will not allow.” He said, “education is about the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of ideology or the advancement of a political agenda.”

For many, DeSantis’ stance against the African American studies coming to fruition in Florida has him standing on a slippery slope, with America watching.

“When we censor classes and whitewash lesson plans, we harm our students and do them a deep disservice, “ Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said recently as she stood with civil

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Black Lives Matter

However, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the first year after Floyd’s murder, Black people were still three times as likely to be killed by police than White people and 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed when they were killed. In the same year, NBC News reported that Black people, who made up 13 percent of the nation’s population, accounted for 27 percent of the people fatally shot and killed by police officers across the country.

In the first week of 2023, the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old African American man in Memphis, Tennessee, captured the nation’s attention. Nichols was stopped by five Memphis police officers – all Black - and pulled from his car and beaten. Three days later, he died. Like many similar tragic cases over the years, massive protests ensued, with protesters of all ethnicities chanting: Black lives matter! Others wondered whether protesting made a real difference in addressing police brutality and racism involving Black people.

“People perceive that people protesting in the streets leads to people caring more, but sometimes it leads to people resisting the change more,” said Rashawn Ray, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.

“And we’re talking about officers resisting the change. What we see in the immediate aftermath of the demonstrations is police officers hunkering down and standing behind the blue wall of silence even more.”

“The thing that is heard so often in response to police brutality is that we need to train the police officers better,” Kefentse Chike, Ph.D. and professor of African-American Studies at Wayne State University, told the Michigan Chronicle. “But it’s not the training; it’s that many – not all - White police officers have racist views. And I don’t think you can change those views with training and legislation.”

Chike, a native Detroiter, said he’s not sure if there will ever be a significant change to police brutality because there will always be racist people. And in states across America, many of the people who make the laws are racist themselves and hold similar views and attitudes as a segment of law enforcement departments and agencies across the country.

When asked whether the Black police officers in Memphis involved in the Nichols’ case were racists, Chike said, “That is internalized racism. Many White people and White officers don’t deem Black lives to be valuable or Black lives to matter, which has been a major perspective in this society for a long time. So there are Black people, including some Black police officers, who feel the same way. In other words, they have internalized the same racist views and attitudes as Whites in terms of hating Black people – and themselves.”

Chike referenced the Willie Lynch Syndrome, first identified in a 1712 speech to White slaveowners to use tactics to keep African slaves in America in mental chains and divided against each other based on numerous factors.

“The psychological damage is that Black people were socialized and conditioned to think a certain way,” Chike said. “This has happened through the whole process of enslavement into the era of Jim Crow, segregation, and beyond.”

On another front, Dr. Roger Mitchell, a leading forensic pathologist, advocates for comprehensive reform to police use of excessive force. Following the recent death

Killing Fields

120.5 firearms per 100 residents. The country with the second highest rate of citizen firearm ownership is Yemen with a rate of 52.8 guns per 100 residents. America has a population of 326 million people. It has been reported that we have at least 393 million guns. Not every American owns a gun. There are what is known as “super owners,” people who own ten to twenty guns or more. America has a gun violence problem. In a special report by ABC News called Rethinking Gun Violence, examining the level of gun violence in the United States, a gun violence tracker system to illustrate total gun violence was utilized. Over the past five years, 2018 to 2023, there were a reported 93,376 deaths, 180,803 injuries. Over the past year, there were 19,210 deaths, 36,805 injuries. In one week, February 4-10, 2023, there were 354 deaths, 592 injuries. There are a number of gun related factors to these killings. Some range from premeditated acts of aggression, domestic disputes, robberies, even suicides. Yet, the one common factor is access to guns. This unbearable situation has caused the health care system an estimated one billion dollars a year for injuries alone.

According to a report released in June by the United States Government Accountability Office, many people believe gun violence is limited to urban America, particularly among Black communities. I have a news flash for youit’s happening more and more in smaller communities all around the nation. For example, Mississippi County Arkansas has a population of a little more than 42,000 based on the U.S. Census data. Yet, it has a gun homicide rate of over 23 per 100,000 according to the Center for Disease Control.

The majority of Americans want to do something to end gun violence. An ABC News Washington Post poll conducted in 2019 found 89% of Americans support universal background checks and 86% support red-flag laws (a law permitting the state court ordering the temporary removal of firearms from a person believed to present a danger to themselves or others). Six in ten support banning high-capacity ammunition of Nichols, Mitchell, an African American and spokesperson for the National Medical Association (NMA), called for sweeping changes to the procedures of reporting deaths of individuals in police custody.

“The National Medical Association is calling for a national response for the immediate development of a federal office responsible for the review of all fatal cases involving police excessive-use-offorce occurring in local jurisdictions,” Mitchell, the organization’s Speaker of the House of Delegates, told the Michigan Chronicle. “One thing near and dear to my heart is getting a checkbox on the death certificate that says death in custodyyes or no.”

Mitchell said he considers death in custody to be circumstances ranging from when individuals are first stopped, questioned, arrested, transported to jail, and remain jailed under the supervision of law enforcement personnel.

The NMA is the largest and oldest national organization representing 50,000 Black physicians. Its collective voices have consistently called for the cease of excessive use of force by police, which NMA considers a critical and out-of-control “public health issue.” The organization remains committed to addressing social determinants, structural violence, and systemic racism, all fostering an environment leading to the disproportionate policing of communities of color.

“I’m hopeful we will find ways to stop the death of people in custody,” said Mitchell, a former FBI forensic pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner in Washington D.C., who currently chairs Howard University’s College of Pathology.

“Unfortunately, across the country, the deaths of those in custody are not being reported properly, if at all. But having faith without works is dead, so we have to keep work- clips. Fifty-six percent support banning the sale of assault weapons. Among Democrats, 81% support a ban, 55% of independents, but only 33% of Republicans favor a ban. ing for these things to change.”

We must end the gratuitous prayers for the victims, flowers and teddy bears for the deceased, litanies of how bad we feel that another killing field has occurred. It is not enough to send up a prayer for the dead. We must send out a policy change for the living. We cannot allow political leaders who are supposed to serve the people to disregard the will and determination of the people. Hiding behind the NRA resistance to reasonable gun regulation, claiming that leaders just want to take all guns away and disregard the Second Amendment right to bear arms, proclaiming nothing can be done about a shooting like this, are all damnable lies. The people want safety.

Our children and all children deserve a future without fear, injury, or death. I am not a pessimist. I am an optimist. But more important than that I am a man of faith. “I know that faith without works is dead,” James 2:17. It is time to put some work with our prayers. Politicians who ignore the will of the people, putting guns before children and money before safety, should be voted out of office. Governors and legislators who stand in the doorway to prevent the entrance of a better way to end this senseless violence do not deserve nor have they earned the right to lead the people. If they do not move on these issues, then it is up to the people to move them out of the way.

We must pass gun regulation laws, background checks, support for mental health, regular mental and psychological evaluation of law enforcement officers, the elimination of assault weapons and military armament off the streets, pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and inspire not by words but by our deeds a new and secure generation of young people. Whitney Houston sang it well, “I believe the children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier. Let the children’s laughter remind us of how we used to be.” America, the sound of laughter is always more pleasant to the ear than the sound of silence.

Ben Crump, the attorney for the family of Nichols, has been a starch proponent for passing federal police reform legislation. He is pushing for President Biden to proactively help the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, first introduced in 2021, through its passage on Capitol Hill.

“Shame on us if we don’t use his tragic death (George Floyd’s) to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed,” Crump said recently on CNN. “We told President Biden that when he talked to us. How many of these tragedies do we have to see on video before we say we have a problem, America?” rights lawyer Ben Crump to announce that three high school students in Florida were ready to challenge the Governor’s decision legally.

Florida is not alone in efforts to ban Black history classes or denounce Critical Race Theory (CRT) from being taught in public schools. In 2021, at least three dozen states – primarily GOP-led - either introduced bills, adopted legislation, or implemented policies to restrict teaching about race and racism.

In Michigan, Senate Bill 460 was introduced by Republican Senator Lana Theis. The bill’s intent was to prohibit Michigan schools from teaching Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and other race related lessons. Subsequently, the State Board of Education adopted a resolution that opposed the bill.

“Teachers have the right and responsibility to teach the multifaceted and complex history, including the history of race, racism, and other biases, which are inextricably connected to the constitutional and statutory history in our county,” said Michigan State Board of Education member Pamela Pugh.

Former State Senator Adam Hollier believes that the current composition of the Democratic-controlled Michigan Senate, House - including the State’s first Black House Speaker - and governor’s office will turn back any attempts to pass legislation banning Critical Race Theory or erasing or whitewashing Black history courses taught in Michigan.

“Our history is rough and raw, and when we tell it accurately, it’s going to make some people uncomfortable,” said Hollier. “But we must continue to teach our real and accurate history.”

In Detroit, under the auspices of Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), Critical Race Theory is being taught in the state’s largest and Blackest school district.

“Our goal,” Chrystal Wilson, assistant superintendent of DPSCD, told the Chronicle, “is to provide students with materials that consist of content that honors the intellect of our students…It is of critical importance that students see people like themselves in positions of power, strength, and achievement. The tenants of Critical Race Theory support this approach as they speak to the inclusion of non-dominant perspectives and critical analysis of history and literature to examine the current conditions and realities of our world.”

DPSCD, thanks to a partnership venture with The Skillman Foundation and the organization’s $654,000 grant over two years, has implemented the Detroit Perspectives Project, an initiative created to advance Culturally Responsive Literacy Initiatives for high school stu- dents based on the School Board’s anti-racist policies and curriculums.

“In order for DPSCD high school students to realize their full potential and stay engaged in the learning experience, their education has to be culturally and historically reflective of their own experiences and identities,” Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent of DPSCD, said in a statement. “The next phase of our work is to review materials that disrespect or disinterest our students and infuse materials that continue to be grade-level challenging but reflect the interest and identities of our students.”

In the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) in Washington D.C.comprehensive anti-racist education curriculums have been established. The District emphasizes teachers being anti-racist educators and teaching students through an anti-racist lens across all subjects, including Critical Race Theory.

“The best way is to teach students about Critical Race Theory, Black history, while developing solutions for a better future rather than banning books, curriculums, and classes,” said Sophia Dionne, a native Detroiter, who has taught in D.C. inner-city public schools for almost 14 years. “ When you ban certain books or classes, it only entices people to want to know more. It’s obvious that some politicians are trying to hide or erase certain parts of America’s history through legislation and policies, but it’s not going to help us heal to turn a blind eye to what has happened in the past.”

Nevertheless, could Michigan lawmakers pass future legislation and adopt policies to ban Critical Race Theory? And what if civil rights are violated causing racial disparities in education for Black people and other minorities?

“We have formed a subcommittee that definitely is going to look into the educational piece around Critical Race Theory and the banning of books that you see around the country,” said Portia Roberson, Chair of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. “This is something that we recognize as important. If there are complaints of civil rights violations, we hope that people will bring them to the Civil Rights Commission.”

Roberson added, “Who knew that we would live in a time when Black history studies are banned in schools.” You have to ask yourself, ‘Why are some people afraid of African Americans learning about Black history because Black history is American history?’ ”

“DeSantis and others can try to erase or whitewash the narratives of slavery, Reconstruction, the Civil War, the Jim Crow Era, the Civil Rights Movement and other history related to Black people to make it appear those periods weren’t so bad,” Kefentse Chike, professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University, told the Chronicle. “But as the old adage goes, ‘The truth crushed to earth shall rise again.’ ”