By:Jasmine Gates
How does one describe a man who enslaved Men, Women, Boys and Girls for financial and personal gain as having a legacy of strength, integrity and national purpose?
If the person telling the story is not committed to the truth, an angle would have to be picked and it has been.
This was made evident to me, not when I sat in US History Class, but once I began working in schools and walked through halls that housed paintings of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, to name a few of the 14 slave owning founding fathers of America.
The disturbing part is that these are the same hallways the offspring of their slaves walk.
Do these students not deserve to be told the truth about these men?
Do they not deserve to be graced by the faces of people that fought for and not against them to be able to walk these hallways?
The paintings on the wall are a small fragment of the problem in a bigger picture;
The education of Slavery in America.
We were properly taught about the Holocaust, properly taught how to solve algebraic problems and how the solar system works as a result of actual facts. However, when it comes to slavery for some reason we find it difficult to pass blame on the men that founded this country while softening the language to make it seem as if the African People they took, raped, beat and killed were indentured servants!
American Educators have not been equipped to teach American History in its totality because America has not shown itself equipped to apologize for what has been and continues to be done to African-American people. If we stick to this style of textbook teaching, we will continue to fail our children.
Imagine a world in 40 years calling 45 a kind man that fought for the people and even though he had his flaws he was loved by all!
One’s integrity would keep you from spreading such a lie. So why can’t we properly address not only the founding fathers but the toxic beliefs America has held for centuries?
Why is our integrity not stepping in?
Why have we allowed the blow to be softened when we tell the not so beautiful story of how African Men, Women and Children were forced out of their homeland and utterly dehumanized to build “America the (so called) beautiful?”
Be very aware that as we soften the blow for what is understood as the sake of the children you thicken the lie that America was founded on the premises of All men being created equal. Which ultimately leaves generations confused as to why they currently are living in a country that does not reflect that.
Regardless of what you believe, we all can agree that the students are our future and the future can either hold change or be the product of insanity. The only way to invoke necessary change is by empowering those that are coming up by addressing the harsh truth of the matter and giving them the necessary tools to shift their mindsets and actions in the right direction.
Thankfully, I am now in a position to help shift our youth, however, as a descendant of slaves, and a previous student in American History I am disappointed. I stand with my students and boldly state that we do not deserve to be coddled with lies by the offspring of our ancestors’ slave owners.
We deserve to be properly educated, we deserve to make the decision on whether we want to forgive or not and before that, We deserve an action based apology for the actions of the sick minded individuals that inhumanely forced our ancestors to build this country.
Who takes pride in Educating.
