from thefreeonline on 8th July 2023 by Jill Dennison at Filosofa’s Word
Oklahoma’s Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill prohibiting the teaching of race in any way, shape, or form.
Would someone please tell me how the Sam Hell it is possible to teach about the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 without saying that it had anything to do with race or racism???
That’s like … like … telling a teacher to teach about the differences between elephants and squirrels without mentioning size!
It’s like teaching about oceans without mentioning water or the desert without mentioning sand!!!
For those who may not be familiar with the Tulsa Race Massacre, or those who may just want a bit of a refresher, please take just a minute or two to read my post from the 100th anniversary of the events in Tulsa in 1921.
An entire thriving community populated by Black people was destroyed by white people because a Black man may have accidentally stepped on a white woman’s toes in an elevator!
300 people were killed, 10,000 left homeless, and an entire 35 square block community was completely destroyed over a small, irrelevant accident! It was nothing … NOTHING BUT PURE RACISM!!!
Yesterday it was reported that Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction and previously State Secretary of Education, has given schools ‘permission’ to teach about the Tulsa Race Massacre, but only so long as teachers don’t actually acknowledge that the white supremacist attack was about race. WTF??? How, then, are they supposed to teach about it at all, for it was ONLY about race and nothing more! The Tulsa Race Massacre happened in 1921, but today, 102 years later, we are just as racist, just as backward as people were then!!!
In May 2021, the month of the centennial anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Oklahoma’s Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill prohibiting the teaching of race in any way, shape, or form.
“As governor, I firmly believe that not one cent of taxpayer money should be used to define and divide young Oklahomans about their race or sex. That is what this bill upholds for public education.”
So … I wonder how history teachers are supposed to teach about the Civil War? Do they say it was a fight over the price of cotton, rather than southerners holding or “owning” Black people as slaves to do the heavy lifting?
I suppose I don’t need to tell you that this one has my blood boiling. The United States, like every nation on the planet, is a compilation of history … some good, some not-so-good … but you cannot only teach one segment while ignoring the mistakes that have been made along the way, for if we do that, we are dooming our future generations to utter stupidity!
They will know NOTHING of importance! They will not know of the founding … the true founding of this nation, but will believe the fairy tales about how the Pilgrims and the Natives got along so well and everything was hunky dory.
They will believe the fairy tale that Black people were happy to pick cotton and were in return given many blessings! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
And those next generations? They will fall prey to the likes of Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro and other white supremacists who will convince them that white skin somehow increases a person’s value, and that all others must be eradicated or enslaved.
It would be bad enough if it were only Oklahoma, but it isn’t. It’s Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Iowa … for now.
Other states are considering banning the teaching of anything pertaining to race or racism. What sets Oklahoma apart from the rest is that the horrific nightmare of the Tulsa Race Massacre … truly a massacre … happened there and they are trying to whitewash it beyond recognition.
What a slap in the face to the descendants of all those who suffered losses 102 years ago when white folks went to war against Black ones over an accidental toe-stepping.
I never considered a career in teaching, for I’m not a person of great patience, which I believe is requisite for all teachers. However, if I were choosing my career today, I would be a teacher of history so that I could ensure at least some portion of the next generation is aware … awake! As it is today, we are becoming a breeding ground for stupidity and ignorance by our refusal to teach our true history, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
More
- Telling the Story of the Tulsa Massacre — An array of TV documentaries mark the centennial of one of America’s deadliest outbreaks of racist violence. John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation: Accounts told through the eyes of survivors The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 — Emory
- Tulsa Race Massacre: bigotry and racism in the U.S. Oklahoma Governor StittOklahoma schoolsRyan Walters
- 100 (101) Years Later — The Tulsa Race MassacreI originally wrote this post a year ago to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the darkest days in this nation, and normally I would not redux it a year later.…
- 100 Years Later — The Tulsa Race MassacreJolly Monday will be along later today, but for this morning I have something of importance to talk about. Today and tomorrow mark the 100th anniversary of the…
- Reflecting on the 102nd Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma
- The New World Post·
- Visit(opens in a new tab)
- OK lawmaker remembers 102nd anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre
- KFOR.com Oklahoma City·
- Deferred Justice for the Tulsa Race Massacre
- Anti-Racism Daily·
- The last remaining survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre seek reparations as the city continues to skirt justice.
- New book chronicles one family’s journey during Tulsa Race Massacre
- Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder·
- ‘Diving into what happened in Tulsa, I learned so much about the mechanics of how nationwide Black communities were decimated by federal and state policy.’
- Mother Fletcher, Living Survivor of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Celebrates 109th Birthday
- The New World Post·
The Free 
Thank you so much for sharing my post!
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