Stop Arguing About Critical Race Theory Black People:

 Nobody is Stopping You from Teaching It

For the past year, one of the most controversial topics trending in America has been Critical Race Theory.  What is this CRT that everyone is constantly having intense exchanges about whether it should be taught in schools?  In my opinion, CRT is nothing more than teaching everyone the true history of Amerika.  However, I did hear someone say that CRT was a term thought of by conservatives to push the narrative that teaching students the truth about Amerikan history in Amerika could cause trauma to the white students in the classroom.  I mean, why wouldn’t CRT be called anything but Amerikan history?  A few weeks ago, I saw a tweet that said (I wish I took note of who wrote it so I could give credit) when did school administrators and politicians ever ask Black parents how they felt about the history Black children learned?  I know that is a rhetorical question, but I think it’s an excellent question.  For those who don’t understand the controversy behind Critical Race Theory….I’ll say what is straight up with no chaser….It’s simply a fight to keep White Supremacy alive!

Now my opinion about this is the same as it is for most issues and subjects that affect Black people.  Why are we spending our time and energy to beg a racist education system to teach children the truth about Amerikan history?  Why can’t we teach “Critical Race Theory” outside of school?  It can be very complicated, but it is possible.  With that being said, we must be careful what we ask for because we just might get it.  Let me explain.  For example, in 2002 the New Jersey Department of Education implemented the Amistad Commission (https://www.nj.gov/education/amistad/about/).  The purpose of the Amistad Commission is to ensure that the (NJ) Department of Education and public schools of New Jersey implement materials and texts which integrate the history and contributions of African-Americans and the descendants of the African Diaspora.  There are three goals: (1) To infuse the history of Africans and African-Americans into the social studies curriculum in order to provide an accurate, complete, and inclusive history.  (2) To ensure that New Jersey teachers are equipped to effectively teach the revised social studies core curriculum content standards.  (3) To create and coordinate workshops, seminars, institutes, memorials, and events that raise public awareness about the importance of the history of African-Americans to the growth and development of American society in a global context.

About two years ago, I was involved with a local community organization pushing for this curriculum to be taught in an urban school district even though the Amistad Bill (A1301) became law in 2002.   Now here is the twist, implementing the Amistad Bill was a great idea, but the million-dollar question is who is prepared and trained to incorporate Black history into social studies lesson plans?  Teachers must probably be trained when they teach Black history because it’s not a subject most people feel comfortable teaching, especially since most Black Amerikan history is linked to the oppression and discrimination by the White race.  Black history is not just reading or teaching students that there were slaves in New Jersey, and then one day, slavery ended, and boom bang, Black people are free now.  Part of teaching Black history is getting everyone to understand the racial trauma Black people have experienced in Amerika, how chattel slavery was the economic foundation of the Western Hemisphere and most of Europe at one point.   There is so much depth in learning about racism in Amerika that you just can’t teach it like other subjects.   It can’t be taught like any subject, and if it could be, then it would be.

So what’s the issue with us constantly pushing and asking for something?  The problem is that when we get it, we may not know what to do with it.  We may not have the blueprint to effectively ensure it’s being taught.  So I ask this question to all Black people pushing “Critical Race Theory.”  Are you really ready to back up what you’re asking for?  Are we willing to consistently hold the department of education accountable?  Let’s say certain school districts approach you and say, “you know what, we want to implement Critical Race Theory in our schools.  What do we need to do for CRT to be executed successfully?”  Are these same Black people yelling we need CRT in our schools going to be ready to support these school districts that want to implement CRT whether they are predominantly Black or not?  I think that’s the $1,000,000 question we must ask ourselves.

Moving right along… personally, my biggest issue is why we are begging and asking for people to teach about us.  Out of all the educated Black people in the United States of Amerika, why aren’t we more vocal about teaching our own history?  Why aren’t we more vocal about organizing students and children in our communities and teaching them?  Why are we constantly begging people who don’t give a damn about us, minimizes everything we’ve been through since we’ve been in Amerika, to actually teach everyone the truth about Amerikan history?  Malcolm X said, “only a fool would let his enemy teach his children”.  So maybe it is time for Black people who are knowledgeable about Black history, Black people with Master degrees and Ph.D.’s in education, and years of teaching to come together to design a blueprint to teach Black Amerikan history in and out of school.  It’s time for Black people to form educational organizations where our primary purpose is to teach everyone about Black history, but primarily Black people.  

It’s 2021.  Can we please stop waiting for people to save us?!?!?!  Nobody is going to come save us!  We must take action to get what we need so we can help our people who are coming up and the others who want to come up. 

No social justice without economic justice

Jonathan Travis

January 11, 2021