#BTColumn – Why whitewashing the Black story in America matters to us

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

By Dr. Dan C. Carter

To Blacks throughout the diaspora, it must be shocking to witness the conscious and deliberate attempt by certain elements within the United States of America to remove, or considerably distort, the importance of Black history within their educational system. It is rather confounding that the USA, which has been considered the bastion of democracy in the world, is now seeking to erase the historical experiences of blacks from its history. It seems that the long struggle of Blacks from their uprooting in Africa to the Americas and their subsequent contribution to American society has not brought with it consequential respect and human rights for Blacks.

However, it is impossible to study American history without acknowledging the role played by Blacks and slavery. From their early landing in 1619, the group of 20 Africans initiated an involvement in American life that remains integral to the development of the great nuclear power that it is today. Whether as scientists, educators, soldiers, or civil rights agitators, the African-American contribution has been emphatic. To therefore attempt to teach American history in a Florida classroom with a mere incidental reference to black history is indeed mind-boggling.

The continuing attempt at exclusion of African Americans from the mainstream political, economic and social life in America cannot be ignored by Caribbean Black and Brown people. An American foreign policy that is based on abject racism could negatively impact us in the Caribbean since our economies and cultures are so closely intertwined. A racist US president could, through his/her country’s many multilateral agreements, exert sufficient pressure to cause some measure of stagnation in Caribbean economies. A matter, therefore, as grave as the attempt at diminishing the role of Black history in American schools must be viewed with some apprehension by Caribbean Blacks.     

The important factor to note is that Caribbean Blacks have endured the same torturous journey from slavery to full civil rights as their American counterparts are still aiming to achieve. While in America laws have been passed to guarantee, for example, the right to vote, there have been attempts within recent years, at the state level across the country, to reverse or significantly minimise this right. To gerrymander voting districts to influence outcomes that result in greater vote turn-out for the whites is an aberration of democracy. The impact of all this is seen in legislatures that are intent on removing African-American history from the school curriculum.

It is amazing that in this century, some education boards in the US are committed to banning Black authors whose books have been in libraries for decades. Even non-controversial, though important events such as the heroic action of Rosa Parks to cause the end of discrimination among persons travelling on buses are prohibited. Rather, more astonishing, is the attempt to prevent social discussion on topics such as the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in full view of the public. Social Studies, which is a critical part of the US school curriculum, seems only now valid if it reflects events associated with White America.

Why should the Tulsa Riots which occurred in 1921 in the Greenwood District of Oklahoma, known as the Black Wall Street, not be used as important history lessons in American classrooms to sensitise, not only Black and Brown students but Whites as well, to the racist social and political system that existed at the time, the remnants of which persist even to today? This particular White massacre of Blacks in Tulsa would demonstrate to American and Caribbean societies that the descendants of the enslaved were capable of establishing economic conglomerates equal to that of White America. This incident cannot be hidden from their relatives and posterity but be exposed as to what potentially could have been achieved if blacks were accorded the same human rights as former masters.

The racist rhetoric of presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, that slavery benefitted the enslaved is so preposterous that its mention is only to expose the degree to which white America will go to demean blacks as a people. The greatest contribution of slavery was the immense wealth it brought to the pockets of the slave owners both in North America and the Caribbean. At the same time, the enslaved were assigned the same status on the plantation account books as the animals. This must now form an integral part of New World History.

In spite of this human degradation practised by whites, the enslaved had committed themselves to a life of liberation. It was a liberation that saw the enslaved engaging in riots, rebellions and in the case of Haiti the actual overthrow of the colonisers and setting up their own government. It was a struggle that was persistent and ongoing. This struggle was championed by men and women who were mostly unschooled but whose goal was the achievement of their own freedom – their own human rights. It is this remarkable experience, Mr. Santos, that the descendants of the enslaved must know as a critical part of the curriculum, whether as students in America or the Caribbean.

It is this knowledge of who we are, where we come from and our achievements by way of our pre- and post-emancipation leaders that will guide us towards ultimate liberation and greatness. Our story must be told through every available medium to the enlightenment of our people. Why is it that European history, Asian history, and Australian history can adorn the shelves of libraries and African or Black History should remain unpublished and unread?

I am therefore proud to see the interest Barbadians are displaying in genealogy research. To find time to inquire who our ancestors are and their myriad generational connections, whether the findings cross racial lines or not, indicates a sense of appreciation for who we are. This development further enhances among blacks that innate love and togetherness that at times seem to evade us as a people. The strength of the former enslaved as a people must be seen in the understanding of our past, in other words, comprehending our history.

Dr. Dan C. Carter is an historian of education and author.