While the mainstream media has focused on whether or not white supremacists were emboldened by the election of Donald Trump, their attention is less on the underlying trend of racism. This is especially obvious in the case of the Supreme Court ruling that allows Texas to implement a “critical race theory” test for the University of Texas.
Last year, the Texas legislature passed a bill banning the use of “critical race theory” in grades K-12. While the ban is intended to prevent students from being subjected to racist indoctrination, it has the opposite effect: it allows teachers to explore the links between racism and other forms of oppression, as well as how racism is used as a tool of control by the ruling class.
Is Greek mythology still taught in schools? Interesting, it was one of my favorite subjects in sixth grade. Looking back, and as an abolitionist, I realize that this was just another subject taking up space that could have been used to teach real history. But it was also useful when I was thinking about the political strategy of oppressing black people. This is where the randomness comes from.
The other day I was fighting insomnia and I began to think that this battle with critical race theory is like the horse in the Trojan War. At this point, some of you may be wondering: Damn it, Tanesha, why do you think about critical race theory when you need to rest? This is the life of a black activist and probably most black people – we lie awake at night worrying about the shit we have to fight the next day and the day after, while our oppressors sleep peacefully in their privilege. That’s all.
Let’s go back to the Trojan horse story… If you are not familiar with the history of the Trojan War, the Greeks and Trojans fought for about 10 years. The Greeks then had a plan to make the Trojans think they were out of the war, and they built this giant wooden horse and left it at the gates of the Trojan city as a so-called peace offering. When the Trojans finally dragged the horse’s ass into town, gangs of Greeks swarmed in – similar to Trump’s Duck Dynasty gang that invaded DC during the mutiny in January – and started kicking the Trojans’ ass.
At three in the morning these random thoughts come to me and it occurs to me that these are the same deceptions and war games that are going on right now.
You see, we blacks are Greeks. Since the pressure of the George Floyd riots, the election of a black woman as vice president, and the declaration of the nineteenth day as a national holiday, some of us are cautiously optimistic that there is finally a cease-fire in our 402-year war with the US.
We will not settle for the crumbs thrown at us from the table of liberty and equality to silence us or ignore our thirst for justice. And we will not rest until all black lives in this country truly count. https://t.co/leL4QL5EoX
– PeeplesVoice (@PeeplesChoice85) 17. June 2021
But here comes the boom, and Trojans with white supremacy written on their backs like a misplaced tattoo, filled with gatekeepers (Trojans) trying to attack critical racial doctrine, voting rights, and any other truths and freedoms they can take away and officially send this country back to the Jim Crow era, infiltrate statehouses all over the country.
Black people, that’s what we have to fight for. And not necessarily for the critical theory of race as such, because in general it’s just a dirty word the oppressors use to gather more Duck Dynasty soldiers. We must fight for the teaching and learning of real history.
While Greek mythology is exactly what it says – mythical – we have real examples of activism and influence in black American history that teach and empower us. This is what they are trying to suppress.
They want to use education to further this idea and duty of patriotism by giving white children false idols in the form of Civil War tyrants and other historical leaders who tried to enslave and oppress black people. And they want generations of black children to live in slavery in one generation. This manifested itself in the attempt to rewrite Civil War history in a throwaway movement called Lost Cause, led by racists.
It really blew me away. In 1954, a textbook titled Georgia History was published and allowed to be taught in the state’s high schools to make children believe that plantations were primarily a place of celebration for slaves. One of the passages says: …the master often organized a barbecue or picnic for his slaves. Then they had a good time. Even when they worked in the cotton fields, they sang …..
…the master would often organize a barbecue or picnic for his slaves. Then they had a good time. Even when they worked in the cotton fields, they sang …..
That’s what people who oppose critical race theory want to teach in schools. pic.twitter.com/abRZTf1gGI
– PeeplesVoice (@PeeplesChoice85) 6. July 2021
Scripture on the wall and in history.
And at the very least, as our big brother el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz aptly noted in a 1965 CBS interview, white supremacists use the arguments of anti-crime racial theory to project their shame onto those they have victimized and to reject notions of racism against blacks in America.
I saw this interview with Brother Malcolm and it perfectly describes an element of the struggle against critical race doctrine.
Hold on, white America. pic.twitter.com/F2Kd5VA2J1
– PeeplesVoice (@PeeplesChoice85) 6. July 2021
We have heard hatred of the CRT professed by politicians, by newly formed organisations who insist on maintaining the status quo, and sadly by some of our own organisations who remain on the sidelines.
Yes, I have often said that I wish all black parents and guardians would take their children out of public school and turn them upside down, but I know that won’t happen. So this is what we have to do.
It is imperative that we organize and resist these prohibitions of history, realizing that our options are limited when we are fighting a thousand other things. So instead of setting up whole organizations like some of those white people do, we’re going to work around the system and do everything we can to make sure our kids learn what they need to know.
Along with educators and administrators, you should all be creatively introducing revolutionary and relevant curricula, teaching abolitionist lessons, and promoting radical conversations in the classroom. Yes, it is our job to fight the car, but it is also our responsibility to pass the baton to our young people when we can no longer do the job. Parents, appreciate the energy of the people who try to dictate to your children what they can and cannot learn in school. Because even if you didn’t get a good education, you need and deserve one to make a difference for black people in America.
Compensation for damages.
In the end, we have to ask ourselves: Do we want our children to continue to be taught Greek mythology, where they have to dig to decipher war strategies, and not see heroic images? Or do we want them to study our history, where they will be informed and inspired by real emancipatory strategies? I think we know the answer.
And even though we’ve already let the junk politicians in, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop them and the Duck Dynasty gang with their Trojan horses in the form of klansmen in our communities.
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