As I was perusing recent news items, thinking
about what to focus on as today’s topic, I encountered a number of stories that
reminded me of the tangled web we weave as we attempt to navigate issues of race
and class, especially race, in America. I trust you will indulge me as I examine three cases.
In some circles, slavery is characterized as
America’s original sin. Interestingly, in other arenas, it appears that some
people have been persuaded to believe the institution never existed. Or, if it
did, that it was a mere side issue that barely warrants mentioning, and
certainly did not affect the growth and development of this country in any
substantive way. Suffice it to say, anyone who embraces or touts the views
premised in those other arenas, maintains only a casual relationship with the
truth, at best, or has been fundamentally misled, or as Dr. Carter G. Woodson
might have framed it, is miseducated, or is utterly in the deepest possible
denial.
With that preamble, let’s get into the
examination of the cases at hand. If you need more expanded background on the
role of slavery in fueling the early American economic engine, this post may be
too advanced for you. American History is replete with examples. Do some
homework and get back to me.
So in Case Number 1, the new Secretary of
Education, Betsy DeVos, an avid school choice proponent, in a speech a couple
of weeks ago, described Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) as “pioneers
of school choice.” School Choice? How about No Choice? No Other Option? Or, No,
You Cannot Attend School Here?
Whether a function of designed dissembling, or
of unintentional tactless maladroitness, her statement was widely deemed
unacceptable. There was sure, swift, and pointed pushback against Ms. DeVos’
loosely worded characterization. After meeting with leaders of HBCU’s, she
subsequently praised the institutions for identifying “a system that wasn’t
working and taking it upon themselves to provide the solution,” from the outset
of their founding.
As she endeavored to cleanup her misstatement,
she asserted that:
“The
institutions started from the fact that there were too many students in America
who did not have equal access to education.”
“HBCU’s
are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are
afforded greater access and greater quality.”
Wait just a cotton-picking minute (pun
intended). What she did not say was anything relating to the historical context
underlying the creation of HBCU’s, such as:
They
were a response to Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation in the South.
Such laws barred black students from attending white colleges and universities.
Ergo,
HBCU’s were institutions of necessity (for black higher education), not of
choice.
There is more to this conversation, to be sure,
but I think this is enough to establish the predicate that even as we push,
inexorably, toward the end of the second decade of the 21st Century, many people, including leaders of the highest order, frame narratives
built on lies, or charitably, misinformation, rather than leading with
difficult truths.
In case Number 2, we have known for decades
that Sally Hemings played a pivotal, or at least bigger than advertised, role in the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson,
venerable Founding Father, Second Vice President, Third President, First
Secretary of State, U.S. Minister to France, Virginia Delegate to Congress,
Second Governor of Virginia, Virginia Delegate to the Second Continental
Congress, President of the American
Philosophical Society, founded the University
of Virginia, author of the book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), considered
the most important American book published before 1800, instrumental in making
the Louisiana Purchase (during his Presidency), and principle author of the
Declaration of Independence (you know, the all men are created
equal document).
In contemporary vernacular, Jefferson was a bad
mother…Shut your mouth…But I’m talking about Jefferson! And, as Isaac Hayes
said of John Shaft, Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man. Almost on cue, the
next line of the song is, “But no one understands him but his woman.” That’s
where Sally Hemings enters the epic Jeffersonian tale.
Mr. Jefferson, in addition to all of the
stellar assignations noted above, was a slave owner. Ms. Hemings was his
property. But, it went further than that. For more than a century, it was
denied, but we now know that Jefferson and Hemings were sexually involved, to
put it in a light more generous than he deserves. The unvarnished truth of the matter is
Jefferson willfully availed himself of her body from as soon as her early teen
years, and he was the father of at least one of her children (DNA verified, in
case anyone wants to argue that point). In other words, he raped her. At will.
Repeatedly. For years! That is not hyperbole, it’s not fake news, and it’s not
an alternative fact. It’s just, in a word, truth. I think that’s enough about
the TJ cover-up.
Case Number 3 involves another current Cabinet
Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary. Secretary Carson
was a candidate for President, and before that was a distinguished
neurosurgeon. Whether one believes he is an apt fit for his current job, he has
certainly earned a certain amount of respect and intellectual gravitas. And
yet, when in public forums, he has been known to sound as though he is ensconced
somewhere between awkwardly uncomfortable or inelegant and down right
ridiculous. Earlier this week, he trended toward the latter.
In his first meeting with staff at HUD, Carson
shared several anecdotes having to do with his career as a neurosurgeon and
then praised immigrants who
worked long hours to build a better
life for their families. Then, almost before one could blink, he…”passed the Rubicon.” He asserted that slaves
brought to the United States
against their will were immigrants. To be more
precise, he said:
"There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of
slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream
that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons,
great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”
As you might
imagine, at least I hope you would, his comments, those above in particular, drew
quick condemnation from African Americans in general, and from civil rights groups in particular, the latter casting his remarks
as offensive.
Just so we’re clear, enslaved Africans did not
voluntarily come to the United States. Moreover, they were denied freedom for
hundreds of years. Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank
Center for Mutual Respect said of Carson’s remarks:
“This is as offensive as it gets.”
That may or may not be an accurate assessment,
but Mr. Goldstein was not alone, nor were his comments the most forceful
directed at Carson. The Twitterverse was
fully engaged, including a hyper-poignant vitriolic bomb from Samuel L. Jackson.
While I will not repeat Sam’s rant, you can click on the final link below to
see it, in the event you have yet to run across it. Also count the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) among those who
criticized Dr. Carson.
On the flip side, a HUD spokesman referred to
the reaction to the Secretary’s comments as:
“The most cynical interpretation of the
secretary's remarks to an army of welcoming HUD employees. No one honestly
believes he equates voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude."
It’s also worth
noting Dr. Carson was well received by hundreds of HUD employees in the
room. He got a standing ovation at the
end of his comments. As an aside, the spokesman and the employees do work for
Secretary Carson. But that’s beside the point. I am not deflecting to HUD
staff. This was about Dr. Carson, Thomas Jefferson, and Betsy DeVos. Keep a
keen eye on them or on their examples, and on anyone else who plays fast and loose with the facts as they
pertain to race and class, especially to race. Why? Because I consider…”Avoiding the InconvenientTruth About Race: An Invitation to Lie!”
I’m done; holla
back!
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Consult the links below for more
detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/education-secretary-devos-makes-the-wrong-case-school-choice
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