Jaylen Wims didn’t really learn about U.S. racial history in the classroom.
Neither did Amarah Anderson.
Sarah Adams’ experience is a little different—she was taught some facts about the nation’s racial history. There were gaps, however.
“We never learned about the Black Panther Party. We never really learned too much about Malcolm X. It was always MLK and his peaceful movement, and history is just very filtered in school,” Adams says. “My parents, they’ve always pushed history, and they’ve always wanted me to learn important things.”
The first time she found dissonance between what was being taught and what she learned on her own was the history of the Children’s Crusade march in 1963.
“They were getting arrested, and (the authorities) had dogs and hoses,” Adams says. “We never learned about that in school. Those are the kinds of things that they hide to try and make history look way more prettier than it is.”
For the third story in the Rochester Beacon and Good Conflict partnership, we talked to the people most impacted by a school’s decision to include or exclude U.S. racial history in its curriculum: students. Adams is a Rochester City School District student, and the two others graduated last year (Wims through the Urban-Suburban program in Pittsford); all are affiliated with Rochester’s Teen Empowerment.
“There’s a reason you walk into a suburban school and see a lot more white kids and you go to a city school and there’s much more diversity, a lot of Black and brown kids, and there’s still are some white kids here,” Wims says. “I think it’s sort of being swept under the rug, why it is that way? Whether people want to dive into that conversation or how they approach it, is always up for debate.”
Americans’ views of the nation’s racial history are deeply divided. Many school board meetings in the recent past, including in the Rochester region, have erupted in furor over teaching children about slavery and racism. Critical race theory has become a household term. Diversity initiatives at schools have slid under the microscope.
Despite a realization of racial disparities here and nationwide, a majority of whites do not support teaching how racism continues to impact American society today in public schools, a COVID States Project survey found. Forty-six percent of white respondents support teaching the legacy of racism, compared with 73 percent of Black respondents. These divides also are visible across political lines: Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say increased attention to history of slavery and racism is bad for the country, according to a Pew Research report in 2021.
In their quest to understand local history, as Teen Empowerment youth ambassadors, Wims, Anderson and Adams worked on a documentary, “Clarissa Uprooted: Youth and Elders Uncover the Story of Black Rochester,” which encapsulates the history of Rochester’s Third Ward, from neighborhood comradery, international jazz music, and thriving black-owned businesses, to redlining, urban renewal, and other segregationist policies.
From gentrification to redlining and restrictive covenants in house deeds, it was new information for these young minds.
“The story that we were taught is Rosa Parks not getting off the bus, and Martin Luther King being shot while he was speaking. But we live in a predominantly Black neighborhood that was constructed purposely. I never knew why,” Anderson says.
The project taught her why.
Beyond “Clarissa Uprooted,” each of these students have enhanced their learning about the past through interactions with the community, elders and parents. They are aware of the heated debate surrounding the instruction of U.S. history. Young people are interested in knowing about the past, they believe.
“There’s the people that are saying no (to teaching racial history) and they’re sort of afraid of what that history might bring up, but it’s almost (that) there’s a lot of people that are ‘Well ,it’s been working, so why do we need to change it?,’” Wims says.
Says Anderson: “Living in the city of Rochester and being a comparison to suburban schools, it’s something that is often manipulated and translated into something different when reality is in our faces. I feel like it’s a domino effect when it comes to past history and the effect on the community that it has now. There’s a lot of youth in the city of Rochester that does not know their history, where they come from, why things are the way they are, why they’re in the same schools as their Black and brown friends.”
Wims has relied on his community to learn about racial history. He believes oral history is culture, a way of learning, staying in touch and knowing the past.
“Why do I live in an urban area? Why do so many of my mother’s relatives, and her mother; why do they not own their homes? Why do so many white kids in suburban areas, why do (their families) own their homes? What’s going on here? Why has it been like this?” he says. “You start to question. You hear the common things like ‘Oh, Black people don’t work hard enough,’ things like that. It can’t be that it’s that,” Wims says.
The “Clarissa Uprooted” project, which also examined housing policies, helped put the pieces together. It offered an explanation to some questions.
“This is why only one person in my family owns their home, has their car paid off,” Wims says. “There’s a reason I’m one of the only kids that grew up in the same home that I was born into that still has that house that I can go back into. That house is going to be generational wealth, that is generational wealth, that is the start of building generational wealth. That is what was taken from us, and that’s what we’ve been learning about.”
Adams has become even more passionate about educating herself and others. Knowledge will bring about change, she believes.
“I think that’s what happens in schools, too. It’s like there’s certain things they can’t teach us, because if they do teach us that, we could do anything,” she says. “If we really know the true history, it won’t be allowed to repeat itself. That was a big thing that we learned all throughout the project.”
Adds Anderson: “It’s like my father always told me, ‘You don’t know the future if you don’t remember the past.’ For me as a student, I feel like (schools are) too caught up into statistics and making sure that we have an equal education, that they forget (the) parts that makes us who we are.”
The Rochester Beacon-Good Conflict partnership is designed to examine whether individual beliefs and perceptions about contentious and polarizing topics can be expanded through written and video journalism and moderated discussions using the Good Conflict approach. After watching this video or the others in the series, you can take part in a survey here.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name.
Only more action Howard. Organizing, speaking, writing, marching, voting, lobbying, and strikes to name a few. All those things were part of my job for decades, but I did them even as a teenager in college, because I felt I had to. I know of you doing such things. Those well read on MLK know he was a militant radical, who just happened to believe that non-violence was the best vehicle for change. I flirted with thoughts of violence in the late 1960’s, but my core upbringing led me away from that. It did not seem practical either, as the state was literally wiping out the Panthers, the Weathermen, along with many who were non-violent. I’m literally an old man now, but still get out there. I have never owned a gun in my life and do not plan to. I refuse to live in fear, but sometimes I wonder if it will ever change.
I recently read something from one of the Black Capital Police Officers who was given a medal by the President this week. The officer had been severly injured and had to retire because of his injuries. He said his older brother told him after seeing January 6th, with tears in his eyes, ” I didn’t believe they still hated us this much.” That hit me. The media has it wrong. January 6th was not mostly an insurrection against democracy by those who really believed an election was stolen, it was a white supremacist/ white nationalist uprising. It was Charlottesville on a larger scale, a skirmish in the Civil War. The swastikas, Aushwitz shirts, and Confederate flags on January 6th and at political rallies make it very clear.
I was told when very young in my advocacy that both the Civil Rights Movement and Labor Movement were the struggle for Human Rights. That both movements say,” The Struggle Continues” because the fight is against immense wealth and power. It will not change it in our lifetimes, so the struggle is handed down to those generations that follow. I try to teach my sons, and now a young adult grandson. I will keep pushing and I will not be silent when white privilege claims the truth, or my militancy, hurts their idea of “progress.”
I am certainly open to suggestions Mr. Eagle. Sometimes we never know what key opens the door.
Mr. Bertolone, indeed, if there is to be widespread, significant, fundamental, measurable, permanent anti-racist change and improvement __ “more action” is essential. If the long, crystal-clear, historical record hasn’t taught us anything else, it certainly has taught us that antiracist change requires calculated, intentional “ACTION.” However, the record is also clear regarding the need for action (if it is to be effective) to be planned and executed within the context of organized, strategic, sociopolitical movement, which is what Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (who you mentioned), and so many others believed in (to the extent that they spent most of their lives attempting to build the same). You mentioned that you are “open to suggestions.” Well, that is my ONLY suggestion, e.g., that those of us who are really serious about widespread, significant, fundamental, measurable, permanent anti-racist change and improvement __ come together at a COMMON PLANNING TABLE, AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEVELOP A DEADLY-SERIOUS SOCIOPOLITICAL MOVEMENT (really, we need one that would make the modern Civil Rights Movement look like childs-play). All else is a merely rhetoric and noise.
As it relates to “literally [being] an old man now,” if my research is accurate you were born in 1951, and I was born in 1954. Thus, I suppose that makes us both so-called “geezer boomers.” It’s good to know that you “still get out there.” So do I. In fact, if we can identify a group of youth who are willing to serve as the “spark-plug,” in a sustained, organized fashion, (as they always have, relative to sociopolitical movement), and if they are willing to listen to us, I believe that our generation can contribute greatly to assisting in the building of a deadly-serious, viable movement. I don’t really ” wonder if [overall socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural conditions] will ever change.” I know they will, It’s just a question of when, which will be determined by human beings’ willingness to do whatever is necessary to produce change. I do wonder frequently, whether or not many, many people really want change, even many who profess that they do __ yet who, in many, many cases __ are not willing to engage in the necessary ACTION and SACRIFICE to produce change, which I find to be hypocritical.
As is relates to your statement about the “Capitol officers’ older brother [telling] him after seeing January 6th, with tears in his eyes, [he] didn’t believe they still hated us this much” __ I’m not exactly sure who you’re referring to regarding “they” and “us.” If your reference is about a Black man NOT knowing that white supremacist hate Black folks so much, that would be sort of surprising. I mean, any Black person who is paying attention to what is, and always has been happening throughout this thoroughly racist society __ should never (in my humble, but staunch and informed view) doubt “how much [white supremacists] hate” Black folks.
There is no doubt about the fact that “the [racist] media has it wrong. January 6th was [definitely] not an insurrection against [so-called] democracy by those who really believed an election was stolen, it was [indeed] a white supremacist/ white nationalist uprising.” YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! You mentioned “the swastikas, Auschwitz shirts, and confederate flags on January 6th,” but the image that’s burned most in my mind is the hangman’s noose that they erected on the National Mall >>> https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/noose-displayed-at-capitol-insurrection-in-fbis-custody/2863204/
Indeed those of us who believe in the righteousness and ultimate victory of both Black Liberation and Human Liberation __ long ago adopted “The Struggle Continues…” mantra.
Yes, “the fight is against immense wealth and power,” and RACISM. It is NOT up to us to declare that “it will not change in our lifetimes.” That will depend wholly on what (exactly and specifically) people are willing to do in order to produce change. Again, I am thoroughly, unequivocally convinced that many, many people really DON’T want change, even many who profess that they do __ yet who, in many, many cases __ are not willing to engage in the necessary ACTION and SACRIFICE to produce change.
The Struggle Continues…
A I Read all the comments, responses and more comments and responses to those…… issues of the day, we are getting no where fast. Not a millimeter in progress. If you’re waiting for someone to raise the white flag or say you’re right and I’m wrong, i can see that aint gonna happen. You just keep bashing, keep pointing, keep spewing out the hatred with “knowledge”. At some point it would be nice if we could set an example for our youth. We could possibly say, enough. Let’s move forward from here and make 2023 a year in and of progress. We have a broken community and that’s a fact. How about doing something, writing something positive, something that will move us forward as opposed to slamming each other with our “expertise” on the subject. We have a RCSD that is out of touch with education. That my friends, is thee foundational issue with all of our woes within urban Rochester. So lets address the education issue, teach the way kids learn, show them professions and careers, let them connect those demonstrated profession/careers with those perceived “boring academics”. Let’s re-establish an Edison Technical and Industrial High school in conjunction with our manufacturing and other businesses. Keep in mind, the trades are begging for skilled vocational positions. Those are living wage jobs. Lets show our kids a purposeful educational journey. Let’s end the dropout crises and increase the graduation numbers. This is basic stuff. Not rocket science. All kids….ALL kids have innate skills and or gifts. If you’all (yup southern) think that bashing each other with your opinion/knowledge on the “subject” is moving us forward……or impressing anyone, you’re not thinking. Let’s make 2023 a year of forward progress as opposed to backward (as in history) bashing.
Semper Fi.
You actually made some good and legitimate points. However, parts of your comments are completely confusing. For example, I have absolutely no reference point for understanding who or what (specifically) you’re talking about regarding your assertions that someone “just keeps bashing, keep pointing, keep spewing out hatred with ‘knowledge.’ ” Who and what (specifically) are you referring to? “At some point it would be nice if we could set an example for our youth” __ relative to what (specifically)? Surely, you’re not under the impression that __ by merely uttering the WORDS: “…enough, Let’s move forward from here and make 2023 a year in and of progress” __ will automatically and/or necessarily (in and of themselves) guarantee change or improvement __ are you? Of course it requires much more than abstract, generalized rhetoric to produce change and/or improvement. In fact, it requires concrete, measurable, permanent goals, as well as formulation and implementation of strategies and tactics __ by which to achieve the goals. So, “enough” of what (specifically); move forward and make 2023 a year in and of progress” __ relative to what, and how (specifically)? You asked (again, it seems strictly rhetorically) __ “How about doing something, writing something positive, something that will move us forward as opposed to slamming each other with our “expertise” on the subject?” What is an example of the specific type(s) of thing(s) that you would like to “do” and/or “write” that you apparently believe “will move us forward?” And where (specifically) did you witness people “slamming each other with [their] expertise on [which] subject” (specifically)? My questions are NOT rhetorical. Instead, they represent fundamentally important inquiries relative to much-needed clarity regarding deep-seated, long-standing, entrenched issues and problems, and potential, objectively-viable, concrete, measurable, permanent SOLUTIONS. This is not a time for abstract rhetoric and noise.
You get no argument from me regarding your contention that: “We have a RCSD that is out of touch with [effective] education” (at least where the vast majority of RCSD students are concerned). However, “That my friends, is [NOT] the foundational issue with all of our woes within urban Rochester,” nor within other predominantly Black urban areas (from one end of this thoroughly racist nation-state to the other __ in every direction __ north, east, south, and west), not only as it relates to education, but employment, healthcare, housing, criminal justice, and every other major area of life. The foundational issue my friend, with all of our woes within urban Rochester, and urban areas throughout this racist nation is in fact historical and ongoing, ever-evolving, white supremacy, which brings us back to the main topic of the article, and which is the issue that apparently, you’re not really ready to deal with.
I support your idea and the dire need to “re-establish an Edison Technical and Industrial High school in conjunction with our manufacturing and other businesses,” which I believe, as you seem to, that doing so will help “end the dropout crisis and [help] increase the graduation numbers.” However, no singular approach represents a panacea. Thus, there must also be non-technical educational-tracks that lead to other lucrative professions, such as those within the fields of education, medicine, science and engineering, law, etc…, etc…, etc… .
Being a southerner myself, again, I have absolutely no reference point for understanding who (specifically) you’re referring to regarding your comment that “If you’all think that bashing each other with your opinion/knowledge on the ‘subject’ is moving us forward……or impressing anyone, you’re not thinking.” Who is it (specifically) that you’re attempting to address, and again, what (specifically) is the “subject” that you’re referring to?
IF you’re serious about “making 2023 a year of forward progress,” again, it will be necessary to establish concrete, measurable, permanent goals, as well as formulate and implement viable strategies and tactics __ by which to achieve the goals __ period. Doing so, is NOT automatically, nor necessarily “opposed, backward, [or so-called] bashing, (as in history).” The ultimate value of historical knowledge is that it helps inform us of what to DO, and NOT DO.
You know I moved to Rochester, NY in February of 1957. A native from The Netherlands. I was 12 then and assimilated rather quickly into the American way of life. That said, my parents taught me to respect one and all, which included all races, religions, social levels, etc. etc. It was kinda simple and I had no trouble getting along with anyone, nor did my family. I remember my father, a self-contract carpenter doing a job for a Black family. He told me that the lady of the house asked him if he felt uncomfortable working for a black family. Huh, was his response? Why should I feel uncomfortable? Well, you know we’re black, she said. That thought nor any action or inaction, based on the race of the person who hired you, even entered my fathers mind. The money is green no matter. I guess that rubbed off on me, because when I attended Edison Technical and Industrial High School in the early to mid sixties, there was a pretty good mix of individuals from all races and countries. We got along. We played sports, we excelled and some of went to college and some went to work. I attended college on a sports scholarship and so did two Black friends of mine. I dropped out because I was in no way prepared to take on the academic challenge. Joined the Marines and served with some of the finest guys one could ever imagine. Again Black and white. I refuse to listen to the “experts” who think they have it all figured out. I live my life, I respect all races and all religions, period. If one would just “LIVE BY EXAMPLE”, there would be a lot less hate and discontent in this world. I am not going to be told what the problems are today and sign on for the ride. I’ll figure that out myself and to date, it’s been a great journey. Have a great New Year and Semper Fi.
It’s NOT clear why you apparently THINK that your stories about your father and/or your years at Edison, and/or years in the military, etc… are outstanding __ relative to the hugely-broad scope of white supremacy. I mean, we all have stories to tell. So, what’s the significance of YOURS, again, relative to the overall context of white supremacy?
It’s interesting that you “refuse to listen to [anti-racist] experts,” and please don’t get me wrong, I am NOT suggesting that the author of this particular article is an anti-racist expert. In fact I have lots of questions regarding some of the information contained in the article. It’s wanting in numerous ways. In fact, I plan to request publication here of an article that I’m working on, which will represent a critique of this one. However, for you to declare (categorically) that you “refuse to listen to [anti-racist] experts” __ is somewhat alarming. Do you feel this way about experts in general, or just anti-racist experts? For example, would you listen to an expert carpenter, or engineer, or explosive technician __ relative to their respective fields?
You “respect all races and all religions, period,” and that informs us of what to do about white supremacy __ how?
“If one would just “LIVE BY [WHOSE] EXAMPLE”, there would be a lot less hate and discontent in this world?”
Does the idea that you’re “not going to be told what the problems are today and sign on for the ride” __ mean that you DON’T THINK OR BELIEVE that individual, institutional, and structural RACISM are “problems today?” Or, are you saying that we should sit around like knots on a log, and wait for you to “figure that out [your]self?”
As someone who presents the facts to be called a troll by Jim Bertolone is hilarious. Sometimes the truth is painful. The fact is the Democratic party has a long history of racism which is undisputed. What I stated is only the tip of the iceberg. Some people can’t handle the truth. Who is the real troll? I’ll let the readers decide.
It seems like you always miss the point. It is not now, nor has it ever been, about political parties. It has always been about white males with wealth engaging in ” Bi-partisanship” in compromising or denying the rights of anyone else. From Africans, to Native Americans, to women, and to every immigrant group that was not white northern European Christian, the bigotry continues. The cost to get elected and the big money spread around by the wealthiest who own our country and politicians, require much more in change than thinking one can comprimise with ideas that are morally wrong. The very wealthy have captured our political system and both major parties, but not every politician.The fact that slavers and the KKK were once part of the Democratic Party is well known history and adds nothing to the debate about the white bigotry and the hate of democracy we have seen grow again in the past seven years, and what the world saw on on January 6, 2021. There can be no comprimise and understanding with so-called patriots who fly MAGA flags with Confederate and Nazi flags. They are not patriots, but traitors. We fought two wars about this. There are no possible solutions reaching out here. Hundreds of them from January 6th are in jail, where they belong, and the rest should crawl back under their rocks.
Do we need more good teachers and diversity in the profession? Certainly. However the dedication of most teachers and how hard they work for children is lost on many. The extra unpaid effort most make to be not just teachers, but a shoulder to lean on, a mentor, a person that spends their own money for school supplies and so much more seems to be lost. Teachers cannot solve the problems of poverty and poor health care. They cannot solve the problem of one third of workers, higher in the RCSD, working for $15 an hour or less. They cannot solve the problem of guns being the number one cause of death of children 18 and under, now surpassing accidents, leukemia, and juvenile diabetes. There is room for improvement in all school districts, but that does not solve the on going problem of segregation, bigotry, and economic injustice that are still the conditions which large groups of people live under. Reactionary talking points blaming today’s Dems for slavery prior to the Civil War, or Jim Crow in the 19th century, is the very definition of trolling with baseless attacks that address no problem.
I can handle the truth, but I refuse to agree to disagree with phoney statements or lies that are a cover/justification for reactionary views. The white wing constant statements, all over social media for the last several years, that the Democratic party was the party of slavery and the KKK, has been the number one troll for quite awhile. That you think your statement is new, original, or a great point is what is hilarious. It’s also a bot favorite for what-aboutism to justify today’s bigotry from the white wing.
If that is not you, great. I for one am not interested in reaching out to such people, or giving them credibility. I’m sure that there are many in the white wing that think you present the facts, but I am not one of them.
Again, Mr. Bertolone, I agree with much of what you wrote above. However, there are some very, very important caveats. For example, you wrote that:
1) “We fought two wars about” racism and bigotry. This is true to some degree. However, it is remiss of you not to mention that after participating in those “two wars,” as well as every other war that this thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based nation-state has ever engaged in, upon returning to the so-called “united” states, some Black war veterans were lynched, while still in uniform ( https://www.google.com/search?q=Blacl+soldiers+lynched+in+uniform&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS966US966&oq=Blacl+soldiers+lynched+in+uniform&aqs=chrome..69i57.13278j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1). Remember, we’re discussing so-called “gaps” in the RACIAL HISTORY of the so-called “united” states. Which type of so-called “gap” could possibly be larger or more pronounced than this?
2) “Hundreds of [the terrorists] from January 6th are in jail, where they belong.” This makes me think about the ongoing double standard (to say the very least) relative to so-called criminal “justice” in this thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based nation-state. Just imagine what would have happened had the terrorists who stormed the Capitol been Black __ not only would hundreds be in jail. Hundreds would be in their graves. They would probably still be cleaning up the blood. I am NOT making an argument for killing white folks, instead I’m just pointing out the historical and ongoing, contemporary hypocrisy regarding so-called criminal “justice,” and the value of white life vis-à-vis Black life in this thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based nation-state, which NO ONE is addressing effectively __ period.
3) “…dedication of most teachers and how hard they work for children is lost on many.” People make these kinds of unsubstantiated pronouncements all the time. The only way to know this for sure __ is to observe, which I did, at the level where the rubber hits the road (the classroom), for 23 years, and my observations absolutely do NOT square with your statement. Based on my observations and decades-long, first hand experience, your statement would only be true, if you substituted the word “some,” instead of “most.” You also wrote that “Teachers cannot solve the problems of poverty and poor health care. They cannot solve the problem of guns being the number one cause of death of [NON-WHITE] children 18 and under, now surpassing accidents, leukemia, and juvenile diabetes.” I have no idea as to why you raised the latter points. This article certainly is NOT about teachers “solving” anything. However, they absolutely do need to confront widespread individual, institutional, and structural racism, which has ALWAYS existed, and still does in the thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based public education system, as well as in the minds, attitudes, belief systems, and behaviors of many who work within the public education system. The latter assertion is PART of what this article IS about: https://edprepmatters.net/2019/10/white-fragility-what-it-looks-like-in-schools/ ;
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/to-understand-structural-racism-look-to-our-schools/
Who could possibly blame you for “not [being] interested in reaching out to [the kinds of] people” described in your comments? However, let’s talk about the kinds of people that we ARE interested in reaching out to.
There is NO DOUBT that “the Democratic party has a long history of racism which is undisputed, ” and which does NOT distinguish it from the Republican Party. They are, as the saying goes __ two sides of the same RACIST coin __ period.
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-compromise-of-1877-after-the-civil-war-1773369
I see John Rynne, you continue to be a troll that adds nothing to a debate going forward by repeating the same reactionary talking points, out of context, to spread falsehoods. The reporting and history classes taught for generations do teach that Lincoln and his party were Republican and the Democrats were the Slavers and the party of States rights. They even teach that in the run up to The Civil War one major party, the Whigs, broke apart over the slavery issue with the faction against slavery founding the Republican Party. The new party ran Lincoln as its first presidential candidate and as we know won the election in 1860. This is taught and has been taught for generations, making your statement false.
During our history, political parties were founded, evolved, devolved, and changed. Substitute conservative where you use democrat in your post and it would be much more accurate. To bring it more up to date, in 2016 David Duke and the KKK and the American Nazi Party endorsed the Republican candidate for President. Other White Nationalist neo-fascist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers also supported the Republican candidate for President and many in the GOP for office. One will not find Democrats, and certainly not liberals or progrssives, in such groups.
The only thing worse than banning books and omitting history is to replace it with lies, especially when those lies often condone discrimination against others. To be fair, there are some groups on the right that claim to be against some forms of discrimination. Try Jews for Trump or Log Cabin Republicans.
Let me ask you James Bertolone……did your “troll comment” gain you anything? Did it help the healing process? Or did it stoke the verbal fire? Did it make you feel…..you know…..important or did it do anything but keep the argument rolling along with a lack of progress? I wish people would focus on today and most important, tomorrow. One wonders, after reading about your exchange, why the world is at odds, why all the hate and discontent. I guess I’m at an age where I long for, as a famous person once said, “why can’t we just get along?”. By the way, I am an Independent and registered as such. I look at the “slate” very carefully and see who is going to represent us best. The people. Today….it’s hard to find a candidate with respect, honesty and accountability. From local to Washington DC, it is getting harder to find anyone worth voting for. Kinda sad.
Yes Mr. Porte, my comment did make me feel like I did the right thing by standing up for what I believe is right. Failure to let stand such backhanded justifications of white supremacy, I cannot allow to just go by. Even though I was just a kid in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, it still haunts me today when adults used the “N’ word and other white wing language to demean others and strip people of dignity, and I said nothing. I just looked away. Children were not allowed to correct adults, or ask them to stop such behavior, even when it was sick. We were to respect adults even when their behavior was racist and full of lies. I am not a child anymore and will not let it pass, nor is there evidence that a majority of such people ever get it.
What one person insists is a relevation, in order to demean many who fight for racial justice and happen to vote democratic, is racist trolling and this meme has been there forever. Maybe it is a relevation to them that Southern Democrats were the party of State’s Rights, Slavery, and Jim Crow. For some reason I do not think my public school was the only one that used such books as ” The Civil War for Fifth Graders”. The 18th and 19th century Democratic party seems to be a relevation mainly for the Boeberts and MT Greenes and Matt Gaetz.
The person who said, “Can’t We all Get Along” was trying to stop a riot that would hurt other people, a riot caused by “not guilty” verdicts for police that beat him within an inch of his life, for a long time, inspite of the fact he was on the ground, unarmed and defenseless. This would cause me to get Labor to join and pass a resolution, along with other groups, for the Police Civilian Review Board. I marched with them, including our city’s Black Clergy, and it became law and was administered by the Center for Dispute Settlement, a very good organization. I think with a few tweeks it was a better answer than the Police Accountability Board because I believe in due process for ALL workers.
When I think about letting lies and hate slide, I come to my senses remembering ML King stating” True peace in not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of Justice.” I also cannot leave behind a favorite of John and Robert Kennedy, attributed to Dante, ” The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis preserve their neutrality. “( or remain silent-mine).”
No, I won’t be silent at such times in the name of peace or progress.
Mr. Bertolone, Not only were “Southern Democrats the party of State’s Rights, Slavery, and Jim Crow” __ MANY NORTHERNERS WERE AS WELL. And once again, not only did Southern and Northern Democrats (exclusively) support State’s Rights, Slavery, and Jim Crow. After the War __ so did so-called “Radical” Republicans. White Democrats and Republicans should stop pointing figures at each other __ you are, and always have been in it together. >>> https://www.thoughtco.com/the-compromise-of-1877-after-the-civil-war-1773369
Can you tell us more about the so-called “healing process?” Where is that occurring; when, and how??? STOP MAKING STUFF UP. In fact, you seem to make a lot of stuff up. For example, what in the world is the so-called “verbal fire???”
You keep ranting about “a lack of progress.” What (SPECIFICALLY) is the type of so-called “progress” that you wish to see??? This is NOT a rhetorical question. DO TELL!!! And how can so-called “progress” be brought into fruition, especially if you are against constructive dialogue and debate???
You “wish people would focus on today and most important, tomorrow.” DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT IN ORDER TO GAIN CLEAR, COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT OVERALL SOCIOECONOMIC, SOCIOPOLITICAL, AND SOCIOCULTURAL CONDITIONS AND REALITIES THAT WE SEE TODAY, AND THAT WE WANT TO SEE TOMORROW___ WE MUST NECESSARILY PLACE OUR EXAMINATION OF OVERALL CONDITIONS AND REALITIES INTO HISTORICAL CONTEXT???
“One wonders why the world is at odds, why all the hate and discontent.” NO!!! YOU “WONDER” __ WE ALREADY KNOW __ BECAUSE WE STUDY THE HISTORICAL RECORD, WHICH MAKES IT ABSOLUTELY CRYSTAL CLEAR WHY “the world is at odds, [and] why [there is so much] hate and discontent.” Apparently you DON’T study the historical record, and that’s why you DON’T have a clear understanding of what you’re seeing ( https://quotefancy.com/quote/859255/Malcolm-X-Of-all-our-studies-it-is-history-that-is-best-qualified-to-reward-our-research ). You can “long for [conditions by which] we just get along” __ all you want. However, merely “longing” is not going to produce the conditions. WE HAVE TO WORK TO BRING THEM INTO EXISTENCE, AND AS MR. BERTOLONE POINTED OUT __ THEY’RE NEVER GOING TO EXIST IN THE ABSENCE OF JUSTICE __ PERIOD.
We do agree on one thing: “From local to Washington DC, it is getting harder to find anyone worth voting for.” However, in addition to it making us “sad” __ what does it inform us to DO??? >>> https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/72282-usually-when-people-are-sad-they-don-t-do-anything-they#:~:text=Learn%20more)-,%E2%80%9CUsually%20when%20people%20are%20sad%2C%20they%20don’t%20do,they%20bring%20about%20a%20change.%E2%80%9D
It is true that “in 2016 David Duke and the KKK and the American Nazi Party endorsed the Republican candidate for President. Other White Nationalist neo-fascist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers also supported the Republican candidate for President” It is also true that “One will not [generally] find Democrats, and certainly not liberals or progrssives, in such groups.” However, it is NOT possible to make a legitimate argument that (on the heels of 8 years of Obama), SOME Democrats, and possibly even some “disenchanted” liberals and so-called “progressives” VOTED FOR “the Republican candidate for President in 2016” (even though they did NOT necessarily endorse him openly). THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, especially where white women are concerned. The numbers bear it out >>> https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/trump-nation/#/?_k=oawldj
I agree that there is many gaps in reporting racial history. Even the article didn’t mention that the Democratic party was the party of the Confederacy, the KKK, lynchings, slavery, Jim Crow, etc. The Republican party was founded as the anti slavery party. It’s very ironic that this dirty large secret remains censored by the media and educators.
“Censored?” The origins of the Republican party and the opposition of some northern Democrats to the Civil War was certainly taught to me in the 1950s (although the details of slavery itself were downplayed) and I doubt that has changed. What your narrative elides is the support by northern Democrats (and some Republicans) for the civil rights movement, which cost the Democratic party the southern segregationists – who by and large became Republicans, which party welcomed them with open arms. And *that’s* where we are today.
Speaking of “eliding” __ your comments, only represent PART of the reality. See my response to Michael J Nighan (below).
As we enter on a New Year John, let’s clarify your comment and bring it up-to-date:
The article didn’t that on that conservative, small government states’ rightists were the party of the Confederacy, the KKK, lynching, post-1789 slavery, Jim Crow, etc. Nor did it mention Nixon’s Southern Strategy, under which most of those conservative, small government states’ rightists who were still in the Democratic Party moved bag and baggage to the Republican Party, where they remain to this day. Nor did it mention that, since 1964, at no time has the Republican Party received more than 15% of the vote from the group most concerned with the history of racism in America, the Black voters.
In a sense, I appreciate your comments. However, if you really want to fully “clarify John’s comment and bring it up-to-date” __ there is much more that needs to be said. For example, it’s important to begin at the beginning. That is to say, (from a historical perspective, and even to some extent today), both institutions within the larger, dominant, two-party-political-system are oppressive institutions. As it relates to engaging in oppressive/racist policies, practices, procedures, rules, regulations, and laws (not always by what they do e.g., ACTION), but frequently by what they DON’T do (IN-ACTION AND/OR BENIGN NEGLECT) __ their institutional behavior has resembled, and still does at times (as the saying goes) __ two sides of the same coin. With regard to the overall political dynamics outlined above, Democrats have been and frequently (still are) just as bad as Republicans. In fact, sometimes they have been, and still are worse. In order to understand the clear reality regarding the latter statement, it’s important to study and thoroughly internalize the meaning and essence of concepts such as one coined recently by Dr. Robin Di Angelo (the queen of whiteness studies) __ via her newest publication, which bears the same title as the concept, e.g., Nice Racism ( https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670635/nice-racism-by-robin-diangelo/ ). In my humble, but unequivocally staunch and informed view __ one of the great contradictory-conundrums of 2022 was massive, embracing, swooning, and waxing eloquent by white liberals regarding the importance of Dr. Di Angelo’s work titled White Fragility (contrasted with, in the main, their deafening-silence regarding the latest work referenced above). Did it go unnoticed? In fact, I would argue that there is a clear example of Nice Racism embodied within your comments. That is, your statement about “the group most concerned with the history of racism in America, the Black voters,” which may be true (though Hispanics, Asians, and the indigenous people of this thoroughly racist land may argue with you about that). However, the clear implication and reality that underlies your comment is that WHITE VOTERS DO NOT REPRESENT “THE GROUP MOST CONCERNED WITH THE HISTORY OF RACISM IN [SO-CALLED] AMERICA,” which is absolutely true, and represents an indictment of sorts. As if we didn’t know already, the point was made amply clear, and driven home once again in 2016 (when nearly half of white folks who came to the polls voted for __ objectively __ the most openly racist, so-called “Chief of State” that this thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based nation-state has witnessed in the 12st Century __ period). And of course, there’s just NO WAY that they were all Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, or anything else __ other than SOME DEMOCRATS. So save the useless critiques.
https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/trump-nation/#/?_k=8leykj
https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history (GO AHEAD AND FACT-CHECK IT)!!!
See my response to Michael J Nighan (below).
It’s interesting that the “Republican party [of yester-year] was founded as the [so-called] anti slavery party.” That didn’t last long __ did it??? >>> https://www.thoughtco.com/the-compromise-of-1877-after-the-civil-war-1773369
Of course there are gaps in the way US racial history is taught. No surprise given that there are gaps in the way that ALL American history is taught, be it racial, gender or ethnic, including the history of those plain old white bread Europeans males.
By and large our grade and high school history texts are glorified comic books containing biased, two-dimensional cardboard cut outs of a highly-restricted list of individuals and events. There’s been little progress from the days when Parson Weems had Little Georgie Washington chopping down his dad’s cherry tree, to a century ago when Southern revisionists stepped up their campaign to “educate” Americans into believing that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, to today when textbooks continue to make heroes of Confederate military and political leaders.
Many parents will, for all intents and purposes, claim that the history that they (and their parents) learned is good enough for their children. Boards of education will claim that they’re merely responding to the wishes of parents. Textbook publishers will claim that they need to dumb down their history texts in order to sell them. Teachers who try to go beyond the bland and vanilla textbooks they’re forced to use will risk the ire of parents and of their superiors. And another generation of grade and high school students will be educationally short-changed.
But they’ll all know that in 1492 Columbus “discovered” a “New World”.
In a sense, you are correct. That is, when we use abstract, nebulous statements regarding so-called “gaps” in U.S. history __ that opens up the possibility that we can talk about all groups, which obviously is your preference. However, that is NOT what this article is really about (even though the authors chose that as a title). The article really represents an attempt to discuss RACISM, as manifested within U.S. history curricula throughout the U.S. of A. (in every state) __ because that’s the way it was originally designed within this thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based society __ period. Thus, when placed in proper context relative to the topic at hand, a fundamental, core issue, and essential question becomes __ whose deeds, misfortunes, achievements, culture, etc… is placed at the center of so-called U.S. history? There is no doubt that the answer is definitely “those plain old white bread Europeans males” and their female spouses and offspring (while Black folks, and all other non-European people’s deeds, misfortunes, achievements, culture, etc… are routinely downplayed, distorted, relegated to the background, if not omitted altogether). That’s the overriding historical pattern within the white-supremacist-based U.S. nation-state, which is still largely reflected in curricula today (in every State) __ period.
Even if it’s true that __ “By and large our grade and high school history texts are glorified comic books containing biased, two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of a highly-restricted list of individuals and events” __ the “cardboard cutouts of individuals and events” are absolutely dominated by “those plain old white bread Europeans males” and their female spouses and offspring. So, what’s the point? It still brings us right back to the main topic __ individual, institutional, and structural RACISM __ period.
Speaking of “revisionism,” as it relates to a so-called “campaign to educate [so-called] Americans into believing that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery” __ you’re making it up. There have been efforts to help folks (apparently like yourself) understand that the libelous mantra of yester-year, by which white folks wanted to paint themselves as “saviors” of Black folks via the U.S. Civil War, is pure fiction and fantasy. That is to say, all authentic Civil War scholars understand clearly that the major cause of the bloody, U.S. Civil War was a socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural POWER STRUGGLE between, wealthy, white, racist, southern agriculturalists and wealthy, white, racist, northern industrialists (with enslaved Africans being caught in the middle). That is to say, the fight was largely about which side would control the ultimate direction of the fragile nation’s economy, including the free and/or dirt-cheap labor of African peoples. Even people like “honest Abe” made it clear that they didn’t give a damn about African people. Indeed, they made it clear that their ultimate concern and goal was keeping the racist “union” together : https://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.4233400/?st=text __ period.
GO STUDY: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/index.html#:~:text=What%20led%20to%20the%20outbreak,key%20issue%20was%20states'%20rights.
So, “another generation of grade and high school students will be educationally short-changed” UNLESS WHAT HAPPENS??? I am thoroughly, unequivocally convinced that people like you want us to accept this as being inevitable __ because perhaps deep down inside, it is actually what you want to maintain. Otherwise, answer my latter question.
This is a very moving article and documentary that the Beacon should do another survey on to determine how many whites first of all will take the time to view it and then assess their response and possible call to action. As is stated in the video, “this is OUR (local Rochester area) history” independent of color and we are all in this together whether we want to believe it or not.
So I encourage any white person reading the article and this comment to contact all whites in your respective networks and ask them to take ten minutes to view it. And then assess whether the venom spewed over at school board meetings about whether this history being “CRT” is the real issue … or do we whites just want to simply ignore the historic roots of racism that led to our own local version of redlining, so-called “urban renewal and destroying the famous and unique Clarissa St. neighborhood, the many complex issues associated with the Rochester City School District, and on and on.
Bottomline, the true and factual history of how the City of Rochester is identified today by white suburbia is hiding in plain sight because whites can’t take the blinders off! So, take a few moments to watch this video and see how OUR youth are attempting to help us move from the enduring white bindedness and indifference prevailing in our midst.
Bill, you wrote that: “This is a very moving article and documentary.” What does that mean? Are you sayin “moving” as in inspired to ACT, or are you referring to emotions, or being “moved” in some other way?
I don’t understand why you THINK that it would be significant for “Beacon [to] do another survey to determine how many whites first of all will take the time to view it and then assess their response and possible call to action.” I mean, this article and documentary do NOT represent anything that’s fundamentally new. There have been thousands of similar articles, and scores of similar documentaries down through the years (many of which have been much more encompassing and more profound). So if Beacon, or you, or anyone wanted to “call whites to action, another survey” would likely have little to no impact or utility. In other words “another survey” is NOT necessary __ in order to call folks to ACTION.
Indeed “this is OUR (local Rochester area) history,” but I don’t get the “independent of color” part. If you mean so-called “independent” of race, that’s entirely impossible. In fact race, and more specifically RACISM is what the article and documentary are all about.
“…we are all in [what, specifically] together whether we want to believe it or not?” It’s time-out for abstract, nebulous, rhetorical pronouncements such as the latter quoted one, which we have literally been hearing all of our lives, but it means nothing. That is, again, it has no particular relevance, impact, nor utility. In fact, it’s purely rhetorical, and reeks of reductionism regarding the dire need and urgency to address the tripartite beast and illness of individual, institutional, and structural racism (http://minorityreporter.net/the-tripartite-beast-and-illness-of-individual-institutional-and-structural-racism/ ), in concrete, measurable, permanent ways (in our lifetimes, as opposed to the abstract, distant bye-and-bye). By the way, as it relates to the dire need to address the beast and illness, here and now, we know that MOST, especially white folks, do not subscribe (beyond perhaps lip-service) to the fallacy that “we are all in this [whatever “this” is] together” __ because IF they did, we would be a lot further along relative to addressing/improving/changing “this.”
Again, I assume that you question as to whether or not “whites just want to simply ignore the historic roots of racism that led to our own local version of redlining, and destroying the famous and unique Clarissa St. neighborhood, the many complex issues associated with the Rochester City School District, and on and on” __ is purely rhetorical. I mean that’s obviously the case (at least in the main).
Also, it’s very, very important NOT to over-exaggerate realities that surround this intentional, deep-seated, entrenched, historic, socioeconomically, sociopolitically, and socioculturally-engineered issue and problem. For example, the truth of the matter is that ONLY a minuscule group of “our youth are attempting to help [y’all] move from the enduring white blindness and indifference prevailing in [your] midst.” That is, the overwhelming majority of our youth are just as blind as others, which represents (to some degree and extent) __ an indictment of the public education system, complicit families, and other major, racist institutions, such as mass-media.
William Faulkner’s, ” The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past.”, has shown itself to be true more than ever in the last few years. Faulkner was speaking as someone who grew up in the post Civil War Jim Crow South where White attitudes towards Blacks prior to the Civil War had changed little. We should also be teaching how the KKK and White Supremacy were and are American terrorism, aided , sometimes like today, by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, even before President Grant had left office, blessed Jim Crow, gutted the Equal Protections of the Fourteenth Amendment, and helped ” CANCEL” voting rights for Black Americans negating the Anti-Slavery Amendments.
When I was a school kid we saw films of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the results of the Holocaust. Are they still shown? How about news footage of Emmett Till’s funeral? Or Bull Conner and Birmingham? Sheriff Clark and the Edmund Pettis Bridge? News footage of the Klan murder of four little girls in a Birmingham Church in September 1963? Are the murders of George Floyd and those in a Buffalo Top’s supermarket taught in that same light as those past atrocities, if at all? We teach here about Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass. Do we teach that Douglass said that President Grant was the second greatest President after Lincoln, or what Douglass said about Pollard’s book, “The Lost Cause?”
Do we teach that King was villified in his own time by our government, led by J. Edgar Hoover repeatedly saying he was a disloyal commie or influenced by commies? Do we teach that much of the main stream media reinforced that bigotry over and over?
I think we should also be having a much broader discussion of school boards and their right to ban books and decide what their children should be taught. No Civil Rights history, immigration history, or books by Baldwin, Vonnegut, or Tony Morrison are being allowed by politicians and school boards in a number of states. Children are not born racist, it is taught.
It seems many are okay with another generation being taught by parents and grandparents that racism/white supremacy are okay or do not exist.
These things I believe are not items where ” we can agree to disagree”. We can agree to disagree whether blue is a better color than red, or coffee is better than tea. You do not get this phoney cover on provable facts or on evil.
Well said, now what does it inform us to DO???