We are doing this work because White people don’t need to learn Black history the way Black people need to for survival in America. Black American history is often taught in Black homes because it is most often not done in schools, and usually not taught in White homes. Moreover, most White people don’t realize that most of the history that they learned is in fact White history, and typically includes deeply whitewashed heroification of its White actors/actions (often age dependent).
AND White people teaching at Taft need to understand that the white lens we see our history through can make appreciating our American history difficult for our students of color at Taft. Even if we don’t teach history, our historical bias can come across as unsupportive/ disinterested/unempathetic of other student’s experiences. This self awareness for the need to unlearn and relearn components of our country’s history is paramount to individual anti-racist work.
Support their own white racial identity development through the study of whitewashed and/or untaught history; we will not debate historical interpretations in this session.
Understand that most American history is taught/written through a White lens, which:
Celebrates Whites’ accomplishments and minimizes their racist actions;
Ignores or downplays BIPoC agency and achievements;
Omits or deemphasizes the effects of racist governmental policies since the end of the Civil War that have perpetuated Black disenfranchisement and economic oppression;
Often depicts White life and culture as the dream all races should aspire to.
Reflect on and discuss how this understanding fuels our work as anti-racists.
Stay engaged; be fully present
Experience discomfort
Speak from the “I” perspective (from your racial experience)
Expect/Accept non-closure; no quick fixes
Monitor your participation (move up, move back)--W.A.I.T (Why am I talking?)
Own intent and impact
Conflict can be a catalyst for growth
Learning leaves, the stories stay
This is a Taft group, but it is not ABOUT Taft; stay focused
Being open to understanding that the history you learned may be oppositional to someone else’s learned history, and that is okay. (Relearning history)
Expect that revisiting your understanding of American history may be unsettling/upsetting, but unsettling your norm is how you grow. (Relearning history)
Think back to your high school or introductory college U.S. History survey course: which people, events and/or themes from the pre-Civil War U.S. (including American colonial history) do you recall learning about?
From that same survey course, which people, events and/or themes from the post-Civil War U.S. (including the 20th century) do you recall learning about?
From that same survey course, do you recall there being an overarching narrative about race or race relations or racial justice in the U.S.? If so, how would you describe it?
Are any of the broader events and policies Coates describes (partial list below) ones you recall from that same survey course you took...and why or why not?
servitude becoming Black enslavement-only by design in colonial times
the disenfranchisement and intimidation and murder of Blacks during the Jim Crow era
Great War era anti-Black race riots
Social Security and the G.I. Bill actively excluding most Blacks
overt governmental and private discrimination in home lending that financially exploited Blacks and deprived them of wealth generation after WWII (red-lining and blockbusting)
Complete OUR American Citizenship Test
Bring a resource that may help us all better understand the truth of American history, ex: one that explains the inaccuracies in our American history or a text that improves our understanding of gaps in our history.
Watch the following videos:
In case you missed session #2, here is a video (to the right) that Rachael Ryan and Greg Hawes created about history through a white lens.
Click the button below for a list of curated history resources to explore on your own.