From our last class discussion about the “staging” of Rosa Parks’ bus boycott, to recalling our realization that MLK was not a one man band who single-handedly crafted the civil rights movement, it shocks me to think about how much our text books glazed over America’s historical truth. When I think of the history that most of us learned in elementary school, the only thing that comes to mind is: “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492”.
In part II of Chapter 7, we learn just how dark the shadow of World War II is. In incidents like explosion that killed 202 navy seamen in July 1944 at the Port Chicago, San Francisco, the United States government treated black soldiers with no human dignity (273). Branding black soldiers as rapists when there was no substantial evidence (272). Removing all dignity. Violent, widespread lynchings. Intense voter intimidation… Before this class, I didn’t have an accurate perception how inhumanely the government, and many American citizens, treated black Americans throughout history. As the NAACP worked to end discrimination and secure full citizenship for black Americans, widespread violence is still going on. Why didn’t we learn about this extreme violence in high school!
Another thing that came up in our last class discussion was how hard it must have been to be an organization like the NAACP to be fighting against a system that is completely set against you. It’s so eye-opening to hear these stories and to begin to feel the experience of black Americans in the 20th century. To gain a better picture of living every day in fear for your life and knowing that if any white person accused you of something you could probably not defend your innocence. In Chapter 7 and 8, we see Marshall working tirelessly to defend and advocate for black Americans through the NAACP. In just the year 1944, he traveled more than 42,000 miles working for social justice (286). His steadfast and determined character in such a time of danger speaks to incredible leadership.
As the wartime oppression turned into a demand for “justice now,” this line stuck out for me: “if black men and women rejected the idea of being a ruled group, they ‘must be willing to make every sacrifice necessary to retain the right to vote’” (285). We’ve never lived through a time when our population has had to fight for the right to vote, so it’s easy for the full importance of suffrage to escape us. Truly comparing our own lives to the lives of the black Americans of the civil war era, is eye opening to say the least.
How many of you have taken your full citizenship for granted? Did you learn about the true civil rights history in high school (if you did, was it just a really good teacher?) Although Prof. Fergeson was joking, it really does seem like we need college history to correct, or give a more complete story, to what we’ve learned in the past. Drawing from chapters 7 and 8, what are some things that you learned that you didn’t know before, and you think you should have known? Any comments on the seeming inadequacy of high school history classes?