The last thing I thought I’d be posting about this Christmas week would be about Newton-focused discussion of Critical Race Theory, but I was a bit frustrated by how a previous post on the subject abruptly ended with a lot of items hanging and unresolved.
Black Americans and the Legacy of Persistent Distortions: I feel that most of what is now tagged as Critical Race Theory is simply an honest effort to set the record straight about the Black experience in America. The persistent distortion of African Americans and their history was amplified by some of the country’s most influential political leaders, newspapers, and entertainment giants for a full century after the Civil War. “Gone with the Wind” really did suggest that gangs of Black males would willingly rape and murder white women if they thought they could get away with it. Many phonograph records were produced between the two World Wars that depicted Black Americans as incompetent, lazy, deceitful, and incorrigible thieves who presented real threats to civil society and public order. I know because I listened to some of these recordings on my old Victrola after retrieving them from a pile of trash a neighbor in Newton was throwing out. Some of them can even be found on YouTube, and you don’t have to dig too deeply to find that these stereotypes have been carried over into significant segments of today’s society.
How Critical Aspects of Black History Were Neglected at Newton High: Post Civil War Black experiences were simply not included in the history courses I took at Newton High School during the mid-1950s. Many critical and heartbreaking events were never discussed. Confederate soldiers were even praised for their gallantry and for the “traditions” they were trying to preserve. We did not know that several highly regarded political leaders were uncompromising and deceitful racists who did tremendous damage to Black voting rights and to Black society as a whole. Two prominent ones were Presidents Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson.
The Often Unrecognized Legacy of Andrew Johnson: During my junior year, we were ushered into a large auditorium to see “Tennessee Johnson,” a 1942 blockbuster film that extolled President Andrew Johnson as a flawless American patriot who saved our democracy by courageously thwarting the concerted campaign by Senate Reconstructionists to remove him from office. We were never told that Johnson was actually an ill-tempered, spiteful, and virulent racist who did everything he could to quash Black civil liberties and restore the white ruling class to unchallenged dominance in the South. Nor did we learn that Johnson’s actions would help set the stage for the cruel and violent reign of terror that would follow the final end of Reconstruction when almost all Black citizens in Southern states were ruthlessly stripped of the right to vote and other basic civil and liberties.
The Compounding Legacy of Woodrow Wilson: Woodrow Wilson also received unqualified praise (much of it justified) for the many domestic progressive reforms he helped enact and his struggle to bring this country into the League of Nations. Still, he had just as much of a racist bent as Andrew Johnson, but again, we were never told about this side of his character, or the fact that much of his agenda was for whites only. We never learned about his cynical campaign to fire or systematically demote every Black Federal civil servant, including many gifted professionals who had worked their way up to senior management positions. I learned about this only in the mid-1980s, when one of my best friends and his wife invited me to move into their newly purchased house, which was in a Washington D.C. neighborhood that was more than 90% Black. Most residents were elderly Federal retirees who were too young to have been working when Wilson was President, but who bitterly recalled stories that their own parents had told them about the lingering consequences of Wilson’s actions. They were genuinely frustrated that nobody outside of Washington D.C.’s Black community seemed to know anything about it.
I admired both Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson simply because of how they were presented in post-Civil War history. In one class, we were asked to rank American presidents from best to worst. I placed Wilson in 4th place just behind Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson. I placed Andrew Johnson in either 6th or 7th place. I placed Warren Harding dead last on my list, but ironically it was the much reviled Harding who quickly brought Black Americans back into the Federal work force and who spoke out most eloquently against Jim Crow laws. Again, these were things I did not know and did not learn in school.
Disciplined Curiosity Should be the Watchword: I do not believe that my teachers were virulent racists or that the Newton school curriculum was consciously geared to portray Black Americans negatively. We were simply unaware of the dreadful legacies of Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Johnson, and the tragic post-Civil War Black American experience. The fate of Black Americans after Reconstruction essentially vanished from public consciousness, and when I was growing up there seemed to be no curiosity on my part — or from others around me — about why this happened. What we really had needed in order to learn about this was a disciplined curiosity, without guilt or condemnation. It’s an essential tool for weaving together the truth and for finding what’s missing.
I have absolutely no idea how logistically to instill this much needed curiosity in either the young or the old, but I have one suggestion about what should be added to Newton’s school curriculum at the youngest ages possible to achieve this. It’s also needed in our broader national discussion as well. We need to explore a new set of facts that will help to instill and inspire in all of us this much-needed disciplined curiosity. As part of these new facts, I would include healthy chunks of basic anthropology, archeology, astronomy, geology, and a smattering of other earth sciences — enough for kids and older folks to realize that we’re all more alike than different. Our planet is probably unique in this Galaxy, and all humans have been shaped far more by the half a billion million years we spent as hunter gatherers than by our living in various fixed communities for only the past 10,000 years.
The challenge is best summed up in my favorite quote from E.O. Wilson. “We live in a Star Wars civilization with god like technology, medieval institutions and stone age emotions.” Our very survival probably depends on humbly recognizing the strengths and limitations that govern all of us and the recognition that we are far more complex than the differences among the various ethnic, racial, and religious groups we come from.
Sorry. In the next to last paragraph, it should be “half a million”, not “half a billion. Still enough time to make my point.
What is the distinction between teaching history (new facts) and critical race theory (the color of your skin determines guilt for sins of previous generations)
If teaching critical race theory, what is the appropriate age to start?
Nobody, and I mean nobody, is teaching that “the color of your skin determines guilt for sins of previous generations.”
That is a lie promoted by racists who don’t want to have to deal with ugly truths like the ones shared in the main post—and there are many, many more like it.
Excellent food for thought, Mr. Burke. I appreciate you and all you contribute to our community.
And I can tell it’s going to be a good day when I learn a few new things (about Jonhson, Wilson and Harding) before breakfast is over!!!
Here’s to a healthy 2022!
You are spot on. But when you use “critical race theory” (that is inappropriate because of its complexity for primary and secondary education} deniers tune you put and dint get the benefit of your otherwise good message.
“The Second Founding of America” is a relatively new, and at thus point small, non-profit organization in Beaufort County, SC where the Reconstruction era started in 1861 and lasted until 1890 . . . Among our principal areas of focus is “learning citizenship through the (often untold) stories of history. We try to catch students’ interest / curiosity be leading them to stories in their own back yards. With mentors the learn to research, record and then tell/teach other in their own vernacular – written and spoken words, video, visual arts etc – so they can provoke conversation among their peers and with their families. If they uncover the story of a person, place or story, we help them package it for acceptance as a site within the Reconstruction Era National Historical Network of sites across the Nation. Ancestry is a great place to start.
When Henry Louis Gates. Jr interviewed Chris Rock he asked if he knew his family history and the answer was no. When Gates explained the Rock’s great great grandfather was an accomplished soldier in the Union Army who became a state legislator in SC, tears ran down Rock’s cheek. ‘If only I’d known. I thought my success was luck but now understand what I’m made of and will be eternally greatful to those whose genes I carry. There are literally tens if not hundreds of stories out there that can educate our children, give them pride, hope and much more.
I just fear that your story does not get the audience it deserves because you’re using a buzz word that unfortunately unnecessarily shuts people down.
During our 16 year campaign to have the federal government recognize the missing stories of Reconstruction (likely the closest we’ve come to fulfilling the promises of freedom, justice and equality) our message was “All we want is the Truth:”. It took 16 years but we achieved “The Reconstruction Era National Historical Park” and it’s associated “Reconstruction Era National Historic Network”.
And now we have to leverage it beyond the physical into curiosity and thirst to know more about out past that informs the future and has the potential for sharing common ground so lost in the chais of the day. My personal story http://www.sharingcommonground.com leads to the story of my current chapter following 20 years as an elected official. SHARING COMMON GROUND; Promises Unfulfilled But Not Forgotten”
The successes of freedmen – education, business, 2000 elected officials, colleges and universities, wealth – became such a threat that Jim Crow and the propaganda to which you referenced and the false narrative called “The Lost Cause” were created to kill it.
We can find the truth and, as difficult as it will be for a nation in denial to accept it, if we engage the students early enough, the will “get it,”
Billy,
I was thrilled to see your comments on my post. You may recall that I wrote about moving into a predominantly Black neighborhood in Washington, D.C. with one of my dearest friends and his wife. That’s where I learned from residents how Woodrow Wilson fired or demoted the entire Black Federal Civil Service workforce. My friend’s name is Mike McDonnell. I was Navy, but he’s a straight talking Marine who I worked with at EPA in Washington, D.C. He lives in Hilton Head and was ecstatic that you had found your way to our Newton blog. He’s a big fan of what you did as Mayor and with the Second Founding of America. I’ve been down to Hilton Head several times and Mike has introduced me to so much of the history of Beaufort County and beyond, particularly the Gullah burial sites, churches, arts and crafts and written documents.
I got other dings for bringing Critical Race Theory into what I wrote, but in truth I was only alluding to a past post on that topic as a pretense to tell a story I’ve wanted to recount for sometime. I read pretty carefully your powerfully relevant Second Founding of America program for Beaufort County. it’s pretty obvious that you make greater use of good, crisp personal stories, rather than long winded papers or speeches because that’s how truth is most readily revealed and that’s also what draws an audience in.
I thought that both Wilson and Andrew Johnson were fair game because of specific actions they took to deny Black Americans the right to vote and other basic liberties, Their actions also made it easier for me to tell my own story. That said, I also feel that denigrating other past luminaries, including Lincoln and Jefferson, for what they may have said or done in the context of a far distant past is off base and counterproductive.
In truth, I didn’t tell the entire story in the original post. Newton had a small, but vibrant Black neighborhood on the other side of the city and the kids from that neighborhood went to some of the same schools I attended. Still, I hardly knew any of these folks. It’s like we lived in two different universes and I’ve often wondered why I didn’t reach out to them because I did when it came to interacting with kids from other ethnic and religious backgrounds than my own. It wasn’t because I feared or mistrusted them, but there was something holding both of us back. I know that my life would have been far richer if we could have bridged that divide. BTW. That Black neighborhood was destroyed and the people totally displaced by the Massachusetts Turnpike during the early 1960s while I was in the Navy during. The people were very poorly compensated for the loss of the homes they owned and went through extreme hardship trying to find other accommodations. Nope. The problem isn’t just down in your neck of the woods.
Thoughtful piece. Telling the full story of American history- the good, the bad, and the ugly- in no way diminishes our country. On the contrary, a nation that is honest with itself has a better chance of flourishing than a country built on fairy tales and distortions. Even our great heroes, Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln and FDR and MLK, were not saints but flawed human beings who nevertheless did a great deal of good. Accurately studying slavery, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age is not critical race theory but history done properly.
If children grow up racist, look to the parents… not the schools
I’d highly recommend reading “Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong” by James Loewen (who died this past August), which details a lot of the misconceptions — and downright falsehoods — that were passed along for generations in American elementary/middle/high school classrooms. And no, Loewen doesn’t “hate” America — he makes very clear that because he loves his country and its people, he believes a more comprehensive, and unblinking, examination of our history will better enable us to achieve the lofty national goals and visions we trumpet.
Loewen also makes the point that the way history/social studies typically has been taught contributes to the problem: an emphasis on the rote memorization of events, dates and “celebrity” historical figures, instead of looking at social and economic trends and how these affected the daily lives of ordinary people; assignments that direct the student to essentially rehash their textbook readings, instead of encouraging critical thinking and discussion.
I second this recommendation and add “Lies Across America” by the same author. After high school, almost all of us learn history primarily from historic monuments. But monuments are stories not just of the person, people, or events memorialized; they are the story of the monument’s creators. The Daughters of the Confederacy, among other groups, have changed the story of the Civil War through monuments erected long after the war, particularly during the 1920s at the nadir of race relations in the US.
The intentional or unintentional distortion of historical events through the lens of monuments is widespread and remarkable when you see examples. Also remarkable are the events that are un- or undermemorialized. For instance, few people heard the story of the Tulsa massacre and destruction of what was called “Black Wall Street” until recently, even in the city where is happened. The mob-driven end to a prosperous and successful Black business community, including bombs dropped from airplanes, is something we simply must face happened, even though no decent person can feel anything but shame, sadness, and anger.
A more perfect union can only happen through an unflinching, dispassionate, and through understanding of our past, with both its failures and triumphs. It is what makes us, what marks our waypoints in our journey through time, what colors our beliefs and shapes our relations with those around us.
If memory serves, when I was in grade school, and even high school, we were tested on how well we remembered lessons’ and readings’ contents, not on any critical thinking about them. That was in the ’40s and ’50s. Even now, I remember how startling it was when, beginning college, professors required us to actually think! From the above comments, it doesn’t look like things have changed.
Thank you for writing this. It eloquently sums up a lot of what’s been floating around my mind lately.
Is it the parent’s or schools responsibility to ensure children do not grow up racist?
When i hear racist language from teens (of any color) i dont think to my self “what are they teaching in schools”… its “the parents are not bringing their kids up right “
I think it’s possible that you are putting a series of different meanings behind the word “racist.” One is straight up hate, which is what most people would ascribe to blatantly racist behavior. On another level is behavior that has emerged from a social environment and acts to exclude, even if that exclusion is not consciously realized by the offender. An example of that could be seen this weekend when NBC’s Chuck Todd was interviewing Nikole Hannah-Jones. He spoke of “parents” and then “parents of color” as separate groups. Hannah-Jones pointed out that the “white” was silent in his question, and that “white parents” were not the largest group in the discussion, yet seem to be setting the narrative.
I do believe that the schools offer us an opportunity to open our children’s minds to different perspectives, including those that we cannot provide at home. And I say that knowing it’s a broad statement that needs depth and clarity, but it’s not the kind of deeper discussion that I believe will be handled well in a comment thread on a blog.
Bugek, in my opinion it’s the parents’ primary responsibility as individuals, but I feel schools play an important role in framing societal understanding of race relations as Bob so authentically shared.
I’m appreciating the thoughtful discourse on this thread including yours. Bob set a good tone. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf myself for 2022.
I agree race relations in USA is very complicated and there are many different approaches on how it can be taught.
At the same time, how focused should it be on one particular race. Jews, italians, Chinese, japanese have been discrimated and many continue today.
There is also the nuances that Caucasians are not the only ones who can be racist. Treating ppl different based on their skin should not be tolerated regardless of the races involved.
As always, thoughtful and highly
informative. Thank you Bob!
There is a disconnect between this blog and what is really going on in Newton Public Schools. Bob’s introduction is his own wish list, not a syllabus from NPS. Do I know what is really going on? No. Our ignorance is by design. None of us has received an email from the administration explaining what is being taught in any subject let alone CRT/anti-racism.
The best, yet still incomplete, information is from the May 10 School Committee meeting. Parents, especially, should watch this.
https://newtv.org/recent-video/24-newton-school-committee-meeting/6793-newton-school-committee-may-10-2021
From this meeting, you will see that the administration clearly has NO plans to reach out to parents about what is being taught. There is a discussion of having students rank themselves based on their privilege.
The following has links to the primary NPS documents and emails to teachers about how to handle the Rittenhouse verdict. Although everyone will disagree with the outlet’s interpretation, this provides a good, behind the scenes, glimpse of things.
https://defendinged.org/incidents/newton-north-principal-calls-rittenhouse-verdict-devastating-and-an-example-of-racism-in-email-to-staff-promises-racially-segregated-spaces-for-students-and-staff-of-color-to-process-jurys/
The bartender at a ‘local’ establishment reminded me that Henry Turner and asst super Katie Lopes are writing a book on CRT. Lopes is the primary author and Turner shares his experiences having been self named Principal of the Year. Should be a NYT best seller…hope Zilles is planning on requiring book for summer reading by all staff.
That is a very interesting piece, Bob. I am so grateful to be able to reads what you write.
I am reading “Travels with George” in which the author follows the routes taken by G. Washington after his inauguration to visit the new 13 states. The author explains the contradictions of the times, which, to me, reflect our own modern contradictions towards racism: for instance, companies founded by abolitionists from Rhode island had no problem making “cloth used to make slave blankets and the sacks used for collecting cotton” (picked by slaves). It is time to recognize and teach that everybody has a right to freedom. Maybe by working together towards equality (childcare, internet access etc…)
Excellent piece by one of my favorite people. I also recommend James Lowen’s fascinating book, Lies my History Teacher Told Me.
I watched an interview recently with Ava DuVernay, director of Selma and Colin in B&W, where she summarizes Critical Race Theory – and I paraphrase – as examining and understanding the systems that have given us the current framework we live in today. This has to happen no matter what you call it. Many previous comments also allude to understanding our real history as a critical building block to a better future and I couldn’t agree more. Doing this gives us hope that righting the wrongs of the past will be a priority to the next generations.
In the same theme, I recently finished reading Drew Lopenzina’s Red Ink: Native Americans Picking Up the Pen in the Colonial Period (I found it at the NFL and his dissertation is available online). This is a definitive examination of Reverand Elliot and Waban’s story. It shines a light on the myths, falsehoods, and unacknowledged history that have been created in our backyards. After you have read this book, you will understand why the current Newton Seal must be changed.
Does anyone else remember “The House I Live In”, the 1945 film with Frank Sinatra? I do, with absolute clarity, and it certainly still means as much, and even much more, to me ever since it was presented to us at that 1945 grammar school assembly. True guidance for life. Thank you.
And Happy New Year!
“After you have read this book, you will understand why the current Newton Seal must be changed.” The tone here is, in this specific case, a major impediment to ever changing the seal, and more generally a major impediment for any sort of progressive advances in this country. First, one may easily read this as implying that those who read the book and do not come to Mr. Pitts’ conclusion must be in some sense deficient. Second, the word “must” is immensely off putting. Even people who may agree with Mr. Pitts that the seal is a problem should bristle at his “command” that it be changed. Perhaps Mr. Pitts should try again after thinking for a bit about how his rhetoric may be viewed by those who may need a bit more convincing. I could easily provide an example, but it is always better for the student to try again after some feedback. C+
Are annual critical race theory education a requirement for city of Newton employees?
Should city workers be required to annual Q&A testing to ensure they meet values and thoughts required by progressives in Newton?
@bugek – no and no.
Any other trolling questions?
yes. If we are suggesting CRT for children, then why is a considered a trolling question to require it for City employees?
Just sitting through CRT information is surely not enough, the city employees must prove they totally agree with it right?
Me thinks Elmo should read book first before putting pen in gear.
Bob,
I’m about 2 weeks late on responding to your blog post, but what’s two weeks after decades, if not centuries, of hidden information and misinformation. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences as a student in the NPS.
It doesn’t matter that people don’t like all aspects of Critical Race Theory. A theory is just that – an attempt to describe something, and to explain that something. And finally we are making a serious effort to do that, and to ensure that our kids in our schools grow and learn and benefit from these endeavors. Push back will occur.
Hundreds of times in the last few years I’ve said, after reading some book or watching some program on a screen, “Oh, that’s why…..” this or that pattern emerged. I grew up in Philadelphia, a very mixed race city, where I was quite comfortable and happy. My parents purchased a nice home in affluent suburbs, not unlike Newton, when we children were young. Although I questioned why we were moving, I never questioned why the suburbs were all white or why our junior high school had only one black student. High school had many more black kids because the high school represented a merging of other neighborhoods. Now I understand the housing patterns. Now I know what is meant by “generational wealth,” that many of us take for granted.
An avid reader, as a young adult I was captivated by the characters in the book (and the portrayals in the film) “Gone with the Wind.” But then I recently took out of the Newton Public Library (or Minuteman system) and read “Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood” by Jill Watts. Another eye-opener was Zora Neil Hurston’s non-fiction“Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.”. Zora Neil Hurston was long one of my favorite writers, but this is different; it was based on a series of interviews she did in 1927 with Cudjoe Lewis, born Oluale Kossolathe, in 1841, the last known survivor of the US/Africa slave trade. It’s a painful but an important read. Both of these books are suitable for young readers – and for their parents.
Closer to home: A book I am just finishing now “Cod” by Mark Kurlansky, describes how New England in the mid-18th C. was partner to the slave trade by means of its trade pattern that brought it economic prosperity: New England (Gloucester, Plymouth, etc.) traded its dried cod for cheap sugar, molasses and rum from the France’s islands in the West Indies: dried cod was a cheap and high protein source for its slaves.
I agree. Sociology, economics, US History, geology, cinematography, art, almost every discipline needs to offer our students a fresh, more realistic, perspective, a perspective without the blinder, without the defensiveness.
@Billy, we are huge fans of Henry Louis Gates’ “Finding Your Roots”. In fact, PBS offers many online lessons for school kids based on this indispensable program. And what’s interesting is Dr. Gates never uses the term “Critical Race Theory” in his program. He just presents historical and public documents and lets individuals discover for themselves what is now, and what once was.
I believe the controversy is caused by the line between presenting facts and having children feel guilt for actions done by people they’ve never met, never known or related to.
Ie the color of their skin determines some level of guilt for the past.
Children are impressionable and no one should ever be judged on the color of their skin.
I believe about 95% of the “controversy” is a manufactured imaginary issue being promulgated for political purposes. I can’t speak for everybody, but I have seen and heard zero evidence in Newton of kids being taught that they should “feel guilt for actions done by people they’ve never met”.
Schools are for educating students. Education in history and social sciences shouldn’t avoid covering topics that make us uncomfortable. Much of our history are stories of virtue, accomplishment, creativity and progress … but some of our history is the exact opposite. All of our history should be taught – in an age appropriate manner. If we avoid the uncomfortable chapters we’re failing at the task of education.
It’s telling that a number of the commenters above only first heard of some of the very important but darker chapters of our shared history as adults – long after their formal education was complete. I found the same thing myself.
I do think the schools do a better job with that today then they did back when I was a student, but I think the built-in instinct to censor out whatever makes us uncomfortable is a constant. I think part of providing a good education is always being aware of that instinct and pushing back against it.