What do you really know about African American history? More likely than not you can only name Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and other big players from the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin.
What is not largely known is what black people did to make America what is to this day. Since we have just celebrated Black History Month, we need to acknowledge what black people did and are currently doing, and what is going on to prevent further progress of our people.
Claudette Colvin was a retired nurse aide and American pioneer of the 1950s Civil Rights movement. The reason I chose to shine a light on her first is because when she was fifteen she was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white woman on a crowded bus. What made it even worse is that Colvin herself was pregnant but no one cared.
Many people don’t know that Frederick Douglas was the most photographed person of his time. Douglas planned it to be that way because he wanted the world to see that the way the media was portraying black people was false. White journalists painted black people to look like savage beasts and Douglas wanted this to end.
What other people also don’t choose to recognise is that after the death of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, their wives Coretta Scott King and Dr Betty Shabazz, respectively, picked up where they left off by holding mass rallies and continuing to preach about the message that their husbands left behind.
History always shines light on the struggles of black people but a point that is never talked about enough is the fate of black people after the Civil War. The Civil War ended in 1865 and from 1865 to 1877 black people had a say in their government. Black people had seats in Congress, acted as State Legislatures, and acted in their local government. These actions of black people lead to the rise of the Klu Klux Klan, which was founded by ex confederate soldiers and ex planters.
These facts about history and many more have been withheld from the standard curriculum for students such as myself until college, but in Florida that right might be getting revoked as well. As of February 2, the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis pushed a bill that stopped AP African American history from being taught.
“We’re here today to tell the governor we’re not going to stand by and just let these things happen to African Americans in our state,” commissioner of Tennessee Curtis Richardson said according to usatoday.com. Richardson also accused DeSantis of voter suppression and causing a “culture war against African Americans,” which I completely agree with. How can you deny people education, especially when this education is a big part of American history and for many Americans, a part of their identity.
Black history is not just the history about black people, it’s American history and it should be upheld like people still uphold the lie of Christopher Columbus. People attempt to control history so that people can stay out of the loop and continue to be oppressed. That’s what DeSantis wants to push this bill, and it will do more harm than good.
