History Lesson

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” -George Santayana


Greetings folks. The events surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin are tragic. A 17 year old boy is dead, it took 45 days for an arrest to be made, and the community is left to pick up the pieces and deal with the racial/political fire that is burning. What may be even worse is the response in the wake of this young man’s death. The protests and rallies that were led by student groups, churches and political leaders all over the country were admirable and helpful in bringing attention to the matter and ultimately an arrest. I’m in no way suggesting that State Attorney Corey pressed charges due to public pressure. However, I do believe that the appointment of a special prosecutor in this matter is a byproduct of intense media scrutiny and public outcry. A few “demonstrations” that caught my eye were outright deplorable and detestable. I’m referencing some of the student-led movements.

I’m not referring to the spelling out of Trayvon Martin’s initials on the Miami Southridge High football field. I’m not talking about the peaceful walk out and demonstration held at schools like Miami Northwestern Senior High and Dr. Michael Krop Senior High. I’m pointing to the events that looting that occurred in North Miami Beach, Miami Gardens and other cities around the country. I was angry and ashamed to see our young people’s idea of protest. It bothered me to see their response to the tragedy of Trayvon’s death. What would lead a person to think that it’s ok walk out of school, rob, loiter, and destroy because you’re angry?

There was a time that when an injustice occurred we spoke, we marched and demanded justice peacefully. Grant it not every segment of the Civil Rights Movement was non-violent but most of it was. It wasn’t the acts of retaliation that won the movement; it was the active of passive aggression, civil disobedience and peacefulness in the face of hatred and violence that won the movement.

It appears as though the lessons learned during the 1950’s and 1960s have been forgotten. It appears as though once we were granted the right to vote, attend integrated schools, and eat at the lunch counter, that we put away everything that we learned and neglected to share the lessons learned with subsequent generations. Ask a high school student today who Emmett Till, Rosa Parks or Medgar Evers was and you’ll be amazed at their struggle to answer your question. Ask a student about the contributions of African-Americans to society and outside of Dr. King, nearly every other reference will be about a musician or athlete. Ask a youth about slavery, the Civil War, or lynching and you’ll see the same bewildered faces I got when I inquired and you’ll hear most of them say “we never learned that.”

I was floored after talking to many students and hearing that they haven’t been taught things by 17 that I learned in elementary school. It begs the question who’s to blame? Are the schools the culprits for taking it out of the curriculum except for during the month of February? Are the teachers to blame for not demanding that more African-American history be taught? Are the parents/grandparents to blame for not sharing with their children their experiences? The answer is “yes.” We’re all to blame.

Examine some of the most successful ethnic groups and you’ll find that among other things one of things they have in common is an appreciation for their history. It is required that Jewish children learn their history as a part of their journey into adulthood. African-Americans have either forgotten their story or are too ashamed to share it. African-Americans have either made a conscious decision to not share the hardships, heartaches and history of the people or have ignored the past so long that it’s no longer a file in their memory bank. Whatever the reason, it’s unacceptable.

We should not be ashamed to share with the younger generations about the slave trade. We should not be fearful of telling our youth about Jim Crow laws and the Black Codes. There should be no hesitation to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for equality. There are lessons to be learned from our history and “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Sharing our history empowers young people with a sense of pride. Telling the young people of how our ancestors survived and made it over engenders a feeling of equality and not inferiority. Informing the people of where they came from instills strength in a people who could really use it.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once wrote, “There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.” It’s only a mistake if we fail to learn the lesson being taught. And we can’t our youth to learn a lesson we won’t teach them. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!