CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS TEACHING AUTHENTIC HISTORY

 

CRITICAL RACE THEORY

 

Murphy Browne © July 8-2021

 

 

The teaching of Critical Race Theory is under constant attack in the USA even though it is an analysis of the origins, consequences of and possible resolutions to the practice of racism. These attacks are attempts to foil any critical analysis of how anti-Black racism is historical in the USA including the enslavement of Africans, Jim Crow laws, segregation and red lining. The structuring of anti-Black racism in American institutions including legal, financial, political, religious, educational and cultural is historical. Throughout the history of education in White dominated societies, Whiteness is the default, because of centuries of racism. Critical Race Theory is the teaching of the honest history of the USA without the whitewashing that has been occurring for more than a century. Slavery is the foundation of the USA, their original sin. Accompanying the recent brouhaha about Critical race theory in the USA, there have been several comments on various social media about White men fighting to free “slaves” during the American Civil War. The popular narrative of the American Civil War where “good White men” from the North were fighting to save enslaved Africans is a myth.

 

The fighting during the Civil War was not about freedom for enslaved Africans. Abraham Lincoln did not originally intend to eliminate slavery. On August 21, 1858, in his debate with Stephen Douglas, Lincoln said: "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." In 1862 he wrote: "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union." In his 2000 published book “Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream,” Lerone Bennett wrote: “Lincoln was as active as any racist of his time in perpetuating Negro stereotypes. The words n___r, darky and colored boy came easily to his lips. It appears from the admittedly incomplete record that Lincoln used the N-word at least as often as the Mark Fuhrmans of today. He might have used it even more for, unlike Fuhrman, who tried to hide his hand on official occasions, Lincoln used the word openly on public platforms and in the Illinois State House and the White House.” In the USA, Lincoln is mostly viewed as the “White saviour” of enslaved Africans.

 

The trope of the “White saviour” is endemic in American society and is portrayed in every movie about African American history and producers often include fictional characters. The inclusion of the fictional “White saviour” character “Al Harrison” played by Kevin Costner in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures” is an example. In movies about the Civil War there is no mention of the New York Draft Riots in July 1863 because it would be difficult to include a “White saviour” there. On July 11, 1863 the government of Abraham Lincoln initiated a policy of draft conscription for White males living in New York City. This was at the height of the American Civil War and followed the passage of the nation’s first military draft act in March 1863. African Americans were exempted from the draft as they were not considered American citizens. Eventually hundreds of thousands of African American men and women voluntarily served in every section of the military during the Civil War, including Harriet Tubman who served as a nurse and an undercover agent during that war.

 

In July 1863, the mostly Irish immigrant working class population in New York City was against the Civil War and by extension against the draft. They also resented the fact that African American men competed with them for jobs. Ignoring the fact that African American men living in New York City were the descendants of enslaved Africans who had paid their dues in blood, sweat and tears and had a right to paid employment, the Irish men refused to work alongside African American men. Not caring that their oppressors were other White men who owned the businesses in which they laboured the Irish immigrants (men and women) violently targeted African American men, women and children.

The anti-draft Rioters attacked the “Colored Orphan Asylum.” It seems that the White mob was envious of the 233 homeless and orphaned African American children housed in the “Colored Orphan Asylum” because at 4:00 p.m. on Monday July 13, 1863 they attacked the building. The White mob looted the building of “bedding, clothing, food, and other transportable articles” before setting the building on fire and watching it burn to the ground. The firefighters (all White men) were apparently not able to save the building which was completely destroyed within 20 minutes. Leslie M. Harris writes in his 2002 published “In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863” that: “John Decker, chief engineer of the fire department, was on hand, but firefighters were unable to save the building. The destruction took twenty minutes.”

When this authentic history is taught and the myth of kind White men who gave their lives to free “Black slaves” is exploded then Critical race theory is blamed. However, this is American history that is not usually taught in schools. Critical Race theory is truth telling.

 

 

Murphy Browne © July 8-2021