When the Attack is on History is About Controlling the Future
Black History is American History
As Black History Month comes to a close and Women's History month is about to begin, we must fiercely defend our rights to celebrate both, particularly when the Trump Administration is busily eliminating both from federal databases, jobs, and websites.
Twentieth century historians typically ignored or misattributed contributions of Black people and/or women, which is why acknowledging, celebrating, and retelling their stories is important. In fact, the founder of Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson, had a life-long passion for history, because he knew that we needed to truly understand our history to move toward a greater future.
I saw this first hand at the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) first annual Black History celebration at Carter G. Woodson High School last week where FCPS staff, students, and families came together to break bread, "Lift Every Voice," and revisit stories of Black education in Fairfax. Likley, the event inspired the crowd to keep the light of truth alive in these dark and dangerous times.
Frankly, it is hard not be inspired by the stories of Black Fairfax families who took personal ownership of their children's educational future, despite anti-Black violence when the school system abdicated their financial and moral responsibilities. Black families did this by:
Fundraising for teachers, schools, supplies, and books.
Consistently fighting for educational rights locally and on the national stage.
Persistently entering spaces where they were unwelcome and often threatened by white leaders, parents, students, and outside agitators.
Pursuing their legal rights through the courts.
Volunteering time and funds to teach, feed, and support students and educators.
The Rosenwald Schools built in Fairfax County have been replaced by housing, but they were critical to providing safe, secure, clean, welcoming spaces for Black students to learn when Fairfax County spent pennies on the dollar for their education. Renowned leader of the Tuskegee Institute Booker T. Washington collaborated with Julius Rosenwald (philanthropist President of Sears) and inspired Rosenwald to create the Rosenwald Foundation which helped fund the construction of over 5,000 schools for Black students across the South. Despite these efforts, many Black children were under-educated or not educated at all.
At this time, the right to celebrate is under fire. The Trump Administration has banned affinity groups and monthly celebrations in the federal government, while they have aggressively sought to erase both Black people and women from jobs, descriptive statements, and search engines. One would have to be blind to miss the danger to us all if they succeed, because the next step will be to rewire history books so that the contributions of Black people and women will be once again be eliminated from history curricula.
I cannot emphasize enough that schools across the nation should integrate Black, Asian, Hispanic, and queer history throughout history books and curricula to eliminate the need single weeks or months throughout the year to highlight important events, contributions, and history associated with often overlooked Americans. However, until that happens, we need to raise up cultural and historical contributions from all of our great Americans and American immigrants to this nation.
There are those who mistakenly believe that teaching Black History is "divisive" and there are those who are dissatisfied with a diverse, inclusive future this nation has been pursuing for decades. Thus, we need to fiercely defend our successes and stridently work for future change.
In the words of Wendi Manuel-Scott, professor of integrative studies and history at George Mason University, who was a keynote speaker at the Woodson Black History celebration:
[Carter G.] Woodson knew teaching was a radical act. Read books that challenge you. Expand your mind and generate questions. I hope that Woodson's legacy inspires you to never stop asking questions. Your power is in your curiosity.
If we all recognize how radical it is to have access to quality education, then maybe we will be able to defend its existence.
Vanessa Hall is one of many local citizens in Fairfax County who successfully advocated to change the name of her children’s high school from W.T. Woodson to Carter G. Woodson. You can learn more about this in A Tale of Two Woodsons. To learn more about Carter G. Woodson and Virginia history, read Black History, Our History.
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