U.S. History in Full Context

With February being Black History Month, the discussion surrounding whitewashed history has reached a new height of popularity. From watered-down lessons about slavery to the minimal education revolving around black leaders, the erasure of history is undoubtedly a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. According to the Washington Post, “Unlike with math and science, there is no nationally agreed upon set of standards for teaching social studies. What public school children in the United States learn about slavery has almost everything to do with where they grow up.”

While some states may have set explicit requirements for their public school districts, others leave it up to the city and school districts’ choosing. In a few instances, these result in a positive outcome, such as the rare case of Philadelphia. “In Philadelphia’s public school district, students must take a year of African American history in high school . . .” The course begins with a section on life in Africa pre-transatlantic slave trade, and covers the experience of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era.

“You cannot understand American history without understanding the African-American experience; I don't care what anybody says,” Paul G. Vallas, the Philadelphia’s school system’s chief executive, stated in a New York Times article. “It benefits African-American children who need a more comprehensive understanding of their own culture, and it also benefits non-African-Americans to understand the full totality of the American experience.”

More often than not, however, the loose standards on education tend to produce negative outcomes. Some states reference slavery only briefly or not at all in their education guidelines. While Massachusetts mentions slavery 104 times in their social studies framework, Louisiana only references it 4 times and Idaho 2 times. In a report analysis conducted by the Teaching Tolerance project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the teaching standards of the 15 states examined “rarely addressed the key concepts [of slavery] in any meaningful way.”

This inconsistency within the education system only serves to sow the division that haunts this country. Without the full context of brutal but important history, the U.S. finds itself torn over issues, such as Confederate statues, police brutality, prison reform, and wealth inequality.

We find ourselves ignorant of the various injustices conducted by this country that built the foundation of our problems today, but we also find ourselves unaware of the numerous accomplishments—cultivated by the very oppressed—that ease our everyday life. It is on this critical note that I present black history in context: five injustices erased and five accomplishments unacknowledged.

FIVE INJUSTICES ERASED

1. Jan. 08, 1908 - A Maryland Governor’s Determination to Disenfranchise Black Voters

Voter suppression isn’t a new subject in political discussions surrounding racial inequality, but the blunt intent behind these laws are often sugarcoated when presented. When former state senator, Austin Crothers, was newly elected governor of Maryland, he gave a speech declaring his mission to prevent black voters from exercising their right.

He publicly proclaimed, “[A] high and momentous obligation . . . which the people [that] called us to office has imposed upon us the elimination of the illiterate and irresponsible [Black voters] from the electorate of the State.” He goes on to promise that his administration will “secure and safeguard the [right to vote] in the hands of our white citizens, both native and naturalized,” and proclaims, “Let us execute [the purpose of the Democratic pledge unflinchingly] by all lawful and constitutional means to maintain the political supremacy of the white race in Maryland . . .”

The system that grants Crothers’s words into powerful effect remains today. From the restrictions implemented by felony disenfranchisement to the increased voter purging rates in recent years to the common practice of gerrymandering, the fact that 1 in 13 black citizens cannot vote due to voter suppression laws is no surprise.

2. June 27, 1973 - Forced Sterilization Against the Relf Sisters

Medical treatment has been historically abusive towards minorities, with many scientists and politicians subscribing to the racist belief of eugenics, a concept that claims certain races are genetically superior. These beliefs eventually paved the way for laws that “support sterilization and ethnic cleansing” to be implemented in order to “advance white supremacy and racial hierarchy.”

[The Two Relf Sisters Pictured Here]

One of the most popular cases was the one committed against 14-year-old Mary Alice Relf and her 12-year-old sister, Minnie Relf. The Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, taking advantage of their mother’s illiteracy, manipulated her into believing that the two girls will receive birth control shots. The clinic targeted her daughters because “they were poor, Black, and living in public housing,” sterilizing the two girls without their consent. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) soon filed a lawsuit on the Relf sisters’ behalf, leading to the discovery of widespread, decade long sterilization abuse. The district court found that an “estimated 100,000 to 150,000 . . . were sterilized annually under federally-funded programs. Countless others were forced to agree to be sterilized when doctors threatened to terminate their welfare benefits unless they consented to the procedures.” In many cases, clinics threatened to deny children healthcare unless their mother agreed to sterilization.

Today, a lot of change still needs to happen. Racial disparities still remain in the healthcare system, with black patients commonly receiving lower quality medical treatment compared to white patients due to implicit bias and racism. With both these historical and modern-day inequalities, it’s crucial that we address this systemic issue.

3. Sept. 12, 1966 - Black Students Attacked After Attempting to Integrate into Grenada, Mississippi Schools

[Civil Rights Protestors Advocating for Desegregation Prior to the Brown v. Board of Education Decision Pictured Here]

Even though segregation was outlawed by the Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, the integration of black students into white schools was met with cruel and discriminatory actions. Grenada, Mississippi is only one example. Because the city refused to desegregate their public schools, a federal judge had to establish an order to force the city to enroll African American students.

Despite this, the school district found loopholes around the order. They postponed the start of the schools in order to allow white leaders time to “coerce African American parents into withdrawing their children from the white schools by threatening them with firing or eviction.” This resulted in the withdrawal of 200 students, and the remaining 250 students were faced with a mob that beat them with chains, pipes, and clubs on their first day of school. Reporters “covering the story were also beaten.” Many were hospitalized.

Despite what American textbooks claim, segregation is still prevalent today—maybe not in law, but in specific practices. In 2001, Harvard published a study that showed a startling trend of school segregation on the rise, particularly in the South. Over 70 percent of black students in the U.S. attend predominantly minority schools—an increase from 62.9 percent in the 80s—and the percent of black students in white majority schools decreased from 43.5 percent to 32.7 percent. Furthermore, white students on average attend schools where at least 80 percent of the student body population was white. According to the analysis, these trends are most likely attributed to three Supreme Court cases—Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. Dowell (1991), Freeman v. Pitts (1992), and Missouri v. Jenkins (1995)—that made it easier for schools to ignore federal desegregation orders.

4. Dec. 31, 1907 - Savannah City Judge Advocates for the Death Penalty for Black People in Interracial Relationships

Interracial relationships were heavily stigmatized throughout history, with U.S. laws prohibiting this union. In most cases, interracial couples were arrested and imprisoned, one of the most popular examples being Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter. In some cases, interracial couples were even murdered, such as the tragic fate of Patrick and Charlotte “Lottie” Morris. However, hatred against interracial relationships was so strong among many that some politicians advocated for harsher punishment against those that participated in it. One unknown but important example was former U.S. Senator Thomas Norwood.

In his last address as Savannah City Judge, Norwood argued that Black men involved in interracial relationships be given the death penalty. He claimed that seeing Black people in interracial relationships will cause other Black people to commit “deeds of violence . . . [creating] disorder.” He described “Black people as naturally violent and inherently sexually promiscuous,” and promoted “degrading false narratives of Black families as prone to intimate partner violence and child abuse.”

Today, acceptance of interracial relationships is increasing. However, a sharp partisan divide still remains on this particular subject. According to a Pew Research Center 2017 study, roughly 49 percent of the surveyed Democrats and independents who lean left view interracial marriage positively. The vast majority of Republicans and independents who lean right surveyed believe otherwise, with only 28 percent believing that interracial marriage is good.

5. June 17, 1971 - President Nixon Declares the “War on Drugs”

Mass incarceration is an enormous issue in this nation. Despite making up only 5 percent of the global population, the U.S. makes up “25 percent of the world’s prison population,” and 1 out of 3 Black men, on average, will experience imprisonment at least once in their life. While some are aware of the catalysts that cultivated this problem, the fact remains that the repercussions of Nixon’s War on Drugs often go untaught.

Unlike what propaganda claims, the criminalization of certain drug possession was entirely racially motivated. This is a common trend in the U.S. Similar to how the first anti-opium laws targeted Chinese immigrants in the 1870s, the first anti-marijuana laws introduced during the War on Drugs were directed at Black and Latine citizens. John Ehrlichman, one of Nixon’s top aides, even admits so in a 2016 Harper’s Magazine:

“You want to know what this was really all about? . . . The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news . . . Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

The War on Drugs caused a 700 percent increase in the U.S. prison population, and despite reforms in recent years, these policies still disproportionately affect BIPOC citizens today. Though the rate of use between white subjects and minorities are similar, BIPOC “are far more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated for drug law violations when compared to white people. The lifelong penalties and exclusions that follow a drug conviction render huge numbers of primarily poor people of color into an American underclass that is disenfranchised and prevented from accessing social benefits, such as housing, food, and educational assistance.”

A Pew Research Center analysis found that 1.65 million drug arrests were made in 2018, with 663,000 arrests (40 percent) being marijuana-related. A staggering 92 percent of those arrests were simply for drug possession, with only 8 percent being for manufacturing. While the decriminalization of marijuana has resulted in a decrease in marijuana-related arrests, people still face legal repercussions if they possess more than the authorized limit. Additionally, because “marijuana remains illegal federally, U.S. law enforcement agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, can make arrests for marijuana offenses,” despite certain state laws.

FIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS UNACKNOWLEDGED

1. Automatic Elevator Doors - The ease of modern-day elevators wouldn’t have existed without 19th-century African-American inventor, Alexander Miles. Previous to his innovation, elevator doors would have to be opened and closed manually by “either the elevator operator or by passengers,” which only increased the safety hazards of this passage. After noticing these risks when he rode an elevator with his daughter, Miles improved the design to address this issue. Even though the patent was created in the 1880s, his modifications are still used in modern elevators today.

2. Three-Position Traffic Design - While Garrett Morgan’s design wasn’t the first traffic signal design, it was a crucial innovation that improved driver safety on the road. After witnessing several collisions between vehicles, he came up with the idea to add an automated warning signal (“the ancestor of today’s yellow light”) that allowed drivers time to clear the intersection and operate in traffic more efficiently and safely.

3. Electret Microphone - While many tend to associate microphones with entertainment shows or karaoke night, people don’t often realize how integral microphones are to our everyday life: from wireless communication to voice assistants to even computer shortcuts. This influential invention is only thanks to African American inventor, James E. West, whose innovation makes up over 90 percent of the microphones used today, including the ones used in phones and cameras.

4. Caller ID and Caller Waiting Feature - Arguably one of the most influential figures in the tech industry today, Shirley Ann Jackson is known for many inventions, one of her most impactful being the caller ID and caller waiting phone feature. She created it during her physics research at AT&T Bell Labs. Thanks to her, people today can screen “known, unknown, and unwanted calls,” as well as avoid missing incoming calls when on the phone with another person. She earned countless accolades for her work, one of the most prestigious being the National Medal of Science in 2016, the U.S.A.’s highest honor for contributions in science and engineering, given by then-president Barack Obama. Furthermore, she has also been awarded 55 honorary doctoral degrees due to her contribution to the tech research field.

5. Home Security System - You can thank African American nurse and inventor, Marie Van Brittan Brown, for this brilliant layer of security. Wanting to increase her personal safety in a dangerous city, Brown created a contraption composed of “peepholes, a camera, monitors, . . . a two-way microphone, [and] a voice component” that allows her to speak to those outside. Her machinery even includes alarms and remote-controlled doors that protect from intruders and welcome expected guests in with ease. Her invention was groundbreaking in science, and her designs serve as a foundation for our modern-day security systems.

IN THE END . . .

. . . while many believe that focusing on the black community in U.S. history is a threat to unity, I and countless others argue otherwise. We cannot move forward as a nation unless we learn and grasp the full context of our past—both the beautiful and the ugly. As Yale historian David Blight profoundly said, “The point is not to teach American history as a chronicle of shame and oppression—far from it. The point is to tell American history as a story of real human beings, of power, of vast economic and geographical expansion, of great achievements as well as great dispossession, of human brutality and human reform.”