People, Policy, and Power: A Love Letter to Civics Educators … and Folks Who Oppose Fascism
Today, the US recognizes the work and life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The heart of Dr. King’s message expressed the need for collective action against systemic racism, poverty, and ecological devastation. Last month I outlined the importance of STEM education as a pathway to financial independence and economic security. With economic security comes a greater collective financial footprint and the ability to have increased social and political power; it is at this intersection of education and social capital that I believe we’ll have the ability to influence policy towards systems change on the issues that Dr. King was fighting for. While I am taking the time to reflect on Dr. King’s life and the progress his spark has ignited, it is not lost on me just how much work we still have to do — a reality that was brought to light for so many of my fellow Americans when we watched, a little over a year ago, the insurrection at our nation’s Capital building.
Sending out the Bat Signal
“Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be!” - Public Enemy
Civics educators and progressive policy wonks, I am throwing up the bat signal for y’all. We NEED you! If there are any solid civics curriculum that you lean on, please feel free to share or point us to it in the comment section. As a kid, I never paid much attention to my civics education, but the events of the past decade, and more pointedly, the last year, truly forced me to appreciate what a solid education in civics looks like, and the dangers of failing to have a civically engaged populace. As an educator and director, the power of storytelling is compelling. It is what hooks us and keeps a captive audience. It is what allows us to aspire to something beyond our previously known worlds. I’m all about shifting narratives, so today I wanted to speak on some narratives in our civics education that need highlighting.
The Original ‘Big Lie’
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” - Bob Marley
What if I told you that the insurrection by Donald Trump supporters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was the visual manifestation of what has been occurring in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities since the founding of this country? African and Indigenous men and women, and a significantly small number of white men (indentured servants), were enslaved and exploited while sowing the seeds of America’s emerging economic engine over 400 years ago. The founding of this country depended on human capital — Africans stolen from their native lands and immigrants pushed to the margins and exploited — that provided the free labor to develop land stolen from Indigenous Native American tribes. Though slavery did not begin in the Americas, the commercialization of slavery, and the emerging lie of African and Indigenous peoples as savages and thus, rightly subject to captivity and bondage under the auspices of religion and salvation, laid the foundation for America’s earliest sins. I consider this to be the original “Big Lie”, and it persists to this day.
True historical data and information that our public education system failed to include in American history and government classes influenced miseducation on democratic processes and general civility for citizens. Look no further than the idiocy of the so-called 1776 Project, a backlash to the phenomenal 1619 Project (and curriculum of the same name), to see the extent to which a faction of white America seeks to maintain the original “Big Lie.” This failure to reconcile with the past does nothing but impede collective progress. The education that most of us received in school only served to indoctrinate us further into the myth. Critical evaluation of the literature and media that we consume and use to teach our children, youth, and adults is of the utmost importance. It serves no one to maintain an inequitable education system where the populace is miseducated or undereducated in order to keep a small number of people in power. Isabel Wilkerson speaks about this topic at length in her seminal 2020 work, Caste — worth picking up if you haven’t yet checked it out.
The Persistence of Alternative Facts
“Tell me why you don’t love me. Why you always misjudge me? Why you never hearing my side to the story? Never look me in my eyes, say sorry?” - Joey Bada$$
We live in a time when conspiracy theories and cults of personality rule the day; when fealty is paid to failed celebrity businessmen, environmental degradation, and the upholding of continued white advantage at the expense of everyone else. As our society teeters on the razor’s edge of upholding this impoverished democracy, we are being deprived of our ability to critically think and participate in civil discourse. For youth and adults alike, digital literacy has become increasingly more complex. Social media entities have become primary research outlets for many, although these are not credible, vetted research tools (I mean they are in a sense … we are the product being researched … but you catch my drift). These platforms are sources for entertainment, connection, information, and as we have all witnessed in recent years, a potential vehicle for large-scale misinformation with far-reaching and sometimes detrimental societal consequences.
Americans are meant to grow into the knowledge of the country’s history and understand the democratic processes of elections and political and economic power at the root of the “American Dream.” We’re advised to get an education, exercise the right to vote, and start a career that can lead to home ownership or start a business to grow our local economies. However, over time we continue to collectively bear witness to systems and policies that promote what medical anthropologist Paul Farmer calls structural violence — structural, because inequities are embedded into the very systems and structures of our social and political world, the very ones we need to operate and survive. We see these inequities manifest in our communities in the form of poor-quality schools, underfunded public resources such as hospitals and access to mental health programs and professionals, indecent and unsafe housing in many urban centers where there is a concentration of Black and Brown communities, and lack of access to living wages, to name a few. The failure to accurately portray this history in the government, institutions of learning, the media, and households leads to eventual disintegration of general civility: the basic tenet of treating others how you want to be treated, with dignity and respect, regardless of physical or cultural differences.
Whiplash and Whitelash
“I see no changes, all I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races” - Tupac
In 1954, the US Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools. A decade later, the country saw the passing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts into law in 1964 and 1965, respectively. Though this was a time of great social progress for Black Americans, and by default, the country as a whole, it was nevertheless met with much hostility from many white Americans in the form of white backlash — an extreme and often violent response by white Americans to the social and economic gains made by African Americans. This phenomenon dates back as far as the Reconstruction era when formerly enslaved African Americans integrated into the social and political fabric of the nation. A few examples of white backlash in modern times are the emergence of the Tea Party in 2009 during President Barack Obama’s first term, the growing number of alt-right groups in the past decade, ongoing voter suppression from policymakers’ failure to endorse the John Lewis Voting Rights bill, and many other social and civic policies.
Whenever Black and Brown people gain political and economic advantages, local, state, and national policies spring up to threaten progress. Think of how policy affects the bodies of marginalized populations in the areas of industrialization, the environment, withholding federal aid to Black and Brown farmers, cruel and ineffective immigration policies, defunding public schools in Black and Brown communities, redlining in housing that prevents equity in homeownership, gentrification that prices Black and Brown residents out of their homes for takeover by rich developers … the list goes on and on.
In the area of law enforcement, we see the distinctions in how the criminal legal system held responsible, white rioters who tried to overthrow the most powerful government in the world (!!!), and treatment of Black protestors at Black Lives Matter rallies. In this era of “alternative facts,” empathy, justice, and truth are under attack. A majority of Republicans nationwide are more likely to describe the events of January 6 as an “act of patriotism” or “defending freedom” than an insurrection supporting the “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. At least 57 individuals who played a role on the day of the Capitol insurrection, whether attending the preceding Save America rally or rallying at the Capitol steps, or breaching the building itself, are running for public offices in 2022, ranging from school boards and state legislatures to governor seats. A Politico report states at least three of those candidates have charges related to the riots. Furthermore, over 725 participants have been arrested with charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to assault, and a significant number are awaiting sentencing, according to a recent Time magazine report. In tracking the court proceedings of the defendants, Time reported that the average prison sentence is 45 days, and in the most high-profile cases, defendants were handed fines, community service, and plea deals for misdemeanor charges. The greatest reported sentence has been five years in prison for a rioter who hurled wooden boards and a fire extinguisher at law enforcement officers. By comparison, more individuals were arrested at Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice in Washington, D.C. in June 2020 and had faced stiffer punishments for violating curfew. There has to be a change in how people utilize their power to demand change and express dissent in civil ways.
“Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.”
- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Call to Action
“This is America. Don’t catch you slippin’ now.” - Childish Gambino
As we celebrate yet another MLK Day, I’m reminded of an article that Dr. King wrote for the Morehouse College student newspaper in 1947 titled “The Purpose of Education.” Dr. King wrote that one of the chief aims of education is to “save man from the morass of propaganda” and that “education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” Civics education is one of the most important areas in our education system that prepare youth for future involvement in our democratic system, where they will have a say in choosing their leaders and being involved in developing their communities to have more equitable and sustainable futures. Youth need an education rich in social justice curriculum that teaches the importance of empathy and leading with compassion and love and respect for one’s neighbor. Learning true facts and history about this nation’s past and how we continue to work together with activists on rebuilding communities today will show future generations how policy change and collaborations can make a difference towards transforming the soul of America. Reckoning with the truth about this nation’s history — from the deepest depths of our darkness to our unbounded potential and light — and taking tangible action to address atrocities inflicted on its people requires courage beyond measure; I know we can do it, though! Today, I invite you to join me in committing to taking action towards reconciling with our past while building towards a future that works for us all.
