---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “The Great White” cc&d, v318 (the February 2022 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book Unfinished Business the cc&d Jan.-April 2022 magazine issues collection book		get the 410 page Jan.-April 2022 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Critical Race Theory Threatens Education

John Amendall

    If you think you’ve heard the last of Critical Race Theory (CRT), you’re wrong. You haven’t heard from me. CRT is a tired derivative of the 1619 project with Marxist underpinnings CRT holds that racism is embedded in American society and its institutions. This argument has supporters and dissenters and is presently raising havoc in education circles. Should CRT be included in the curricula of public schools some where in K-12?
    As of July 21 states have passed laws that seek to ban instruction of CRT in K-12 Schools. Other states are expected to pass similar laws in the near future. These laws appear to protect students against racism and sexism. However, the same laws coincidentally control what teachers can say whether a state or nation was racist from inception. Or whether the U.S. or any state sought to promote white supremacy through laws.
    Eight of the first 10 U.S. presidents were slave owners. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the exceptions. Don’t know about you but when I read aloud the beginning of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, I’m over whelmed with the undoubted verity and power of the argument. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Some of the statement ironically finds its origin from the British philosopher John Locke. Admittedly the Declaration was written for addressing the colonies demand for independence from Great Britain. But the fact remains that “All men ---” did not include black men or women as well.
    The first sentence of the U.S. Constitution begins with: “We the people of the United States --- .” Teachers will be confronted with decisions to ignore or diminish details of history by law makers who maintain that it is wrong to teach America was racist from the start. Or will teachers be required to distort history by ignoring the fact as the Supreme court noted itself in 1857 that black people were “not intended” to be regarded as “citizens” under the U.S. Constitution and therefore had no constitutional rights. Pow! Right in the kisser.
    Teachers have a professional obligation to instruct students about the dangers of racism, the history of slavery, Reconstruction, KKK, Jim Crow, segregation, and yes the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition how racist ideas have been used around the world as justifications to silence, imprison, or even kill innocent people. By design CRT divides people on the basis of race, shames people on the basis of race, and often treats students differently on the basis of race. These are harsh truths but they must be faced to eventually rid them from society.
    When these issues should be taught is a hot topic deserving serious attention and debate. If CRT is taught at all, opponents maintain that it belongs at the college level. But everyone doesn’t go to college. Moreover we would be doing a serious disservice to our students if we waited that long. While I support that these issues should be addressed in the last two years of public high school; for those parents who are diametrically opposed to ban CRT, options might include attending selected private schools or even as an elective in public schools.
    But wait. The history of our country also contains important laws, addressing racism by including the black population and women. These laws should be equally presented in any version of American history.
    During the Civil War, or the War between the States as my fellow soldiers from the South insisted, the 16th President of the United States acted on the above issue of slavery. Lincoln was not an avowed abolitionist, but he did not support slavery. He believed slavery would eventually economically wither away. Accordingly he took no immediate action with slavery in existing states but opposed extending its practice to western territories eager to become states. He proposed a strange solution to slavery wherein slaves would be returned to Africa at the government’s expense. He was fortunately discouraged by advisors not to formally advance this peculiar solution.
    As the horrific number of fatalities increased (800,000 to 900,000) totaling more than the total of succeeding wars, Lincoln became convinced that settling the slavery issue was necessary. He even let blacks fight in the war. To bring this horrendous event to an end on September 22, 1862 he proclaimed: “That all persons held as slaves, are and henceforward shall be free.” For a president who was initially committed to keeping the Union intact this was a giant first step to address slavery. However, the Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order that a succeeding president could cancel.
    Following the Proclamation there was a furious struggle between the parties as Lincoln attempted to elevate his executive order to a law. The 13th Amendment banning slavery was ratified December 6, 1865. This was followed by the 14th Amendment ratified July 9, 1868 naturalizing all persons born in the United States as citizens of the U.S. The 15th Amendment ratified February 3, 1876 stated the right of citizens to vote regardless of “race, color or previous condition of servitude.”
    The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments should be included in instructions of American history. Of more than passing interest the 19th Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920 which gave the right to vote to women. Since voting rights were extended to the black population in 1876, it took 44 years for women to receive the same rights. This bit of history is shameful also. All these Amendments should be included in American history.
    As of this writing (July 2021) the nation is experiencing voting rights fever, originating from President Trump’s outrageous claims about losing the election due to voter fraud. Hopefully these state efforts will not produce a backward trend to the hard fought 15th Amendment.
    According to CRT the U.S. is a racist nation. I have a different view. Thirteen percent of our population is black and 60% is white. How could 13% of the population elect a black man for president without significant support from white voters? President Obama was then reelected for a second term by a “racist nation.” Still racism as an element persists in our society.
    All kinds of examples of racism can be cited. For my purpose let sports be a microcosm.
    The first professional baseball leagues emerged in the past War between the States 1870s. Now they’ve got me saying it. Among the first black professional teams there was the Southern League of Colored Ballists in 1886. The National Colored Baseball League was founded in 1887. The Eastern Colorado League was formed in 1923. From about 1870 to 1947 black players did not have the opportunity to play in MLB. That’s 77 years. That was racism.
    Jackie Robinson was the first black player drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Three other black players (Larry Doby, Hank Thompson, William Brown) were drafted the same year on other MLB teams. Even in modern baseball the percentage of black players is the lowest among the three major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA). Moreover a number of black payers in the MLB are from Hispanic countries (Dominican Republic, Cuba).
    The history of professional football traces back to 1892 when William “Punch” Heffelfinger signed a contract to play for the Allegheny Athletic Association. Fritz Pollard was the very first black quarterback in 1923 for the Akron Pros who won the football league.
    From 1934 to 1946 black athletes were banned from the National Football League (NFL). The ban was lead by George Marshall the early owner of the Washington Redskins now called the Washington Football Team. Marshall was quoted as saying: “Will start signing negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters (more about them later) start signing whites.” Glub! Was that plain enough?
    When the ban was lifted in 1946 Doug Williams was the first black quarterback drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It took another 5 years before the league took another black quarterback. As recently as 2007 the New York Giants had never had a black quarterback. Owners and coaches were reluctant to draft black quarterbacks because they were unsure whether white players would accept such a leadership role. More tellingly coaches did not believe black athletes were capable of calling plays or audibles. Tell that to the 10 starting black quarterbacks for the 2020 season. Black quarterbacks have made great contributions to their teams. The earlier attitude was racism folks.
    Basketball was conceived and invented by a Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith in Springfield Massachusetts 1891. Naismith wanted to create a harmless indoor winter sport between the outdoor fall collision sport football and less harmful spring baseball. Basketball wasn’t a great early success and limped along for years until it finally took hold with various leagues and teams.
    Earlier called The Savoy Big Five, a white man Abe Saperstein formed an all black traveling basketball team in 1926 named the Harlem Globetrotters. The Globetrotters spent 94 years breaking white barriers and today enjoys a global reputation from its exhibition games featuring humorous ball handling and interaction with the fans. For years the Globetrotters played against white teams. Finally in 1948 the Globetrotters defeated the champions of the all white National Ball League Minneapolis Lakers who eventually became the Los Angeles Lakers. This victory attracted a lot of attention. In 1949 the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
    In 1950 Charles Henry Cooper is recognized as one of the first black players in the NBA.
    Basketball has expanded world-wide. In the U. S. during the 2019-2020 season 81% of the players in the NBA were black. The prowess of black athletes in the NBA is obvious. Notwith- standing its popularity black players still continue to receive racial slurs and harmful interaction from unruly fans.
    I excluded soccer the world’s most popular sport from this discussion because I do not regularly follow it. During the 2021 World Cup Championship final played in England between England and Italy a play-off was needed to determine the winner. England lost. Three black players, who missed their play-off kicks, received significant vilification from disgruntled fans via social media. Since this incident occurred in England, it’s not on the U.S., but it’s still another example of racism elsewhere.
    It deserves mentioning that while black players have made considerable inroads in professional sports especially in basketball and football that this progress has not been made in regard to owners, managers, and coaches. Until the number of black owners and other team officials reflect more closely the number of black players equal representation is still lacking.
    While the Constitution, national and state hate laws, and implementation of police awareness of differential treatment between white and black citizens is necessary to reduce racism, you can not legislate attitudes. Attitude adjustment must occur at the individual level. This is easier said than done.
    When I was in the Army I participated in a number of discussions with other mates about racial issues. Two individuals stood out. One man, John David Wallworth was from Valdosta Georgia, and the other was Roland S.P. Mowry from big D Texas. The names have been changed to protect the innocent or guilty whatever you please, and I wouldn’t want to embarrass two of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever met. I would not hesitate introducing these men to anyone.

    One day the three of us were discussing racial issues and John David opened up. We regularly trolled him about his granddad presumably a former Colonel in the Confederate Army. Moreover we consistently accused John David of being the most southern son of a b---h we’d ever encountered.
    “Johnny,” he said, only the way he pronounced my name sounded like “Joanny.”
    “Joanny you’ve got to understand all my young life my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were very critical about black people. I was heavily indoctrinated. When I went to college (John David had an engineering degree and was placed into an Engineering Battalion as we all were) and began to interact with all kinds of people including blacks, I realized my family was wrong. I love my family and would die for them but I no longer shared or agreed with their position.” Out of uniform Roland S. P. Mowry wore black shirts, Levi’s with a big, and I mean big brass buckle, topped off with a large, white, broad brim hat. He was an unapologetic Texan first and foremost, regularly lauding the heartland as the biggest and finest in the country. If you didn’t like it, too bad about you, only in other words. By the way S. P. wasn’t really part of his name. S. P. stood for strange person. It was a moniker we laid on him. Hey! We’re living in an Army barracks. People say what they want to say any time sans sergeants and officers. Mowry’s early experience pretty much reflected John David’s. Mowry had graduated with a degree in geology.
    One night we skipped chow and left Fort Belvoir for real food in a restaurant in Alexandria Virginia. There were nine of us including three black mates. John David gave our seating needs to the manager. This worthy told John David they didn’t accommodate blacks. Without hesitation he replied: “When we return to the Fort, we’re going to tell everyone within shouting distance including superior officers, that this restaurant would not seat black U.S. Army soldiers serving their nation.” With that and without any discussion the nine of us left the restaurant. I gave John David a vigorous thumbs up. He rewarded me with a big smile.
    Here was this iconic son of the South raised with its attitude, championing the cause of his black mates. What an attitude adjustment.
    One day Mowry and I spent some leave time in Washington D.C. We gravitated to a small marina in the Potomac River basin walking around the piers. While cruising the piers, gawking at small boats, we heard a women’s cry for help. We were initially unsure where the call was coming from, maybe even a joke. When we figured it out we raced along locating the pier. A woman was franticly trying to pull an elderly black man out of the water. While exiting his small boat, he slipped and fell into the water, but simply didn’t have the strength to pull himself out. Mowry got to him first. Grabbed him and with a strong tug we managed to pull the man up on the pier. First we thought the man might’ve experienced a heart attack. After a while he seemed to recover. The couple were very appreciative of our help and generously offered to pay us. Mowry quickly demurred saying something silly: “Mam. In this man’s Army that’s what we do.” At the time I thought it was a little over the top. But the thought struck me that here was another man from the South, without hesitation aiding an elderly black couple needing help. Again attitude adjustment is definitely possible at the personal level. But we have to work at it. Don’t believe I’ll see this in my lifetime. May take a few generations. But I hope we can move in the direction.
    We should not let the purveyors of Critical Race Theory prevail in its battle with education. Moreover CRT has now metastasized politically unfortunately gaining more currency. Without political pandering let local school districts together with their teachers perform their vital mission providing accurate and thorough accounts about history, in this instance racial history. Should we let CRT defuse the negative effect of European colonization on the country of native Americans east of the Mississippi River? Should we turn away from the exploitation of Chinese laborers necessary to build the railroad in the western U.S.? Should we let CRT distort and diminish the hideous ugliness of the Holocaust sparing European fascists? Should we ignore how during WW II we incarcerated tens of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans in California concentration camps while coincidentally drafting the same to fight and die in Europe? These people lost their homes and businesses and what about reparations? Should we continue to ignore diminishing the grievous mistreatment of native Americans by European whites as they settled the other’s country west of the Mississippi River sparing our present precious sensitivity? Native American reservations weren’t exactly Del Webb retirement communities. When gold was found in the black Hills of South Dakota we thought better about the property of Native American reservations rationalizing our right to mine for gold. More recently we’re beginning to find many unmarked graves in former reservation sites. Lord knows what we did in Texas and Oklahoma in regards to drilling oil wells.
    By birth I’m grateful I’m an American, but denying all our social warts, wrinkles, and pimples is inconsistent with our achievements. Only by acknowledging our past history can we learn and improve our country.

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...