All across the country, there has been a major push against CRT (critical race theory) led by small-town parents at school board meetings, state legislatures, and numerous social media personalities and organizations. The success of this resistance has caused its supporters to shift its messaging. The new tactic has been to try and shift the public debate from a growing antagonistic “CRT” label to something more palatable, something almost virtuous. A more accurate and thorough history.
They claim they are simply striving to teach the truth. There is even a Twitter hashtag #teachtruth, where several self-proclaimed educators claim that finally, it is now the time to teach the truth. Of course, this makes me wonder then what they have been teaching all these years? I mean, if they feel that they had been forced to teach a lie, why have they willingly taught it for so long? Where was the call of indignation before?
Ben Shapiro addressed this attempt to use what has become a most common tactic of the left to modify or change the language and cause the germ of just enough reasonable doubt and deceit to take hold. We all know the game here. I am familiar with how this game of words is played. However, being a longtime champion of accurate history, I would be a poor advocate if I didn’t at least explore the possibilities of what they had to say. But like Paul Harvey use to say, I wonder if they will include “the rest of the story.”
When this new movement decides to talk about the establishment of the slave trade and the truly repugnant conditions that the European slavers forced upon their captives, will they include that the slave traders bought their human cargo from firmly established African and Muslim markets? A fact pointed out by the great Fredrick Douglass, but often overlooked by current contemporaries. Will this newfound truth include the names of Anthony Johnson, who was himself a black man, and his legal battle to own John Casor, the first legally defined lifetime slave in the nation? What of slaver Tippu Tip? Will it include the story of the Clotilda, the last slave ship known to reach America?
CRT and the 1619 project will continue to try to push the narrative that America was founded upon slavery and that racism was enshrined in our institutions from the very beginning. They like to point to the 3/5 clause in the Constitution, yet there is more to the story. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 is enshrined and this puts a time stamp on the international slave trade in the very same document. Yes, it did not end slavery but it’s hard to claim that continued slavery in America was ensured. In fact, in 1808 when the importation of slaves became illegal, America’s fledgling navy went right to work in combating the international slave trade to the point that it even made it into the Marine Corp hymn when “to the shores of Tripoli” is referenced. The fight against the slave-trading Barbary pirates.
You see, history is never just one-sided. People make it and people are not singly dimensional. Therefore, if you are going to use history then you should know it has depth. One of the tenets of this obviously flawed theory is that if you are Caucasian then you are always seeking to oppress others. Even unconsciously, because it was the white race, especially those of the south, that maintained slavery.
I have written endlessly of the logical fallacy of assigning a single attribute or motivations to a large group, but if this is the premise that CRT wishes to use then the argument itself shows its flaws. Because, if the white race is responsible for slavery then it must be most inconvenient to point out that everywhere in the world where the white population established slavery, the same white population ended slavery. Much like America, if one is going to falsely point out that 750,000 mostly white confederate soldiers allegedly fought to maintain slavery then you must also recognize that 2.1 million mostly white union soldiers fought to end it. Unless I am mistaken, there was only one successful slave revolt in the entire history of the world.
Unfortunately, the term Critical Race Theory has made its way into our modern language fed by other, equally misleading terms such as ‘systemic racism.’ On the word systemic, this would mean that the behavior has been institutionalized or codified in some manner, that it’s a written matter of official policy. However, have you ever noticed that those who shout about systemic racism are usually compelled to use wide and vague blanket statements? They never seem to point out specific examples. It’s always the police and not this or that city’s police, and the few times someone even mentions a specific police department they can’t seem to point to the policy or law that makes it part of the system. It is the same with those that claim that America has not yet advanced or come to terms with its issues of race. I wonder how they wave away and forget the fact that no less than seven African Americans were elected to the first congress in which former slaves could hold office.
There is no institution, company, rank, or office, either public or private, anywhere in the country that remains closed to a person of color. The late Martin Luther King Jr. sought not to assign blame or spread discourse, but to promote the idea that America should aspire to uphold its ideals.
I, of course, will always advocate for the accurate telling of history but we all should be skeptical of those we entrust to teach our children as to what they believe to be the truth and make sure that “the rest of the story” is included. Remember: truth welcomes scrutiny, falsehoods do not.
By Cade Logue
Cade Logue is a military veteran, a proud Texan, a patriotic American, and a regular contributor to The Blue State Conservative.
Content syndicated from TheBlueStateConservative.com with permission.
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S C U M !!!