Ban Teaching These? Gags on Speech not What Freedom is Made of

   You're thinking it would be a bad idea to add Critical Race Theory to Utah's curriculum? You're thinking we should ban it? Perhaps you should also consider which events should be banned from being discussed in the classroom.

   Do we say teaching about the Trail of Tears is taboo? Sixty Thousand Native Americans, including thousands of their Black slaves) were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi. They suffered disease, exposure, and starvation. Thousands died. Do we ban that, and say it cannot be taught?

   Do we continue to throw a cover over the fact the man who carved Mount Rushmore was associated with the KKK? Gutzon Borglum, before he came to work on Mount Rushmore, worked with the KKK on a similar project in Georgia, aiming at creating a monument to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis, the three heroes of the Confederacy. He had a falling out with others involved in the project, so he picked up his toys, so to speak, erased his work, and transferred his ambitions to Mount Rushmore. Perhaps that doesn't belong in a history book. Should we continue to cover it up?  There's a secret chamber at Mount Rushmore, one not open to the public. It reportedly contains Borglum papers further tying him to the KKK. Why do we keep these things away from the public? 

   Speaking of Mount Rushmore, do we let it be known the federal government signed a contract with Native Americans in 1868, granting them exclusive use of a large region of land, including the Black Hills where Mount Rushmore was carved? But, when gold was discovered on the property, the U.S. went back on its word, and yanked the land back. Do we say we should continue to keep this part of history under wraps? Telling of it will just stir up people to anger? 

   The hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre is coming up, It was May 31--June 1, 1921, that a white mob set fire to the Greenwood District and airplanes with White attackers reportedly flew overhead, firing rifles and dropping firebombs on the Blacks. One estimate suggests a death count of as many as 100-300, though most counts are much lower. A documentary titled Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre will premier in less than two weeks, Sunday, May 30, executively produced by NBA superstar Russell Westbrook, he who is in ill-esteem with many who are of Republican leanings these days. Do we throw a few more epithets Westbrook's way and say the Tulsa Race Massacre is just a part of history we ought to cancel?

   We've all heard of Jim Crow laws. But, did you know that part of that was sending Black people to prison on minor charges and then using them as prison laborers? Slavery under another name is still slavery. The Confederates were defeated, but found other ways to continue practicing their trade. But, that's not really part of history, is it? Certainly not something that should be taught in our schools. And, let's not let it be known some Jim Crow laws continued as late as the 1950s.

   The estimate 4,400 lynchings -- the telling of that is not fit for public consumption? It's just a communist lie?

   Should we down-tone down speaking of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King? The protests of the 1960s were part of history, but let's not over do it?

   Do we discuss the Rodney King beating, and how it turned light on police violence by introducing videos to unveil the police brutality? Or, is police brutality not even a term that should be used?  How much are we allowed to say about the shootings of Michael Brown and George Floyd? Are we allowed to say that some believe the shooting of Brown was unjustified? Can we let it be known that Derek Chauvin, who killed Floyd, once worked at a club where he allegedly would spray mace on the crowds -- quicker when they were primarily Black than when they were primarily White?  

    Just what is fit for public dissemination? I do not know if any or all of these things are covered in classes that teach Critical Race Theory. But, these are things I believe should be in our textbooks. If you don't want them in Critical Race Theory classes, or if they are not even part of the Critical Race Theory, to begin with, then let them be taught in civic, and history, and government classes. But, don't cover them up. Truth is often fit for public consumption. And don't put restrictions on free speech preventing certain things from even being discussed in school. Gag orders on public speech are not what freedom is made of.