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Rioting Or A Tour: Gaslighting
Not A Bad Idea
ritical Race Theory, also known as CRT, is a con- cept that was created by
Black scholars in the 1970s who believed that American society would be better served through an educational cur- riculum which properly taught students K-12 the un- sanitized version of American History.
They proposed that the complete truth, in all of its good, bad, ugly and com- pletely shameful glory, would go a long way toward correct- ing many of this country's so- cietal ills.
The idea of a class that fo- cuses on telling a familiar story from a more authentic perspective has received a lot of attention recently because governors of several states, in- cluding Florida, have doggedly fought against a new push to implement the pro- gram into school systems.
Their opposition to CRT is rooted in the belief that the more accurate description of historical events like the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the brutal treatment of Native Americans by the Pilgrims and the horrors that occurred during the Jim Crow era south would cause young peo- ple to view the United States in a negative light. Their fear is that, if children of every
ethnic persuasion learned the truth, the myth of white su- premacy and the propaganda of American exceptionalism would be undermined.
But, of course, that's the point. For decades, children in this country have been spoon fed gross inaccuracies in the classroom that have led to some students growing up with a false sense of superior- ity due to their skin color while others were left psycho- logically, emotionally and aca- demically wounded due to their own less valued hue.
Proponents of CRT say that removing the fabricated sheen that has been placed on revi- sionist history is the only way to reverse the damage done to race relations by mis-educa- tion. And, as far as I'm con- cerned, they're right.
I mean, what's wrong with teaching Black and white kids things like the Statue of Lib- erty not being erected for im- migrants, but was made by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in honor of newly freed Africans who were held in bondage in the deep south or that the statue's image was inspired by the artist's appreciation for Black Egyptian women? Along with learning about the battle at the Alamo in Texas and the Louisiana Purchase,
shouldn't kids in this country also be taught about the hun- dreds of treaties the U. S. Government broke with na- tive tribes in an effort to swin- dle them out of their land?
Kids are told about slav- ery, but what about the real atrocities that occurred dur- ing that time? Is it too much for white kids to know that this country's forefathers en- gaged in non-consensual sex- ual acts with the human beings they owned, Not only with the women, but the men as well?
If there are those in posi- tions of power who don't want these things being taught, and who want to continue to keep the American populace deaf, dumb and blind, you have to wonder why that's the case? What and who benefits from the overabundance of igno- rance the most?
I don't think it's a coinci- dence that a majority of the politicians who are against CRT belong to a republican party that finds itself be- holden to a demographic that traffics in white entitlement. They understand that if CRT becomes the norm, and America's youth begins to dis- regard the previous slanted narrative, 20 years from now using the same tactics to mo- tivate "white fear" in an effort to support their racist policies will no longer work.
With that being the case, I say, let the lessons com- mence.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can email Mr. Barr at: cbscribe2@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
t is amazing how millions of television viewers saw
an assault and riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, by thousands of unruly and violent Americans, while Congressional House member An- drew Clyde (R-Georgia) told us he saw what looked like a “normal tourist visit.”
Yet, Clyde was seen in photographs helping other House members and security personnel barricade the doors to the House Chamber to keep rioters from en- tering. Everyone knows the riot was an attempt to pre- vent Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote.
However, Clyde and other Republicans are trying to convince us that the riot was a tourist visit instead of a riot. Talk about mass gaslighting?
Someone should remind Clyde and his cohorts that tourists don’t kill and maim police officers and tourists don’t cause injury to 140 police officers.
Indeed, tourists don’t smear feces on the floors and walls of national government offices. Clyde even criti- cized critics for calling the riot an insurrection, saying “you know if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”
The irony of the situation is that when Black Ameri- cans protest peacefully, it is referred to as a riot. When Whites (predominantly) riot, it is referred to as a “tourist visit.” Only in America does a double standard exist for everything under the sun, or people swear you didn’t see or hear what you saw and heard (gaslight- ing).
The only problem is you can’t just “walk away with your perception intact” when the gaslighting could em- power the overthrow of the American government. You end up bombarding the public with daily television clips of what actually happened as a reminder that you really did see what you thought you saw.
Consequently, there has to be public scrutiny of everything a gaslighter says and does, lest we wake up one morning and find out American democracy has been hijacked by elected gaslighters.
God bless America.
FYI
Zion Cemetery Board Seeks Volunteers
Deadline to apply in July 9, 2021.
The Zion Cemetery Preser- vation and Maintenance Soci- ety (ZCPMS) is seeking the community’s assistance in fill- ing the final two (2) vacancies on its eleven-member board of directors.
The organization’s bylaws specify that these two posi- tions must be reserved for de- scendants of persons buried at the site. Zion is located at the northwest corner of Tampa’s Robles Park Public Housing development, just east of the 3700 Block of North Florida Avenue.
In 1894 local African American entrepreneur Richard Doby purchases 2.5 acres of land for $100 near the 3700 block of N. Florida Av- enue, just south of a Potter’s Field. Doby is the founder of Dobyville, the western section of Hyde Park.
In 1901 he files a cemetery land claim for his property. Then in 1923 he buries his son there in a grave that has not yet been located. This also is the last year a burial is recorded at Zion and the same year the City of Tampa ex- tends its northern boundary to the Hillsborough River.
These two board vacancies
are open to persons for whom there exists some documenta- tion of their lineal connection to an ancestor buried at Zion. They must briefly state in writing their interest in volun- teering to serve on this board. Current monthly meetings are held virtually.
For a one-page application email Amrita Hanuman of the Tampa Housing Authority at amrita.hanuman@thafl. com.
For more information, call ZCPMS President Fred Hearns at (813) 545-3183. The deadline for applying for a board vacancy is July 9, 2021.
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