The next Conversations on Race and Faith will be March 12, 2023 at 1:00PM on zoom. We will look at the control of the narrative on race. As we do this, let’s consider the following:
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past —George Orwell “1984”
The control of the narrative has often been a way to push false information about our history as though it was fact. This is often done, not only for the general public but also for the education of children and young people. Our first video is a conversation with Dr. Karen Cox, Professor of history at UNC Charlotte.
https://www.facebook.com/TheTNHoller/videos/299472417871411
Her book Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture (New Perspectives on the History of the South)
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), a women’s group that was formed in 1894, led the effort to revise Confederate history at the turn of the 20th century. That effort has a name: the Lost Cause. It was a campaign to portray Confederate leaders and soldiers as heroic, and it targeted the minds and identities of children growing up in the South so they would develop a personal attachment to the Confederate cause.
They formed textbook committees and pressured school boards to ban books that the UDC deemed “unjust to the South,” which was anything that shed negative light on the Confederacy. Their work with children went beyond the classroom as well. They formed an auxiliary group called the Children of the Confederacy; a program that sought to get kids actively involved in “Southern” history. They would recite UDC-sponsored rhetoric, visit veterans, participate in monument unveilings, and more. The UDC’s efforts were to present their distorted version of history as “real history.”
The UDC story will be contrasted with two CBS News stories on the backlash to the way the subject of race is being taught in schools.
CBSN Originals looks at the debate over how and when race should be taught in schools, and the impact on students and teachers. CBSN’s Tanya Rivero spoke with former teacher and coach Matt Hawn, who is one of the people featured in the episode. Matt taught a contemporary issues class in a Tennessee high school and was fired for teaching controversial subjects.
Virginia’s gubernatorial race drew national attention to the issue of Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ-centered material being taught in schools. At a 2021 school board meeting, two officials suggested that books banned from curriculums should be burned.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/gop-officials-ban-books-on-race-lgbtq-issues/
As of February 2023, at least 16 states have laws or policies in place that limit lessons about race and inequality being taught in American K-12 schools. Many of the bills legislate against lessons that may make students feel “shame,” “guilt” based on race or discuss “oppression” and “intersectionality.” Critics say the vague language could impact lessons detailing racism and oppression in the U.S.
What is at the core of the arguments over how race is taught in the classroom? How is today different from the times of United Daughters of the Confederacy? As both Christians and Americans, what is our obligation to the next generation in terms of passing down our lessons of history?
We hope to see you on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 1:00