Black History Month has been celebrated during the month of February annually since 1976. It is a disservice to not honor black history and culture every month of the year. Our regular K-12 curriculum should include contributions made by black Americans in all fields: business, literature, music, math, science, civics, and government, and not limit it to a single month. It is time to come together, celebrate American accomplishments, and appreciate the diversity of the American experience.
Black is beautiful. Let’s celebrate black culture, honor the black experience, and restore America. Restoration is the act of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. In today’s cultural context it is about going out of our way to refresh our values and build relationships. It is about purposeful celebration, providing support on an individual and community-wide level, and that each individual is worthy of respect.
Celebrating black lives, contrary to what political groups or the media might suggest, is a concept independent of the political organization, Black Lives Matter (BLM), which advocates a socialist agenda for America. The BLM in schools curriculum clearly expresses the ideals of communism.
For example, in a prompt for middle and high school students surrounding the BLM principles, a teacher is guided to ask the question “Have you encountered anyone critical of the Black Lives Matter movement or responds in a negative, defensive way?” The implication is that if you are critical of BLM or its efforts, then, somehow, you do not respect black people. And how appropriate is it to ask students to expose their political beliefs? What if they prefer to keep them to themselves?
The principle of Unapologetically Black, content of Black Lives Matter education material, culminates the ideals, goals, and justification the organization uses to indoctrinate our children. Unapologetically Black has a “kid-friendly” definition, written as “the affirmation that Black Lives Matter and that our love, and desire for justice and freedom are prerequisites for wanting that for others. These principles are the blueprint for healing and do not include nor do they support ignoring or sanitizing the ugliness and discomfort that comes with dealing with race and anti-race issues.”
Blueprint for healing? These principles, culminated together, are a blueprint for destruction and anarchy. On October 7, vandalism by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement again took place. This time in Wauwatosa, WI.[1] Rather than choosing to engage in peaceful, fruitful discussion, the BLM movement continues to place blame and perpetuate violence. On October 26th the streets of Philadelphia again exploded in violence and looting. The BLM movement is intentionally confrontational.
It does not seem to be about uniting Americans for the cause of racial cohesiveness. Just yesterday, Oct 28th, a group of Jewish men standing in solidarity with BLM protesters in Philadelphia were verbally harassed and violently chased away.[2] A true movement for unification would welcome all colors and creeds to march together.
BLM’s protests are not about people getting along, they are about fueling the passions of people to create a social revolution. Supporters of BLM’s left-wing communist ideology continue to cause destruction both in the physical sense as well as destruction of the connectivity that many civil rights activists, such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, James Farmer and Roy Wilkins, have worked so hard to create.
During this pivotal time in our state and nation’s history, it is prudent to recall the actions and ideologies of 20th century Civil Rights activists. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, many leaders were practitioners of nonviolent civil disobedience as practiced by Gandhi.[3] Many also pursued legislative activism, actively opposing the militancy that was represented by the Black Power movement,[4] a militancy that continues to be represented by the raised fist icon used in BLM curriculum materials.
The BLM organization is about much more than race relations in American today. BLM actively promotes a socialist agenda to our children as an attempt to indoctrinate the next generation of leaders. Parents, we cannot let our children’s minds be led down the path of socialism, a path that ultimately leads to poverty, government dependence, and economic depression. As Abraham Lincoln once said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
In today’s world, there are many people who are ready and willing to learn, understand and talk about racial issues. Discussions of race do not have to be ugly and divisive. There are many beautiful things that can come to fruition from a productive discussion on race. Many of the people who want to learn more about race may well have been turned off by the many BLM protests and riots across the nation. Our colleagues, neighbors, and friends may well have been privileged from birth but do genuinely care about racial fairness.
We can lift up and celebrate blackness without condemning whiteness. We can have conversations about race without guilt or shame being critical elements of the conversation. We can and should acknowledge our past without reliving it. We can aim for the higher ground to which Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream calls us.
We must not, however, allow Dr. King’s dream to be hijacked by socialists who need oppression to fuel their movement.
Is your children’s school teaching an ideology? Not sure? Start asking some questions.
To see all of the press releases on this topic, visit www.repallen.com.
