The poor wretches are slaves, of course.
“It’s time to have a point of view not just an opinion,” Don Lemon says in “This is the Fire.” In other words, it’s time to take a stand that doesn’t fade away until the next shooting. It’s time to put honesty and fairness ahead of convenience. It’s time to pull down many old bronze statues in our parks.
Eduhonesty: I encourage readers to look at this book: Donald Trump has energized Lemon, as he has energized many others. “You need symptoms to alert you to a disease.” A fave: “Trump was the malignant node in our armpit.” I usually keep politics out of this blog, but if I am keeping the topic of racism out of the blog because of that preference, I may have to revisit my no-politics policy.
Chapter Two’s title is perfect: “We didn’t get here by accident.” That’s the crux of so many attempts to explain away the history we don’t want to see: the idea that it was incidental and unintentional. Yet people didn’t buy or keep slaves accidentally. Too many statues that have been erected to men who did not acquire their human property “by accident.” Major purchases are never accidents.
Eduhonesty’s educational observations:
As a kid Lemon felt trapped by a black box of low expectations. He looked at his white classmates and could not help but see how much easier it was for them to get ahead. Comparisons are inevitable between people, and comparisons start so early. Preschoolers and kindergartners identify who can draw well, who knows the alphabet and who is good at sports. Little kids are not oblivious to who has it easier, who has more money, and who is getting more support for their classroom efforts. Little kids are not oblivious to privilege.
What are the long-term implications of children’s awareness? I hope readers will find time for this book. Lemon’s life story puts an unusual face on racism because Lemon is without question an American success story, host of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon. Here’s just a snippet of seeing today’s world through his eyes:
“Those on the front lines have no motivation but the stories they’ve been told: myths and legends presented in middle school textbooks that should be subtitled ‘A Redacted History of the United States’ or maybe ‘A Conveniently Selective Memory of What Went Down.'”
Hopeful and passionate, yet willing to address hard truths, Lemon captures truths in history, cinema, and politics with clarity and resolve.
I reached the end of this book and felt more energized to step into the fight than I have in a while. It’s easy to get discouraged, but we should always be seeking justice, always be helping our students to navigate this world. This book felt worth my time for the appendix alone — a list of books, podcasts, other audio and video, and websites.
