I recently wrote a story about “Why We Need a White History Month,” which discusses several things that aren’t generally taught and frankly that white people, especially along with everyone else, need to know about American History.

I received a response, anonymous, of course, which went as follows:

“You only ever mention bad things that white people have done as if that successfully encapsulates the History of any people. This is racial hatred, pure and simple.”

I edited it for grammar only as I didn’t want the writer’s message to be diluted by poor English. I did respond, not as harshly as I’m capable of but enough to make my point.

“History does nothing but tell us the good parts; I just talk about the things they leave out. It may be an uncomfortable truth, but it is all true. Would you rather I not tell it?”

I confess I corrected my grammar, if I see an error in something I wrote 5-years ago, I fix it, with no reason to believe anyone will ever read it because I’m obsessive like that. As many out there can attest, if you notify me of a mistake in my writing, I generally thank you and correct it. We may disagree about the content and my opinion, but grammar is pretty much a constant.

I was never concerned about having been called a racist for speaking, not my truth, but the truth or expressing an opinion others don’t agree with. Mr. Anononymous, he has a screen name, but no point in giving him any celebrity is among the group that seems to feel that talking about race in a manner critical of white people is racist in and of itself. I think a failure to talk about race leads to the filling of a vacuum with lies and propaganda, willingly provided by those with another view.

American History, since the teaching of American History began, has done a lot of covering up of the stories that are less popular to discuss. The well-publicized heroic tales featuring Native Americans start and end with Pocahontas, Squanto, and the fictional Tonto). They were facilitators who helped ease communication between whites and American Indian tribes although the result never worked in their favor. Most of the other well-known Native Americans were portrayed as savages who dared to attack white people. If they became legends during their lifetime, it was so they could be feared and hunted down, or their placement on reservations (and the taking of their land) justified.

History is the tale of the victors in which they are usually the hero, and everything the winner did was righteous. Telling lies about the past not only covers up lousy behavior but makes that same behavior acceptable in the present. It’s what gives us statues and memorials of Confederate traitors and slaveowners; it’s how we get tales of not telling lies, wooden teeth, and good masters.

While I was putting this story together, I received a reply to a story I’d written about Thomas Jefferson, which I’m enclosing.

“No one remembers the name of Thomas Jefferson’s white wife, but most have heard of Sally Hemming, who engaged in a very public monogamous life long relationship with him that was a functional marriage that bore six DNA confirmed offspring. Get over it please for the sake of advancing History! Efforts to diminish and degrade the long term relationship between Jefferson and Hemming serve the whitewashing of American History. Sally Hemming was no less empowered in her role than the white wife of a slaveholder at this juncture in History.”

My response was a little more harsh than usual. Maybe it was the recent passing of the Civil Rights icon, Rep. John Lewis, that had me on edge. I still would have been a little sarcastic, but this is what came out.

“Sally Hemings was a 14-year-old slave that Jefferson owned his entire life along with several of her family members. What right did she have to say no to anything, and what would have been the cost? Sally Hemings was never empowered to the same degree as Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She wasn’t free to do anything without his consent, and you haven’t even bothered to spell her name correctly. Hemings was a rape victim, Jefferson her rapist. He also made it legal and profitable for Virginia slaveholders like himself to benefit from domestic slave breeding, which translated is rape on a large scale. It’s you that desires to whitewash History, whatever training you have as a researcher is lacking.”

“I consider a woman who brings a child every two years as more profitable than the best man of the farm, what she produces is an addition to the capital, while his labors disappear in mere consumption.” Thomas Jefferson

I’ve asked myself, on occasion, why do I write about many of the things I do? I find the research fascinating, especially when enough information comes together to establish links to events I hadn’t considered related. I never particularly enjoyed history courses, but now that I’ve discovered the relevance to the present, I can’t get enough.

Any conversation can present an idea. I was listening to an author interview Isabel Wilkerson) on NPR on my car radio, who discussed how Nazis sent representatives to America to study what she called our caste system and how they developed a less restrictive system in Nazi Germany. To be considered Jewish in Germany, you had to have three Jewish grandparents or a certain number of practicing Jews in your immediate family. In America, it took one drop to be Black. I’ll be researching that and may have something to say.

I get challenged about my goals. My intent is never to shame but to educate. Progress will never occur if we are operating on false information. I think of two quotes from James Baldwin that will continue to motivate me.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

This is why I write what I write, disregarding the criticism of others.

Writer, poet, wannabe philosopher. I write about politics, history, race and social justice. Support me at https://ko-fi.com/williamfspivey0680

MORE FROM WILLIAM SPIVEY:  

What if the Constitution Was Written Today?

The Key Component to the Continued Existence of Racism Is Denial

What Black Lives Matter Has Accomplished

Juneteenth: The Rest of the Story Almost Nobody’s Talking About

—

Previously Published on medium

—

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash