Sunday, February 02, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Black History Month in Perilous Times
Black History Month, February, is usually not so controversial-- just an important time to work towards a better understanding of our nation's past and present. But this year it comes in the midst of a remarkable purge of anything related to really telling the truth about our history.
One of the odd parts of the recent Executive Order on K-12 education was the section that defines prohibited "discriminatory equity ideology" to include teaching that "the United States is fundamentally racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory."
The problem there is that our history is fundamentally racist, sexist, and otherwise discriminatory-- there just is no getting around the 250 years of Black slavery in British America and the United States, or the discriminatory laws that existed for 100 years after that, or the continuing effects of these very real things. Not to mention the differential treatment of women under the law, or the oppression of indigenous people.
The problem with the approach taken in the Executive Order is that it lacks that most fundamental Christian virtue: humility. Rather, it insists that we declare ourselves perfected and move on.
I'm not along for that particular ride.
