I’ve been reading a lot of words that go like this:
“This isn’t who America is.”
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
“What have we become?”
Simply put, we are who we have always been. Privilege and power have simply kept most of us comfortably ignorant. We haven’t had to reckon with the violent origins, practices, and realities of our nation because our lives did not require it.
Don’t believe me? Read history. Real history by real historians, not hobbyists or tv personalities or savvy young journalists or the influencer du jour.
I’m not trying to be elitist here. Rather, consider me passionate about truth and an honest historical record, someone who believes in learning and understanding as a path toward repentance and healing.
So if you’re struggling to understand “how it’s come to this,” I invite you to look back before you make assumptions about today or look toward the future. This is always in order if we’re to find healing.
And if you want to do the work of that, here are a few resources by folks who have either lived a history you haven’t or who have been properly trained in the careful craft of historical investigation.
There are myriad sources I could choose that uncover the backstories of our right-now issues. But these are a few from my own bookshelf, sources I’ve studied that unpack the tragic historical realities bearing fruit today.
Primary Sources (first-hand accounts and narratives):
–Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
–Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs
–Secession Debated, edited by William W. Freehling and Craig M. Simpson (7 surviving speeches and public letters of the greatest southern debate over disunion)
Secondary sources:
–Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
–Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White
–The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition by Manisha Sinha (I am working my way through this one.)
If you’re looking for just one, go with Stony the Road.
Recommendations provided by fellow historians & learners:
– The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
– Sojourner Truth by Nell Painter
– Race Rebels by Robin D.G. Kelley
– The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
Edited:
Questions from the comments on Instagram:
Yesterday was about us having been a nation that once allowed slavery?? In our past? It was the root of everything that is wrong with America, completely deligitimizes us from then onward? Our past curses us forever and we can never be redeemed? It would seem that anything we ever do then would never be enough to correct our past sins? Or do you have any idea of how we can repent for the sins of our forefathers? And did you recommend this reading bc it was tied to yesterday’s events? Trying to understand…..
My response (because it’s a valid and common question):
Great questions. I was writing in response to the many statements I’ve seen about yesterday’s events, such as: “this is not who we are” and “how has it come to this?” I’m simply trying to share how history has helped me in my own journey toward understanding that it hasn’t just recently “come to this.” This is part of our nation’s DNA. (White privilege & violence to maintain power and control.) I believe in naming our specific sins. This is true when I’m reconciling with my spouse, a child, or anyone I love. I believe this is true for us as a nation. The Bible provides examples of God holding families, groups, and nation’s corporately responsible for the sins of individuals. (Tim Keller wrote a helpful article on this: A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory) As for how we do that, I appreciate what the book, Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah, and How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity & the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby.
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