MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Outrage at Florida's attempt to whitewash slavery

Friday, July 21, 2023

Outrage at Florida's attempt to whitewash slavery

Florida's whitewash of slavery

So they ban CRT, the consideration of the travesties of US history of slavery, and instead, substitute a whitewash, painting the upsides of slavery. Upsides of slavery? I , a white girl, grew up in Jim Crow Oklahoma, where Gone with the Wind of Scarlet's maid, Disney's Zippidoodah Song of the South, slaves singing great spirituals (we had no idea of the hidden messages in them)....painted an idealized version of life as a slave. It was a shock when visiting Mt. Vernon and I got a taste of the living conditions that slaves faced and my perception abruptly changed of the horrors faced by slaves I gleaned from sources. So they got taught skills which they could use to earn money....but they got to use them without pay as a slave. It would not pass human and child labor laws we have today or work without pay labor department rules, either, but part of Florida's instruction of their touting their objective, both sides approach should be to require students to work a couple of days picking cotton or doing the missus' laundry or working a forge/mechanic repairs without pay and get a whiff of reality. If they refused, they could be whipped. Those slaves were forbidden to marry, the children they bore, whether fathered by the master or the ones they loved, became slaves, and they could be separated if sold is something teenagers would have a hard time comprehending. Frankly, I am outraged. This is another example of the GOP's desire to return our country to the 1950s.

I have been asked by those who read this above..so what are you going to do about it? I good question. Here was my reply:

I wish I knew. Personally, speaking out and writing. When it comes to racism, there is not much you can do to change minds because it is not a matter of minds. It is a matter of hearts. One possibility is to aim at reminding evangelicals that racism runs counter to Jesus's teachings. Hate and racism are not Christian values. For those who are not practicing Christians, racism is deeply ingrained in culture and all we can do is rally the rest of the population, appeal to empathy (walk in others' shoes), fairness, and a sense of fair play as in sports, and civil peace. I firmly believe what is going on is fear by whites of becoming a minority and losing power, especially white males who feel emasculated by the women's power movement. They have chosen the course of hateful resistance instead of trying to figure out how to get along in the future. I do not see an easy outcome and I am pinning my hopes on the generation just coming of age, the majority of whom have values similar to mine. I, fortunately, am close to under thirty-year-old grandchildren and try to see the world through their eyes. I like what I see.