OPINION – Black History Month provides the world with an opportunity to reflect on the important achievements, events and other contributions people of the African diaspora have made to our daily lives. Too often, though, it’s an opportunity many people let pass them by.
Right now, teachers across the country are leading dynamic classroom conversations on the movement’s significance. And around the dinner table, elders share heartfelt stories of struggle, perseverance and courage in the face of adversity. But it’s critical that the rest of us listen.
We’re told to honor the memory of our past heroes by never forgetting the cold, harsh realities that they endured and overcame. However, according to a recent report released by the Teaching Tolerance project, it seems our country could be doing just that – forgetting.
Disturbingly, the report shows only 8 percent of U.S. high school seniors could correctly identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War. And 68 percent of students aren’t aware slavery in the United States formally ended with a Constitutional Amendment. Anecdotally, try challenging a friend to name a civil rights icon beyond Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks in under five seconds. Many of the great heroes of the Civil Rights Movement are still with us today – and continuing the fight. This isn’t our past; it’s our present.
What’s more. This Black History Month has been marred with a slew of national media stories depicting the prejudiced behavior of politicians and celebrities alike. It seems people not only have forgotten the importance of the civil rights movement, they also have also sadly forgotten what is racist.
Yes, sociologists are seeing unprecedented levels of grassroots activism across the country. There is a great risk, though, that many of these movements, no matter how noble the cause, lack the staying power or high level of organization we saw with the civil rights movement. Perhaps, it’s because we live in the era of social media where recency and immediacy reign supreme, and a social justice campaign can be started with the click of a button.
This is why our work at the Sojourn Project is so important.
For 20 years, the Sojourn Project has led over 90 study trips to the American Deep South, immersing middle and high school students from diverse backgrounds in academic and weeklong, moving-classroom journeys. On these educational trips, students visit historical sites and meet some of the unsung heroes of the Modern Civil Rights movement including Minnijean Brown-Tricky of the Little Rock Nine and Congressman John Lewis.
Our students benefit by hearing directly from the very people who changed the course of history. What better way to inspire our students to be civically engaged than taking them out of the classroom and showing them firsthand they have the power to create personal, social and civic change in their own communities?
As many of our civil rights leaders understood, you can draw great inspiration from studying what has come before. And there may be no more powerful force than all of us being steeped in the security of our shared history. I hope you will sojourn with us on this important journey, because knowing our past helps us secure our future. Don’t let Black History Month pass by without looking at our present.
By Jeff Steinberg | Special to the OBSERVER
Jeff Steinberg is the founder and executive director of The Sojourn Project, a California-based nonprofit focused on civil rights education. For more information visit http://www.sojournproject.org/.