CRT

Some say that CRT is just teaching the truth about US history and others say it bad mouths America. Here is an example that explains the difference. In teaching history it is necessary to include those parts which are uncomplimentary and in many cases shameful. For example teaching about slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, the internment of Japanese Americans in WW 2, the Jim Crow years, the Tuskegee study and many others dark times is necessary. If it ends there it leaves the impression that the students in the room are some how responsible to the point where many feel guilty. When the rest of the story is told things change. When students are told about the many ways that the country has changed over the years and the many attempts to make up for past mistakes then the students can learn from the past without being made to feel ashamed. When they learn about how the Supreme Court has ruled against segregation, how congress has passed laws to prohibit discrimination, how all citizens have the right to vote, and affirmative actions laws made life better for all, the picture changes. Students then learn about the past, recognize they cannot change the past but they can do better in future. Students today are more acceptable to differences than in the past. In general the country is more open and tolerant today than just one generation ago.