Five teenage boys from Virginia vandalized the Ashburn Colored School with swastikas, obscenities, and racial slurs back in September. This past week, Judge Avelina Jacob reached a verdict and sentenced the boys to a year's worth of reading and watching diverse films. The judge believes that with this sentence, the boys will be educated further on history and diversity as a whole.
The boys were given a list of books and films to choose from. They must either read 12 books or read 9 books and watch 3 films. Each month they are also expected to write a paper about what they learned.
In addition, they must visit United States Holocaust Museum and the American History Museum in Washington D.C. They then must write a research paper on their visit and to explain the effects that swastikas and messages like "white power" can have on minority groups and the community.
The judge said in response to her verdict that she wanted to open their eyes to the world and give the community a sense of healing.
In a world like ours, it is more important than ever to understand diversity. Every single person on this earth is unique in some way. So often, people are categorized by the color of their skin, their gender, their sexuality, their religion, or their economic background. There is a stereotype that too many people, including the boys in the story above, carry around- that rich, straight, white, Christian males are superior.
It is embedded in U.S. history. Stories of oppression based on differences. Many schools don't even teach certain aspects of history. There has been a push-back to stop teaching students the aspects of history that show the U.S. in a negative light due to it being "unpatriotic." In 2015, Oklahoma educators attempted to get a bill passed to ban AP U.S. from being taught in their public schools on the grounds that it "characterizes the U.S. as a 'nation of oppressors and exploiters' and shows 'what is bad about America.'"
Many teachers are overlooking the Trail of Tears unit or brushing over slavery . At the very least, as they teach it, they disclaim how the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans was beneficial to society as a whole.
What many public schools teach across America is skewed to show the best and brightest aspects of our history. While our errors and downfalls may be mentioned, they are limited.
In addition, the area in which you live might dictate what gets taught about. Being from Massachusetts, Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower were taught far more significantly than Jamestown . This made me feel, personally, that where I came from was extremely important compared to other states. You could argue that it gave me a false sense of superiority. I thought that Massachusetts was where America essentially began. Jamestown had only been a paragraph within a chapter about Plymouth.
Whether Americans want to admit it or not, there is a level of censorship in what is taught in public schools. There are a list of banned books throughout the U.S. because superintendents and parents decided the book contained sensitive material unsuitable for their students. Books like To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, was banned in some schools because of the language and treatment of African Americans. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown was banned due to its depiction of Native Americans and its stories of death and pain. It shows a dark history for Native Americans.
However, these books tell the story of American history. We can't pretend that slavery and segregation did not exist. We can't pretend that settlers did not force Native Americans off of their land through cruel acts. It happened.
Watching a movie or reading a book can teach someone a lot about historical events. Textbooks present facts, books and films present emotions.
The verdict given by the judge ensures the education of the five boys who were clearly ignorant. It seems to me that if Americans would educate themselves without being court ordered then a lot of hate would disappear. We are a nation that attacks differences and points out the flaws in others but we don't like to feel attacked or flawed ourselves. We don't want to be told that we were in the wrong or that we hurt someone, even if it was just our ancestors.
The education system needs to tell the whole story of America. From Native Americans to Jamestown to slavery to civil rights to the present. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. History is doomed to repeat itself if we are never taught how to avoid it. Oppression is destined to continue if diversity is banned or looked at as inferior. False senses of pride will inhibit Americans growth if everyone is taught only our greatest successes, leaving out our failures.
Education is the key to enlightening the human race. It is the ultimate weapon in the war against ignorance.
Some of the books on the judge's reading list
I think everyone should give some of these a read
- "The Color Purple," Alice Walker
- "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway
- "Night," Elie Wiesel
- "The Crucible," Arthur Miller
- "The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini
- "A Thousand Splendid Suns," Khaled Hosseini
- "Black Boy," Richard Wright
- "The Help," Kathryn Stockett
- "The Handmaid’s Tale," Margaret Atwood
- "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee
- "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou