Civil Rights

The more I learn about this country’s history, the more I learn about its celebrated heroes and holidays, the more I learn about hidden heroes whose stories haven’t been widely told and about historical events that haven’t been widely celebrated, the more I feel robbed. With each passing year, I have been quietly grappling with my growing frustration over the chasm between the aspirational ideals of the United States of America and its reality. How can we rid our future of this systemic racism if we can’t stop romanticizing and glorifying and glossing over the past? How can we confront the realities of our present systems if we can’t be honest about how they came to be? There are many interpretations of history, but certain narratives dominate. And these dominant narratives perpetuate racist systems.