A few years ago when I was teaching American History and in a section on the Supreme Court and “famous cases” I actually read the dissent of John Marshall Harlan in the case of “Plessy vs. Ferguson.” One man dissented in a time when the Supreme Court routinely upheld Jim Crow laws on a unanimousContinue reading “The Great Dissenter”
Tag Archives: History
We just like being comfortable as white Christians
Tish Harrison Warren sets the framework of how Christians SHOULD handle history… and then exposes the horrible way in which we try to stay comfortable: We’re struggling now as a society with how to tell the truth about how white supremacy has shaped our history and institutions. Several states have recently passed laws against teachingContinue reading “We just like being comfortable as white Christians”
Learning from histories
I’ve been on a wonderful trip with our in-laws through Pennsylvania. Gettysburg. Lancaster. Philadelphia. As I’ve taken this trip, especially in Lancaster, PA, where James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens both resided, I’ve learned all over again it’s not about history. It is histories. We don’t get the the whole story a lot of the timeContinue reading “Learning from histories”
To sit and wonder
The past few days have been what I call “History Geek Week” for me. We have gone on a fantastic historical tour of Pennsylvania with my in-laws. One I’ve always wanted to do and this was a great opportunity. The first two days in Pennsylvania were spent in Gettysburg, then Lancaster area. Gettysburg is aContinue reading “To sit and wonder”
The illusion of being “pro-life”
For me, growing up in a conservative Christian environment and coming into voting age in the “Reagan Revolution” this is what I knew: It’s all about abortion. It’s all about being pro-life. Then, the narrator off to the side (who I didn’t hear at the time and wished to GOD he had been just aContinue reading “The illusion of being “pro-life””
A record must be left
This counts for so little, I know. But, in some dusty corner of the internet bin one day, may this record stand. The House hearing on the January 6 INSURRECTION is starting and this is the written testimony of one of the Capitol Police Officers. HERE. I won’t repost one of the more heartbreaking partsContinue reading “A record must be left”
History does indeed repeat itself
Read American history, You will seelaws being pushed now, legallyby those who spurn racialized realitymirror sins of their ancestryalmost exactly the same as 1963They curse(d) and kill(ed) Black people and POCCreatively justify bigotryCalling selves Christians-oh really? — Marlena Proper Deida Graves (@MarlenaGraves) July 21, 2021
To repent, To change…
While the violence in Tulsa was stunning, American history is littered with examples of street battles, racist uprisings, and mass killings. The history of the 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, massacre and coup, in which a racist mob overthrew the city government, is its own category of chilling. So is the Rosewood Massacre. The list goesContinue reading “To repent, To change…”
What to do when your legislature doesn’t want you to teach Critical Race Theory
The new boogey man of current culture wars, because we always need culture wars to keep winning elections, is Critical Race Theory. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry about. Take comfort in this: neither does your state legislature and THEY want to ban it in classrooms. (NOTE: This is referring to RepublicanContinue reading “What to do when your legislature doesn’t want you to teach Critical Race Theory”
Apprentice 2 Jesus 