Being Black is under attack again;
What’s Being Done?

By Cash Michaels

The cry from High Point College Republicans (HPCR) was compelling.

The university had cancelled their scheduled big movie event. They were allegedly receiving threats of violence from classmates because of it.

The HPCR say they just wanted to contribute to a peaceful atmosphere of dialogue and discussion on campus by sponsoring the film.

On the face of it, one would naturally feel sorry for these college students….that is until you dig deeper, and discover that their cancelled movie event was a film by black conservative firebrand Candace Owens titled “The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM (Black Lives Matter).”

The school reportedly cancelled the screening because the HPCR allegedly did not have the proper permission to publicly show it. It just came out last October.

The fact that conservative students at High Point University thought it would be fine to promote a controversial film that has the words “greatest lie,” “George Floyd” and “BLM” in its title, understandably upset and provoked some Black students on campus, thus the threats.

But that’s just indicative of some of the political attacks that continue to be made on the Black community by conservative politicians and opinion-makers seeking to gin up their base as we head towards the 2024 elections.

Indeed, what happened in 2020-21 is also instructive.

Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones was initially denied a tenured position in the UNC Hussman Journalism School because of her work with the award winning NY Times 1619 Project. Conservatives in Congress also sought to ban the teaching of the 1619 Project from the nation’s schools.

After losing his reelection, then President Donald Trump claimed unproven voter fraud mostly in Black voting areas of Georgia and Pennsylvania. When his efforts failed, on January 6, 2021, hundreds of pro-Trump white supremacist rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol, hoping to disrupt the certification of Trump’s loss, and overturn the election.

In the meantime, communities across the country were embroiled in heated debates over the teaching of critical race theory, a college-level course of study that many white parents were misled to believe was being taught to middle and high schoolers.

Those events set the predicate for today, where a legislative aide to NC House Speaker Tim Moore had to be terminated after his “pro-white” background was revealed; two school districts in Alabama canceled Black History Month activities that featured NY Times bestselling children’s author Derrick Barnes; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rumored 2024 Republican presidential hopeful, just prohibited the teaching of the Advance Placement African American studies course in his state, saying that it lacked educational value, and would indoctrinate, instead of educate students.

Civil rights Attorney Benjamin Crump, under the banner of “Stop the Black attack,” threatened to sue Gov. DeSantis and the state of Florida if he doesn’t allow the AP African American Studies course to be taught in Florida classrooms.

According to the Associated Press, “Florida is hoping its strict law regulating how race, gender, and sexuality are taught in school will soon be applied to students nationwide…”

Leon Russell, chairman of the national NAACP Board of Directors, called Gov. DeSantis’ actions the “politics of hatred and atheism,” adding, “We will not allow public officials to rip our part of American history out of textbooks, out of the classroom and out of the mouths of teachers.”

Black lawmakers in Congress also aren’t standing for the current onslaught on African-American people or their history.

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tx) reintroduced her “Leading Against White Supremacy Act,” which, if passed, would, “ prevent and prosecute white supremacy inspired hate crime and conspiracy to commit white supremacy inspired hate crime.”

Two of Jackson-Lee’s colleagues are demanding that African-American history not be diminished.

“Black history is American history, and it is under unprecedented attack,” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said after reintroducing a bill titled “the Black History is American History Act.” on Feb. 1st. “Black history is crucial to understanding the complexity of our nation’s past, present and future — not just slavery and civil rights. By incentivizing schools and educators to teach Black history in the classroom, we can all learn important lessons in our country’s ongoing journey toward creating a ‘more perfect Union’ for all Americans.”

“Black History is more important than ever,” echoed Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC-12) during remarks on the floor of the U.S. House February 1st. “If it weren’t so important, they wouldn’t try and stop us from teaching it.”

“We can’t afford to remove critical thinking from our curriculum,” Rep. Adams continued. “Our students won’t understand American history without understanding African American history - and those who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it. That is why this February, all Americans must recommit to teaching Black history in our homes, in our schools, in our churches, on TV, on Twitter, and yes, even in the halls of Congress.”

“We must be unafraid to “say Black” and teach our history and heritage,” Adams, who says she believes every month should be Black History Month, continued. “Because if we don’t remember The Greensboro Four, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, John Lewis, Hattie McDaniel, Frederick Douglass, Harriett and Dred Scott, Nat Turner, Harriett Tubman, and countless others, someday, somewhere, someone will have to endure what they endured to win yet again the rights and respect they fought for.”