Jenny Smith
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I wrote a letter that was published last week asking if the GOP had been hijacked. I made an omission of a word in one of my statements. I wrote, "Attorney General Eric Schmidt is the black knight battling 'evil' COVID vaccinations." I failed to add the word, "mandates." Attorney General Eric Schmitt is fighting vaccine mandates. Nonetheless, he is fighting to preserve our personal freedom to spread the virus to other people. Never mind, other vaccine mandates such as for measles, mumps, polio and rubella are OK. And never mind it is the unvaccinated who are giving this virus the opportunity to spread, mutate and to keep our global economy in upheaval.
I also mentioned critical race theory in my letter. It was just a passing mention of how unhinged the GOP is when it comes to cultural issues. They make up things to rile up their base. Have some educators taken training on CRT? It appears so. Is it a part of Missouri's high school curriculum? It appears not. As for CRT, I think we all want our children taught history. If they learn about slavery, the Civil War, the failure of reconstruction, Jim Crow laws ... is that OK? What about the Tulsa race riot in the Black neighborhood of Greenwood, Oklahoma? Or how most of the Black World War II veterans were denied the benefits of the GI bill compared to white people?
Slavery was obvious oppression, but even after emancipation, Black families had many obstacles getting educations, jobs, loans, and housing and therefore, generation after generation, had no family wealth to pass on to their children creating generational poverty. Is this not relevant history? Even today, we see the ripple effects of this oppression.
Should our children not be aware of these facts? What about the obliteration of the Native American culture? Shouldn't that be covered in the history books?
Some of the CRT opponents can't even tell you what CRT is. They seem to think white children are being taught to hate themselves. Or maybe they truly believe Black people are not and have never been oppressed.
Maybe, it is more of how Black history is taught, rather than if it is taught. This is about patriotism, love of this country and learning from our mistakes. History needs to be told, the good, the bad and the ugly.