Educators, Scholars, and Lawyers Team Up to Fill Gaps in History Books
A diverse group of educators, scholars, and lawyers are working on a new resource to fill an important gap in history textbooks about the racist roots of capital punishment. “The way history is taught sends clear messages to young people about who belongs in society and who does not. In the case of Black Americans, the erasure of their lived experiences from history lessons can suggest that their lives are somehow less valuable than their other ethnic groups. By contrast, sharing clear and accurate information about their experiences can be emancipatory and liberating when such history lessons contextualize our strivings for racial uplift and social progress,” said DeLeon Gray, who is serving as an idea partner with the Racist Roots design team.
Such exposure positions education systems to move away from teaching that leads to failed citizenship and toward teaching that leads to transformative citizenship. According to Banks (2017), failed citizenship is the perception that one is structurally excluded from the nation to which they are citizens, and have not political efficacy. Transformative citizenship is the active practice of exercising liberties and pressing towards societal change that is consistent with human rights.
The Racist Roots curriculum positions our young people as transformative citizens by providing an in-depth look into our problematic criminal punishment system, with a special emphasis on the weaponization of the death penalty. Students learn parts of our country’s history that have been silenced and distorted, and are positioned as change agents. Although the topic can seem heavy and difficult at first, having conversations about who is harmed and who benefits from policies serves as a foundation for creating a more equitable and humane tomorrow.
About the Racist Roots Project: Racist Roots is a project of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, in collaboration with scholars, advocates, historians, artists, poets, and people directly affected by the death penalty. It aims to place North Carolina’s modern death penalty within the context of 400 years of history and to expose its deep entanglement with the aims of white supremacy. This project is the result of more than a year of research, writing, and relationship building. Read about their sources. Listen as CDPL communications staffer Kristin Collins explains the goal of CDPL’s Racist Roots project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty-HHXLRm0c