The manipulation of history and spread of propaganda causes historical trauma to spread in many communities - such as African American, Native American, Latin American, Asian American communities. Historical trauma is the mental damage done to these communities that spreads through many generations. When the truth isn’t taught in history about the oppression towards these communities this represents the ignorance of White America. The ignorance of White America happens when they ignore or underestimate the struggles People of Color went through which is a form of oppression itself. Ignorance and power shields White America from awful mistakes so that they can easily hide from racism in the past, present, and future as long as they ignore it. This method applies to White America’s reaction to the truth of history. White America hiding from the oppression they did to People of Color represents why they choose to manipulate history.
Carter G Woodson warned people about how history could be manipulated by a small group of people to take advantage of and gain power over others. He warned, “The oppressor has always indoctrinated the weak with his interpretation of the crimes of the strong.” In many ways his perspective is similar to that of WEB DuBois (1935) when he stated:
It is propaganda like this that has led men in the past
to insist that history is “lies agreed upon”; and to point
out the danger in such misinformation. It is indeed
extremely doubtful if any permanent benefit comes
to the world through such action. Nations reel and
stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes;
they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and
beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by
telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?
When Woodson refers to “the oppressor” he means those with power and when he talks about “the weak” he is referring to the followers of ‘the strong’ who don’t have any real power or influence. Woodson’s quote also refers to issues of race and racism. The oppressor and the weak can be seen in current events such as how some states try to manipulate the study of history in schools. Their dishonest history manipulates the past so students don't have a real understanding of racism. In the study of history the oppressor wants to hide or ignore certain facts while encouraging others to carry the torch of ignorance to use against a range of People of Color across America. This manipulation and ignorance has had a horrible impact on African American, Native American, Latin American, and Asian American communities. When White America maintains their ignorance and innocence this causes generational trauma causing racism to spread. The weak also represents the young white students who simply don’t know better but are being taught the “propaganda” and “lies agreed upon” that DuBois mentions. It is easy to brainwash one who doesn’t know better. This reflects how discrimination and racism spread through educating the weak with ignorance and aggression towards certain groups of people.
When the young and the weak get older and gain power they freak out when people of color question or don’t follow the ignorant standards the weak have been taught and set up by the powerful. By manipulating the ignorant ,the oppressors can then react harshly when People of Color choose not to follow the rules White America had set for them. The oppressor can then encourage White America to flip out.
In The Fire Next Time James Baldwin says, “the power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world’s definitions.” (p. 69). He means that White America is threatened when they see someone with a different ethnicity or race break the rules and standards they set for them. When talking about White America I’m specifically referring to white individuals who didn’t want an African American, Native American, Latin American, and Asian American to succeed. The Black Panthers, a community organization I examined recently, were an example of a group of African Americans who defended themselves against the “norms” that were placed for them in society. They followed Malcom X’s Ideology that it will take whatever is necessary to stop this racism and discrimination from spreading if it takes violence it takes violence. Rather than Martin Luther King’s Ideology of using peace to solve this issue. Emerging out of Oakland CA in the mid 1960’s they aimed to stop police brutality against African Americans with armed self defense. They did things such as sending legally armed teams to observe police activity in black neighborhoods in response to an unarmed black kid getting shot by the police. White America was threatened by that so much that the FBI attempted to disrupt their newspaper distribution and then the entire Black Panther Party. .
White America didn’t like seeing communities of the other America unite together and fight against the limits they were placed under. In Native America the Landback movement is a prime example of fighting against the standards set for them by re establishing their control of their land, culture, and food. The 1968 East LA school walkouts represent a milestone when Latin Americans fought for equal education in response to them getting segregated into these overcrowded schools. Last but not least the development of the new Chinatown was an example when White America purposely destroyed old Chinatown to move Chinese Americans out by building a train station. Instead of moving out these people gathered making a community of businesses that allowed them to establish a living where they choose not to follow the rules White America set for them. These various groups and events represent that the other America won’t back down no matter what rules are set against them.
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