Letters for Feb. 13, 2023
American history includes Black history
Eugene Robinson’s (Washington Post) essay “American history cannot be fully understood without Black history” (Feb. 6) is a profound and brief summary of what is all too often overlooked and ignored; if not deliberately shoved under the rug.
As a white octogenarian I can attest that nothing like the history Robinson’s essay summarizes was taught in my public high school in northern Ohio. I hope this history is broadly, or at least partially, addressed in our present-day public schools. My suspicion is that it is not; particularly as conservative elements of our society infiltrate positions of political authority and school and library boards.
It is only in the last decade or two, as a result of my own renewed sensitivity, that I have gained a greater understanding and appreciation of these suppressed aspects of our nation’s history. And yet, recently I am more aware of efforts to suppress this history, particularly in schools. We need to do better.
History is a collection of factual information reflecting what has occurred in the past. Any effort to filter or selectively screen what appears in a recounting of history … is not history. Rather it is propaganda by a few to influence the many. I believe we will not advance as a caring and understanding society until the vast majority truly recognizes and accepts where we have been.
Thomas Mosher
Spokane
Speak up to make a difference
Bret Stephens, questions how President Biden will be remembered in the future, and his answer is foreign policy (“Biden’s entry in history books hinges on how crises end, not how he managed them,” Feb. 4).
Millions of Americans who were lifted out of poverty by the expanded Child Tax Credit are hoping it will be that this president cut poverty in half. The question is: Will the expanded Child Tax Credit be renewed and once again cut child poverty in half? Will a renter’s tax credit be added to curb the slide to homelessness that is plaguing our country?
These ladders out of poverty can pass if voters raise their voices. President Biden could be remembered for both cutting poverty and his successful foreign policy. What say you, Americans?
Willie Dickerson
Snohomish, Washington