A Hidden History

Ideally, history teaches us about the past, enabling us to gain perspective on what came before and learn lessons so that we don't make the same mistakes over and over again, ad infinitum. While recent history underscores the fact that we are not apt students, even the small chance of taking instruction from the past is not possible when some history is purposely hidden, obscured, or minimized. 

That is precisely what happened with the race massacres that occurred in the United States starting around 1916 and culminating in the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. I have to admit that I only learned of the latter when viewing HBO's Watchmen, which begins with that event.

I just finished watching Rise Again: Tulsa and The Red Summer, a National Geographic documentary that, in my view, should be required viewing in high schools throughout the U.S. as part of their history courses. In it, students would learn not only about the Tulsa Massacre but also the myriad ones that preceded it in places as diverse as Washington D.C., Elaine Arkansas, and New York City. It is precisely this kind of access to knowledge that Ron DeSantis in Florida is trying to make illegal.

Here is the trailer for the film, which I cannot recommend highly enough.