In Florida, a bill before the legislature would bar any history that causes anyone to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.” Texas banned teaching critical race theory, a collegiate concept insisting that racism is manifested, not only in individuals, but in the structures and laws of society (which, spoiler alert, it is). School boards and state legislatures across the country are going after curricula and library shelves, banning books and passing laws that curtail the teaching of America’s tragic and glorious racial history. It comes at a time when the teaching of Black history is under assault from relentless Republican nationalism. It’s February, Black History Month, not a moment too soon. Anyone looking around our nation right now would be justified in thinking, “Yup. I prefer its power to build empathy, because without understanding each other, without the unity that can follow, we are lost. Alone, a human being eats berries from a bush and sleeps in a cave. To emphasize our commonality, which is the only way things get done. Why bother? To explain our world and draw us closer together as people. The facts of history sit there, and it is up to each generation to fit them together and puzzle out what they mean.

Gwendolyn brooks about race