First, CRT. CRT may be very sophisticated scholarship not taught at the high school level, but it is taught in universities that train teachers, and those teachers teach our kids. Furthermore, CRT affects the rest of us, as it has influenced the writings of Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DeAngelo, among others. Dr. Hoffman may disagree with me, but I believe there is good evidence that in many public schools across America, as a result of thinkers like Kendi and DeAngelo, our children are being taught that whiteness is bad, that it always equals unearned privilege, that white children should be ashamed of their whiteness and that they should make up for the crimes of their ancestors. The end result of such indoctrination of our children is to divide us into tribes, each with grievances towards the other tribe; i.e., tribalism. Read about what happened in Bosnia or Rwanda in the 1990s to see where tribalism leads.

Second, the Tulsa Race Massacre. Absolutely shameful, despicable. But I am surprised, Dr. Hoffman, that a man with a doctorate just learned about it in the last year or so. You must not be from Oklahoma. Had you been an Oklahoman, you would be pleased to know that your state formed a commission in 1996 (25 years ago) to study the massacre, and its 2001 report led to reparations for survivors, economic investment in the Black neighborhood that was destroyed, and creation of a park in memory of the victims. Furthermore, Oklahoma has required the teaching of the massacre in its public schools since 2002 (19 years ago).

Third, and finally, I want to tell of my own public school history-learning experience that differs from Dr. Hoffman’s. I do not know how old Dr. Hoffman is, or where he grew up, but I’m 64 years old, and I grew up in Dalton, Georgia. In middle school, I went on a field trip to New Echota, Georgia, the capital of the Cherokee Nation prior to the Removal by the man on the $20 bill. This would have been in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I’ll never forget that day in New Echota: the courtroom, the legislature building, and the shop where the Cherokee Phoenix, was printed. I remember my teachers gave me a very sobering account of what happened in 1838. A good, noble, civilized people had their lands stolen by greedy white people — that is what I was taught. I don’t recall any sugar-coating — and this at a public school in the heart of Dixie only a few years after integration.

Yes, history is complicated. And someone is going to tell it and may tell it accurately, or inaccurately, or to deceive, or for filthy lucre, or self-aggrandizement, or foolishly, or wisely. May we try to listen to one another, and learn from one another, realizing that we are flawed human beings.

Steven Snowden Crider

Waynesville