To Bear Witness or Reckon

History may indeed judge or deliver the sentences of those we see standing on the wrong side of justice today, but the true bill and indictment are already in hand. The forceful push, by some, to distance themselves and our nation from the insurrection at the center of the lens across news networks is telling—but it is a tale as old our nation itself. The push to see our current events get relegated to the category of history—perfectly packaged so that Pearson can assess it neatly with 3 two-part questions--reveals that many of us never learned what to do when history is happening in front of us. History when it’s happening in front of us is simply: news. And, unfortunately, the way history is taught to be handled—too often as the result of our obsession with standardized testing and the desire to see ourselves as the heroes of history—does not require what the handling of news requires.

Our current approach to history only requires that an individual be able to bear witness, or put simply, repeat those things seen and said, simply selecting between A through D. There is no requirement that we reckon. In order to reckon, you must examine your personal connection the things you see in your news and our history. We cannot be One Nation when it is convenient and pull the thread that binds our corner to the larger quilt when the discomfort of reckoning with ourselves becomes too much.

Once you have learned to reckon, your approach to history changes, because you cannot see history without seeing yourself—and rarely are we the hero. And you cannot see the present without examining your role in creating it. To know if history will convict us only requires that we honestly answer if we are on the side of justice today.

When you learn to reckon, you no longer only focus on the mob surrounding Elizabeth Eckford on her way into Little Rock Central High School; you move to include the mob that surrounded her at the ballot box before that by electing officials who supported the denial of her rights.

So, in this moment, where history is happening before us, we cannot allow those who stormed the Capitol from the safety of the ballot box not to reckon. We cannot avoid asking ourselves if we were among those who stormed it from there.