Gen Z Has a History Lesson Problem
When history, arts, and the humanities are no longer taught, the wheel of history repeats travesty
When the HBO miniseries Watchmen released, social media exploded with discussions about the portrayal of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in its opening sequence. As a native born Oklahoman, I found myself surprised the world was aloof to incident. Growing up in Oklahoma, you learned about the massacre from a very young age, as it was part of our course curriculum in elementary school.
Back in the 1980s and 90s, we called the incident “The Tulsa Race Riots” because I’m certain they wanted to sanitize it a little for younger minds and erase some of our white guilt. But if you grew up in the Tulsa area, you knew about the massacre. This was why North Tulsa stayed predominantly black, and the majority of Oklahomans regarded the event as a collective blemish on our state’s history, much like the Trail of Tears that forced Native Americans into Oklahoma that we also studied.
My best friend at the time was a black kid named Cedric. I remember coming home upset and confused, asking my mom why people from the past killed men and women with different skin tones. All kids notice color and race despite what well-intentioned parents’ remark about kids being “colorblind.” Hell, my mom…
