How to Resolve the Woke Divide
The woke divide, the result of a deep education divide, must be resolved without delay. It has already lasted too long, to the detriment of national serenity, our social and political unity. While the divide between the well educated and the less educated cannot be eliminated overnight, some clarifications would quickly reduce the social and political enmity caused by the wokeness movement. In any case, it is essential to immediately start addressing the educational divide, which is caused by all too many mediocre public schools with their deficient curriculums.
The fact is that most of the visceral opposition to the wokeness movement comes from the less educated, those who feel threatened by the movement. Well-educated citizens do not feel threatened, though they may disagree with parts of the wokeness agenda and ideology.
What is problematic for many citizens, even the well educated, is that the wokeness movement asserts that current inequality of a large segment of our Black citizenry derives mainly from the decades of slavery up till the Civil War, and that reparations are due. The problem with demand for reparations is that it is based on generational guilt, a discredited biblical institution violative of human rights, apart from the reality that no living Americans ever participated in slavery, and that the great majority of Americans descend from ancestors who were not involved with slavery. The ancestors of many Americans were not even living in the United States during the times of slavery. In fact, the percentage of living Americans descending from post Civil War immigrants is very high. As for direct descendants of slave owners, there are very, very few.
The woke movement also claims that the economy of the United States was built on slavery, which is false. The only sector involved with slavery was agriculture in the southeastern states. Furthermore, the American economy was mainly built during the years of industrialization, which took place after the abolition of slavery. Claims that the industrialization following the Civil War was mainly financed by former slave owners are also false.
Another big problem with the woke movement is that it totally disregards the fact that 360,000 mostly White Union soldiers died in the Civil War, fighting to free the South from slavery. Surely, that fact militates against any blanket condemnation of Whites.
Unfairly, the woke movement focuses on blaming exclusively American Whites for America’s past of slavery, as if they were the originators of the institution of slavery. Whereas, the origins of institutionalized slavery reside in biblical times, thousands of years ago. In fact, it is the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, which institutionalized and validated slavery with the laws of Moses. As for the New Testament, Jesus only mentioned slavery in order to explain what would happen to disobedient slaves, not to criticize the institution of slavery (v. the Gospel of Matthew).
Crucially, from the founding of the United States through the Civil War, the great majority of Americans were Christians who believed in the Bible. Had Jesus called for the abolition of slavery, just as he had called for the abolition of divorce, there would never have been slavery in the United States. But Jesus did not criticize slavery, thereby endorsing it. How logical is it to blame 18th and 19th Century Christian Americans for believing slavery was not an abomination, since it was approved by God, Moses, and Jesus? Can modern morality be expected of Southerners living prior to the end of the Civil War in 1865 and believing in the Bible? How to explain that the majority of American slaves also believed in the Bible, the very cause of their being enslaved?
However, the wokeness movement is correct to underline the ongoing racial discrimination in our country, even though it is much less than even just forty years ago. And it is correct to desire that economic and social inequality due to racism be eliminated. The way to achieve that is not through reparations as such, with the implication of White American guilt, but through providing educational equality at a very high level to all American youths, meaning that every single American public school has to be truly excellent, as good as the best private schools. Educational equality at a high level is not just a racially inspired goal. It is a goal serving the interests of our entire nation, guaranteeing economic and social prosperity.
What is generally not understood, tragically for our nation, is how to ensure that our public schools are truly excellent, for every single youth. The only way to achieve that goal is to run all public schools according to the formula of the best private schools: strict class discipline; lots of homework and study hall; school uniforms (“dressing the part” is essential); individual assistance for students having academic or psychological difficulties; and a truly enlightened curriculum.
An enlightened high school curriculum is of crucial importance, one which provides a broad “liberal arts” education, beyond the basics of English and the sciences, since many youths do not go on to college and many college graduates have only a narrow education, focused on their profession. It is important to realize that just having a law degree, or business degree, or medical degree does not make one well educated in the broad sense. A narrowly focused education is not sufficient to be a well-informed person, or even to enjoy life fully.
To ensure broadly educated and psychologically well-adjusted youths, the high school curriculum should include the following four-year courses: 1) psychology (taught in conjunction with group therapy and good parenting workshops); 2) detailed, analytic 20th Century world history; 3) economics/finance/investing; 4) history of art/architecture/design; 5) history of music; 6) the United Nations’ Charter and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights along with the world history of human rights violations; 7) comparative religion studied through direct, analytic readings of the holy books along with the history of the major religions; 8) logic, critical thinking, and media literacy with case histories; 9) ethics and empathy with case histories; 10) introductory and Constitutional law; 11) Latin; 12) foreign languages/culture; 13) the major mistakes in economic, social, and foreign policy of the past 100 years in the USA, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and which would have been the correct policies. The courses would strictly steer away from propaganda and be objective, not shying away from any justified criticisms of the USA.
Having such a curriculum would lead to the end of all violations of human rights, all racism and other illegal discriminations, such as gender, sexual, and religious discrimination; to the practical end of violence (including gun violence), abuse, and cruelty of all sorts; to an enormous reduction in the number of mentally disturbed citizens; to the end of widespread addiction; to the end of poverty; to the end of acute political divisiveness; to much lower taxes; to much better economic policy; to much better foreign policy; to a socially and economically prosperous nation, committed to democracy, human rights, and civility. Eliminating the educational divide is essential for natural, spontaneous integration, as opposed to forced integration, which has been problematic.
The point is, we can and should achieve the valid goals of the wokeness movement by immediately implementing logical and fair policies, without unfairly blaming living Whites for the abomination of slavery. Providing a truly excellent public school education benefits all American youths, is essential for real equal opportunity, and for economic and social prosperity. It’s the best investment we can make by far. It’s hard to understand why we have not made all our public schools truly excellent since 1965, when Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the War on Poverty. It should have been the priority then. It should be now. It’s the solution for most of our problems.
© Edward Sonnino 2023
February 10, 2023
