Dunigan, Jonece Starr. “The Consequences of Whitewashing Black History.” Al, 1 Mar. 2019, www.al.com/news/2019/03/the-consequences-of-whitewashing-black-history.html.

 

In this article, the author, Jonece Dunigan, talks about how many of the legacies of the civil rights movement leaders, such as, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, are cherry-picked and more times than not leave information out. Dunigan points out that their images are watered-down to fit homes comfortably and become symbols of love and unity. When in fact they challenged white supremacy in uncomfortable and harsh ways. Dunigan points out some of the revolutionary people that contributed to the civil rights movement yet their name still is unknown in many places. People know of Rosa Parks as the woman that assisted of the end of segregation by refusing to go to the back of the bus, but rarely anyone knows about her investigating the sexual assaults and rapes of black women by white men years before she refused to give up her seat. The author also talks about the erasure of the groundbreaking existence of black gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members such as, Bayard Rustin, who was left out of history books due to his sexuality and homophobia he received from both white and black activist.

 

I completely agree with this article and think more people should know of this information, not only does it affect black people but also many minorities alike. Dunigan says, “These stories may be uncomfortable to hear, but are necessary to recognize so we can stop the cycle of hate.” Without discomfort, there will never be change if these watered-down stories keep getting passed down to generations people will never want to change anything, because why would you want to change something that is not broken, right? Telling people stories of how black women would get raped by white men because they knew they would face no consequences would cause people to become uncomfortable. However “People ought to be uncomfortable.” I will need to delve into regarding any of the people mentioned to make sure I do not forget about their contributions. If I can ask the author one question it would be, What motivates you to do journalism?

 

Jonece Dunigan is an active African American reporter for Birmingham News, she has a very tenacious and strong tone which can be heard throughout this article. She has published many similar articles in which she tackles issues of racism and activism which makes her aware of the target audience and is well informed about the topics she talks about.

Some of the quotes that stood out to me were

“We honor the image we made of Parks, but silenced the context of the racist interrogation she fought against.”

“When we don’t face the epidemic of racial injustices in our state’s and country’s past, it is bound to infect our future.”