Ikard, David. “The Real Story of Rosa Parks — and Why We Need to Confront Myths about Black History.” TED, Mar. 2018, www.ted.com/talks/david_ikard_the_real_story_of_rosa_parks_and_why_we_need_to_confront_myths_about_black_history.

In this TED talk, David Ikard, an African-American and culture studies professor, talks about his experience with his kids being taught whitewashed facts/ incorrect information about African American historical figures through the educational system. Elijah, his son, tells him what he learned about Rosa Parks at school, Elijah tells him that she was an old woman who had tired feet and that was the reason she refused to give up her seat. Ikard knowing that this information is wrong was not too impressed by what his son just said. Ikard tells his sons what Rosa Parks was actually like and tells him that he would buy him her autobiography so that he actually knows the real history of the events. Ikard then realizes that he has to go address this issue with Elijah’s teacher which he was not too enthusiastic about, then Elijah suggests an idea. He says that his school gave him a public speaking assignment and that he would like to take that chance to talk about this issue. When Ikard asks Elijah how it went he says that the teacher pulled him aside afterward and apologized, and the next day she decided to make a new lesson about rosa parks and fill the gaps she had left from the other lesson. Ikard was proud of his son but when he thought about it he got really angry because a nine-year-old should not be thinking about correcting and teaching his teacher about his own culture and instead he should be enjoying his childhood. He then talks about an incident that happened with his professor in graduate school, his professor had written a book about an event that happened in the 1960s. In the professor’s story, he talks about his maid which he saw crying because they had just assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. In the professor’s story he tells the maid that King’s death might actually lead to a good outcome, the morale of his story was that “even in the most harrowing times of race struggle that two people could come together across racial lines.” Ikard calls out the professor and asks him a couple of questions about the maid which the professor is unable to answer, then Ikard gets to his point saying that this story was not about the maid it was about the professor, that this story made the professor feel good thus he included it and that it was actually a misread situation.

David Ikard’s ted talk was very eye-opening and had a lot of good points in it. I agree with what he talked about especially his son’s experience with the educational system which fails to teach us important parts of history or tends to leave out parts or misinform students. “The only thing that she was tired of was she was tired of inequality. She was tired of oppression.” Here Ikard points out the true motive behind Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, unlike what some textbooks teach. If I could ask David Ikard a question I would ask him, what challenges does he face when talking about such issues?

David Ikard is very knowledgeable and he tries to reach a more general audience who may not relate to these issues, he tries to reach them because although they may not relate to the issue them knowing about these issues and trying to change them is important and it will affect their future and their kids’ future as well.

“my nine-year-old son had to educate his teacher about his history, had to educate his teacher about his own humanity.”

“young, radical black women who don’t take any stuff from anybody are very scary, who stand up to power and are willing to die for that — those are not the kind of people that make us comfortable.”