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Kansans have a proud history, and we can withstand an honest look at our mistakes

I am a proud Kansan. I love my home state. I love being surrounded by rolling Flint Hills in the area of Kansas where I currently live. I love the high plains and arid desert quality of Southwest Kansas where I grew up. I love looking out over miles upon miles of agricultural fields that stretch across northwest Kansas. I love the bluffs and beauty of southeast Kansas. Like many, I am proud of Kansas today and I am proud of our history. Related to that history, I am proud to say that our state was founded and admitted to the Union as a free state.

I also recognize that parts of our state have not always been open to and accepting of those of all races, especially Black Americans. For example, I lived for a few years in Atchison, which was founded by pro-slavery people from Missouri trying to influence voters to enter the Union as a slave state in accordance with the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Up until last year, there was a street in Atchison called Division Street. What’s in a name? Over time, the street was a barrier — a division — between the Black and white community (north of the street was reserved for white people, and south for Black people).

While I don’t think Atchison is a racist community today, the stains of racism continued to be seen daily as people drove, biked or walked the city’s streets. Changing that name to Unity Street is a sign of progress, but for years to come, many people will still recall Division Street. It is not as easy to erase a memory as it is to change a sign.

Another example of these stains from the past can be seen in Johnson County’s Negro Creek. Again, what’s in a name? Here we have another example of the sad history of slavery, racism and violence that can be observed today in the creek’s name and history. Perhaps it’s time to begin erasing that name, too, despite knowing the memory of its history will persist.

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Erasing — that’s an interesting action for our consideration. Remember erasing pencil marks on your old notebook paper? Did you ever get all the lead off the page? Like the pages of a Big Chief notebook filled with pencil lines and attempts to erase our mistakes, markings of the past are virtually impossible to erase and end up in the very fiber of our culture and systems. Many of the theories that some people are lumping together under the name “critical race theory” — an umbrella term for several thoughts and theories that originated in the 1970s — share the ways our previous actions continue to impact those of the future. Sound unreasonable?

I don’t know enough about critical race theory to say whether I agree with it — or any of multiple overlapping theories, to be more accurate. I do know enough to question the banning of their inclusion within age-appropriate curriculum in our schools, though.

Like so many other theories and ideas — such as evolution, for example — it’s difficult for me to see the value of banning the teaching and discussion of intellectual concepts with age-appropriate audiences, however controversial they may be. Rather, I tend to agree with the sentiment that banning the teaching of something such as an inquisitive look at racial inequities in our past is in and of itself an example of systemic bias — a system that squelches dialogue and the exploration of diverse ideas.

To me, limiting thought does not lead to the best of who we are and who we can become. Learning requires critical thinking, and critical thinking occurs only when we are challenged with diverse opinions as we pursue a quest for truth. This dialogue may be scary and can evoke fear. However, knowledge, understanding and truth will prevail if we allow learning, debate and dialogue to occur.

I’m reminded that at one time, the ideas of freedom and liberty were scary, and those in power twisted them to elevate fear among their fellow elites in an effort to retain influence among the few, versus sharing it with a broader population.

Allowing the teaching of the radical ideas of philosophers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau worked out pretty well for the United States. I hope we don’t allow a political hot-button issue like the fear of an honest look at our history to be used as a tactic to divide us in an effort to secure partisan votes, while diverting attention from work we could be doing to advance our communities and better serve all Americans in the future.

Tyler Curtis spent 20 years in education as a teacher and principal. He served as assistant vice president for University Advancement at Emporia State University. He now works for the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation.