BLACK HISTORY + EDUCATION

Is The ED Secretary Really Ignorant of Tulsa Race Massacre?

Or is this an example of weaponized incompetence

Postcard showing Greenwood burning, with the inscription: “Runing [sic] the Negro Out of Tulsa”

When it comes to anti-black racism, some White people claim they “see no evil, hear no evil,” and “speak no evil.” This state of incompetence shields them from the social expectation to participate in the conversation in earnest. It’s a strategy of evasion. Take, for instance, the congressional hearing in which U.S. Rep Summer Lee asked Education Secretary Linda McMahon whether lessons about historical events, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, and figures, such as Ruby Bridges, would be considered “illegal,” given the administration’s anti-DEI mandate. Rather than providing clarity, her response only served to muddy waters. McMahon seemed to know very little, if anything, about black history. Were this an official quiz in a class setting, it’s safe to say she would have failed. But it remains unclear whether she was genuinely unfamiliar with the content or feigned ignorance to dodge a discussion about the inclusion of these historical narratives.

Some doubted the Education Secretary was genuinely ignorant of black history. Markus Batchler, the political director for People for the American Way, said, “While pretending not to know who Ruby Bridges was or the impact of the…