Today I learned the truth.
Actually, I learned a new truth.
It’s weird to say that, because it implies there are multiple versions of the truth. Are there? This has been a topic of debate long before this blog post.
There are different perspectives. But “reality” and “truth” are so definite, it’s hard to know if there are different versions of them.
I can’t confidently say.
But what I know for sure is that knowledge plays a role in truth. “Truth” becomes more clear with more information. There are definitive facts about history that I know to be true, but if I am introduced to more information, what I know to be true may change. Education doesn’t change facts. But the facts I know change with education.
When I visited the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama in November 2024, I was introduced to more facts about our nation’s history. I had learned about slavery and segregation in school, then studied it some on my own. But what struck me while visiting these sites was the legalization of oppression. These tragedies of our nation’s history were legal.
You may be reading this already knowing this truth. But I didn’t.
I grew up in Illinois, in the Land of Lincoln! I knew about slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation. I also knew about Juneteenth, and how the information of freedom didn’t get shared appropriately–a new truth finally replaced with an old one two years late.
I grew up in Illinois, the political home of Barack Obama! Before he was our nation’s president, he was a State Senator and U.S. Senator. Although I grew up in rural farmland with little diversity in my town, I saw a variety of political viewpoints.
I grew up in Illinois, visiting Chicago often enough to see different cultures be embraced! I grew up in Illinois, which was on the winning side of the Civil War! Sure, I saw redlining, but I thought this was an outcome of long-term systemic oppression. I thought this was a result of previous segregation.
In Montgomery I learned a new truth. It wasn’t just an accident or by happenstance. It was by design. It was written into law.
Oppression was written into law.
It’s been just about 100 days since I learned this truth and I’m still digesting it. And as new laws are being made, I’m seeing oppression be legalized again. There are a variety of diverse perspectives on this truth. But it is a definite reality.
Today I learned the truth. I learned a new truth that I can’t unlearn.
And I’m sharing this truth with you.
