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The True Citizen, Wednesday, February 23, 2022 — Page 5
Michael N. Searles
CRITICAL RACE THEORY PART ONE
Ronda Rich
WHO IS A STORYTELLER?
In 1986, President Ronald
Reagan stated that the nine
most terrifying words in the
English language were “I’m
from the government and I’m
here to help.” At an earlier
time, the three words that could
terrify an entire community
were “Nat Turner’s coming.”
This occurred after Nat Turn
er’s Rebellion in Southhamp
ton County, Virginia in August
1831. The Rebellion claimed
the lives between 55 and 65
people of whom about 51 were
white. While the Rebellion
was suppressed in a few days,
Nat Turner was not captured
until October 30,1831. During
that time the three words, “Nat
Turner’s Coming” could gen
erate wild confusion and fear
even if uttered by school chil
dren. Chicken Little caused
great havoc In the fictional
town of Oakey Oaks where cit
izens were thrown into a panic
when Chicken Little sounds
the school bell, proclaiming
the sky is falling. Leading the
town folk to the village square,
he claims that a piece of sky
shaped like a stop sign hit him
in the head. However, there
does not appear to be anything
there, except some acorns.
Chicken Little’s father, Buck
Cluck, assumes that maybe it
was just an acorn, and that his
son slightly exaggerated the
situation. Buck apologizes for
the ‘false alarm’ but the towns
folk are not as quick to forgive
Chicken Little. The story ends
on a more complicated note,
but it does indicate the power
of words.
Christopher L. Rufo is an
American conservative activ
ist and a senior fellow at the
Manhattan Institute and a
contributor to its magazine the
City Journal. Lrom being a
lesser known him documentar-
ian, writer and researcher, Rufo
seized upon critical race theory
and intentionally misused the
term to conflate various left-
wing race-related ideas to
create a negative association.
According to Rufo, "I am quite
intentionally redefining what
'critical race theory' means in
the public mind, expanding
it as a catchall for the new
racial orthodoxy. "The goal is
to have the public read some
thing crazy in the newspaper
and immediately think ‘criti
cal race theory.” Rufo’s plan
exceeded his imagination with
anything that suggested whites
had committed any offense
that injured blacks and other
people of color damaged white
youth with an unbearable bur
den of “guilt.” Ruby Bridges
as a 6-year-old at all-white
William Lrantz Elementary
School in New Orleans told
her own story in a children’s
book, Ruby Bridges Goes to
School: My True Story. The
story portrays the racism she
experienced with the integra
tion of the school. While the
book published in 2009 was
highly rated and praised, it was
labeled “critical race theory”
by conservative parents in
Tennessee who claimed that
its portrayal of an angry white
crowd treats white people too
harshly and doesn’t show them
being redeemed in the end.
One North Texas administrator
advised teachers if they had
books about the Holocaust in
their classrooms, they should
also include reading materials
that have “opposing” per
spectives of the genocide that
killed millions of Jews. Martin
Luther King Day will require
a little different presentation
within the acceptable param
eters of critical race theory.
Since no words can be recited
that might make a white child
feel guilty, only words that can
not offend such as “we should
not be judged by the color of
our skin, but by the content
of our character” will be ac
ceptable. Other words such as
“being thwarted
by “vicious rac- acc
ists” in places SEARLES,
“sweltering with 12
Almost everyone thinks
they’re a storyteller and that
there’s little to retelling some
thing seen or heard.
This is not true. Our unique
ways of telling stories are bom
in us. Believe this by watch
ing babies and toddlers in
how differently they express
themselves.
When my nephew, Rod’s
son, Tripp, was two, he visited
our house for a birthday party.
No sooner had he come in the
front door than absolute chaos
broke out. Mama - Tripp’s be
loved babysitter—dropped to
the floor from the power of an
aneurysm. My sister and I flew
into panicked reaction. She ran
to Mama. I called 911.
As the minutes dragged and
we waited for the ambulance,
I looked up the staircase. Lour
steps from the top, Tripp sat
with his hands folded in his lap.
He wasn’t upset. Yes, concern
was in his eyes but more than
concern was curiosity. He stud
ied every movement, watched
every tear that fell and listened
to each word uttered and the
desperate prayers pleaded.
At two, he was seeing the
first story he would ever tell
and, instinctively, he knew to
gather the words, actions and
emotions. He will remember
always. That day he learned
that to be a good storyteller is
to first recognize a good story.
I rise up from a family of
incredible storytellers. That’s
the Appalachians in us. The
Scotch-Irish.
If you join our family Sunday
dinner table, bring your best
game. You will be sitting in the
midst of people who are more
than award winning storytellers
— just about all of us have won
some award for storytelling
including 15-year-old Zoe who
won $50 for her essay on Veter
ans Day — we are passionate.
Just as Van Gogh chose care
fully the colors and textures he
painted, we choose carefully
the colorful imagery and the
textured language we use.
My husband, Tink, has been
nominated for numerous Em-
mys for primetime writing.
He won one. If you ever want
to see it, we’ll dig it out from
behind the fireplace tools but
we’ll have to wipe away the
firewood ash and dust. He’s
proud of the win but it also
set the bar higher so he works
every day to be better.
But come Sundays, around a
table of fried chicken, creamed
potatoes, biscuits, gravy and
okra, the winner of the most
prestigious storytelling award
of all, sits in quiet awe. He
often leans forward, his hands
folded tightly under the table
and listens intently as someone
regals.
It is with a certain amount
of pride that I offer this un
varnished truth: any one of 10
people can spill forward with a
captivating tale as we pass the
biscuits and black-eyed peas.
I’m trained, even educated
as a storyteller but family are
farmers and others are edu
cated in different fields. I’m
dramatic and bold with my
stories, as you probably expect.
The others, though, are gentler.
They tell their stories with
fetching lines, strong imagery
and compelling dialogue.
Softly, understatedly, they
begin to tell. It happened in
the hayheld. Or a Lriday night
football game. In the church
yard after Wednesday service.
And quite often in the funeral
home. The funeral home has
always been a source of stories
for my family.
The story will come from the
way the corpse died, or how
the family acted (or misacted)
or something a neighbor said
as he was passing
by on his way to the SEE
casket. RICH,
Never is a story
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