How History Gets Erased

It's happening right now.

Enslaved Black folks used to braid escape maps into their hair, sing songs with coded messages and signal warnings by passing candles behind cracks in their cabins. For Black Americans, for the sake of our lives, relaying information has traditionally prioritized accuracy and secrecy.

For white Americans, information has traditionally traveled a different path. Since the late 1600s, if a decision was made that affected your life, someone would seek it out, write it down, print it out and drop it on your doorstep before you even woke up. This path prioritizes speed and convenience, but not just convenience regarding time or effort. The relaying of white information has also prioritized a convenience of identity.

From an economy’s repeated attempts to return to the days of free labor to a democracy representing fewer and fewer of us each day, the problems this country faces stem from upholding white supremacy. Since discussion of white supremacy would inevitably lead to its undoing, the media is in a tough spot. The only way to maintain this supremacy, this convenience of identity, is to, well, leave out some stuff. But since the source of our problems is in that stuff, ‘round and ‘round we go.

Now, if you consider the old saying, “Journalism is the first draft of history,” it’s easy to see how our history can be erased before it’s even recorded. This is expected when it comes to right-wing media, but they don’t have the monopoly on historical erasure by omission. Those considered to be on the left do it, too, and because it’s contrary to expectations, there can be far worse consequences.

For example, Ezra Klein.

Warning: This facial expression guarantees no one will tell you when your fly is down.