Recent Thoughts on The Spiritual Dimension of the Study of History Part III

Recent Thoughts on 

The Spiritual Dimension of the Study of History

Part III

We live in a world with a twenty-four news cycle.  Sound bites dominate public discourse, most regrettably.  The cable news channels air myriad programs with celebrity announcers and guests who constantly and rudely interrupt each other.  Not surprisingly, very few, perhaps less than one percent, of the topics that are discussed are ever put in any historical context.  Major public policy makers and governmental officials attempt to resolve substantial societal challenges without any consideration of the underlying etiology of these political, social, economic and religious issues.  Unfortunately, armchair analysis and decision-making are the rotten fruit of glitzy cable news.

Four years ago, the U. S. Supreme Court again extended the constitutionality of affirmative action in collegiate and graduate school admissions decisions.  You may recall the numerous and vociferous, even cacophonous, calls for summarily ending this significant social, legislative, economic and academic policy of establishing fundamental fairness in all areas of the American marketplace.  None of the formidable critics of affirmative action bothered to explore the historical origins of the policy.  Further, they did not undertake either a quantitative or qualitative evaluation of this remedy to the longstanding racial discrimination and White supremacists notions that have undergirded historically American legislation, public policy and market trends. 

Several well respected historians and other academicians argue that contrary to popular belief that African-Americans have not been the primary beneficiaries of affirmative actions.  Instead, this initiative enables them to enter the mainstream of U. S. society as it relates to education, employment, enterprise and the emerging mosaic of diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds.  More significantly, the critics lacked any appreciation for the fact that affirmative action remains a modern iteration of the Reconstruction (1865 to 1877) plan of awarding Black Americans “forty acres and a mule” so that they could compete in commerce as emancipated persons.  How startling that such an important social policy would be eroded with such historical ignorance!

Entry level collegiate and graduate school courses usually begin with a recitation of the “great” achievers, theorists, thinkers and pragmatists in any given field.  You may recall the national, academic debates of the 1980s about the great canon of literature that all learned people should read and study.  Whether one accepts the existence of a canon in every discipline or not, one could reasonably argue that it would comprise a diverse list of authors inclusive of race, ethnicity, sex, creed, religion and national origin.  However, many students of color have to listen to a list that is disproportionately Anglo-American and European.  As a consequence, a potential crisis of monumental psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions ensues for students of color.  They ponder silently, “Have not my people contributed anything meaningful to this field of study?  Are we not great people too?”

Greatness in its many forms emerges fundamentally from a healthy and holistic spirituality.  A strong ego can only manufacture an external appearance of greatness.  Genuine excellence and superlative achievement are the natural outgrowth of divine creativity.  Hence, we hear the celestial inspiration of Duke Ellington, Whitney Houston, Kathleen Battle, Wynston Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson, Thomas Dorsey and countless other vocalists and musicians.  Divine imagination extends to fields beyond the fine and performing arts.  Consider the passion of Avon Williams, Sr., Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Carter G. Woodson, George Washington Carver, W. E. B. DuBois and many other historical luminaries within African-Americana who worked with godly energy to create a more just and equal society.  I contend that all of these persons acted from an inner spiritual core in which they accepted the divine approval of their African-American heritage. 

Again, the study of history greatly fosters self-acceptance and in turn self-love as one sees God’s embodiment of His talents, abilities and gifts in one’s forebears.  Realizing that God is not a respecter of persons, one knows that Almighty God has given one a comparable and uniquely suited set of personal gifts.