Teaching our history truthfully: Reflections from a participant in the Absalom Jones Celebration
In the months following the death of George Floyd, an extraordinary level of self-scrutiny and repentance unfolded among groups of white Americans, including many in our churches who took part in the Episcopal Church’s Sacred Ground explorations of the history of race relations in America. But a major backlash is gaining power, including bills introduced in the Ohio legislature to ban teaching of “divisive content” in public schools, universities, and agencies. I’ve been reporting for over a year on this dynamic, from the pressures that forced two members to resign from the state school board to harassment in local school board meetings.
This issue came up with grief during last Saturday’s Absalom Jones conference sponsored by the Bishop Herbert R. Thompson, Jr. Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians. Participants spoke of the importance of our churches as a safe space to convey the fullness of our collective experience as Americans and to affirm the dignity and contributions of African-Americans, which was the heart of the 1619 Project led by New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones.
In that light, I would like to share the Feb. 19 “Letter from an American” by Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson because of its power and timeliness for our shared work of Becoming Beloved Community. Teling truth is essential to repairing the breach. Starting by documenting how the new AP African-American history curriculum was indeed purged of references to systemic racism, Professor Richardson shares harrowing examples of systemic racism throughout American history, including laws and Supreme Court decisions preventing Asians from becoming citizens or depriving them of their citizenship and excluding them from protection under the 14th Amendment. Please read it.
Thou Shall Not Kill: A Conversation with Sr. Helen Prejean about faith and the death penalty
The Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) is hosting a free webinar Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. with renowned advocate Sr. Helen Prejean and fellow panelists the Rev. Dr. Amariah McIntosh and Bishop Gregory Palmer. The OCC has been working diligently for years to end the death penalty in Ohio. Register here.
A Conversation with Retired Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor
The Woman’s City Club of Cincinnati will host Judge O’Connor in a Zoom forum on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. O’Connor will describe the unending struggle last year between the Ohio Supreme Court and the Redistricting Commission over new district maps, and new efforts underway to amend Ohio’s constitution again to better protect voters from partisan gerrymandering. Register here.
State Legislature racing against citizen initiatives to amend state constitution
Members of the Ohio Legislature have re-introduced a resolution to require approval by 60% of voters for a citizen-sponsored constitutional amendment to pass. Now called HJR1, this comes as citizen groups are striving to get two amendments on the ballot: one to prevent partisan gerrymandering, and the other to make reproductive choice, including abortion, a protected right under the state constitution. Ohio’s constitution has allowed citizen initiatives for constitutional amendments to pass by a simple majority (50% + 1 vote) for more than a century.
Both sides are racing against the electoral clock. Part of the House Republican caucus is striving to get the 60% proposal on the November 2023 ballot. The coalition working to make reproductive choice a constitutional right is also trying to make it onto this year’s ballot. (Read more) Both sides face challenges. Getting a citizen-initiated amendment on the ballot requires the Secretary of State to approve the proposal’s wording, then the collection of hundreds of thousands of signatures (10% of the number who voted in the most recent Governor’s race). Finally the signatures must be verified by the Secretary of State.
In the Legislature, a bitter power struggle between the majority of House Republicans and the Speaker has stopped HJR1 from progressing to a vote. Rep. Jason Stephens won an upset victory as Speaker. By combining the votes of a minority of his party with the support of every Democrat, he supplanted Rep. Derrick Merrin (Monclovia Township) who had been selected by the party majority as Speaker-in-waiting. Last week Speaker Stephens announced his list of priority bills, and they did not include HJR1. The delay in passing the resolution has already prevented the measure from meeting the deadline to get on the May primary ballot.
HJR1 reprises the Legislative leadership’s quest to pass the same measure last year. The press cited the fierce opposition of a huge coalition of nonprofits and faith-based groups in a major statehouse rally Dec. 13 as a factor in the measure’s failing to pass.
Meanwhile, fair district advocates are working to draft a constitutional amendment to change Ohio’s redistricting rules after last year’s titanic clash between the Legislative majority and the Ohio Supreme Court. The advocates for revising Ohio’s redistricting process include Republican Judge Maureen O’Connor, who voted seven times with the Court’s Democratic minority to find every map produced by the Ohio Redistricting Commission unconstitutional for disproportionately favoring the majority party. She retired at the end of last year due to statutory age limits and has said she plans to work with the citizen campaign to strengthen the guardrails against gerrymandering.
Bizarrely, Governor DeWine said in an interview with the Toledo Blade last week that he believes elected officials should not be part of the redistricting process. “It didn’t work, and we need to fix it,” Mr. DeWine said. “Taking it out of the hands, frankly, of elected officials is probably a good idea. As a member of Ohio’s Redistricting Commission under the current constitutional rules, he voted with the Republican majority in favor of every map that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional.
Advocacy briefings are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com
