Editor,

Please don’t believe the rhetoric about Critical Race Theory. As an African American, I learned what you learned about slavery, little or nothing. However, some of my ancestors — it really wasn’t that long ago were freed enslaved people — spelled their last names [phonetically it’s the same name] differently.

Although I got a great education in San Francisco, I didn’t have a Black teacher until college.

Learning more about each other, after all African American history is American history, couldn’t hurt.

I once visited a former plantation in South Carolina and the docent was embarrassed and flustered. I asked her if this was her people’s home. When she said no, I told her not to be embarrassed or ashamed. This house was just part of history and neither of us can change history and we must accept and learn from it.

I probably would have said the same thing if it was her people’s home. That’s what is critical about Critical Race Theory.

It was only in the last 20 years that I learned the names of the indigenous people in every state and found maps so I could teach myself about them. How does learning these histories separate us? Aren’t you curious about the history of where you are? Who your neighbors are? Did you know that Juan de Fuca was actually Greek?

History is wonderful, entertaining and educational if you are willing.

Harolynne Bobis

Langley