Letter to the editor: Don't filter history or news; that's censorship
Charita Goshay wrote one of her usual insightful articles in The Repository on July 24 about the proposed "divisive subjects bill" ("Ohio’s ‘divisive subjects’ bill a dangerous drift toward censorship"). She outlined rightful concerns that the bill would stifle the horrid parts of our history and would lead to censorship.
Based on the framework she detailed in her article, I don't see incompatibility between teaching history and eliminating hate in the curriculum. The history of slavery should be taught. Part of that lesson would be the justification used by slaveholders to practice slavery. The only reason for exposure to that rationale for slavery would be to expose how terribly wrong it was, not to defend it. End of the history lesson.
If the curriculum were then to go on to promote the idea that because some whites owned slaves all white people are oppressors, that would be prohibited, according to Charita's outline. It should be prohibited as being terribly wrong and terribly divisive.
As for censorship, it's here. Many news media and social media outlets already filter, slant, or ignore items they don't wish to feature. Recently, President Biden wanted to establish the Disinformation Governance Board. It had a narrow purpose, but many things with a narrow, well-intentioned purpose morph into something ghastly. Who knows where that would have gone? Fortunately, the effort has been paused. Censorship has no place here, but it is becoming more commonplace.
Donald J. Groom, Plain Township
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Letter to the editor: Don't filter history or news; that's censorship
