America I Am, America We All Are

I had the pleasure of visiting the America I Am exhibit yesterday at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The exhibit highlights the integral role African Americans play in the history of America. Their history is our history. And yet, there is so much of that history that none of us knows.

As Wonder Boy and I left the exhibit we both reflected on the gaping hole in our education. I remember reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and being 100% pissed off. Not because the themes of the book were disturbing or that I disagreed with them. The book was wonderful. I was pissed off because no English teacher in high school or college had introduced me to this book. This piece of important American literature.

It piqued this curiosity in me, made me wonder, “What other parts of literature, history, art, law have been completely ignored in my studies?” Turns out there was quite a bit.

I am a nerd (I know it’s sometimes hard to tell) and so I actively went in pursuit to fill the voids in what I had been taught. I took college courses in the African American Studies program at Ohio University and have bookshelves of books at home to prove it. I know of few people who have done the same. Worse, very few people have the opportunity to do the same in any formal setting or with any guidance.

I think Wonder Boy got the same slap in the face at the exhibit that I had when reading Invisible Man. He isn’t pissed off but on the car ride home several of his comments started off with, “Did you know…?” or “I never realized that…” I asked if he wanted me to recommend him one of my college books and he said, “I’d like to read an overview of the history of African Americans.”

In truth, that comments means America I Am accomplished its goal, I think, with one person. It made them think, made them curious and sent them in search of more information. But his comments also illustrate how massive the omissions from our academic studies are when people don’t know basic history of a race that makes up nearly 15% of our population.