In these confusing times, I look to our Republican leaders for advice. Unfortunately, on most issues they seem to be more confused than I am. For instance, our overwhelmingly Republican House overwhelmingly passed a bill to make Juneteenth a holiday in Utah. Juneteenth celebrates the day, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, when federal troops freed black slaves in Salvator, Texas after their white owners kept their freedom a secret from them. Republican Rep. Brady Brammer stated in a Standard article, “We were falling short. It’s the great sin of our nation. When a country lives up to its ideals or really takes a big step in that direction, that should be celebrated. And we should tell our children why we’re celebrating it, why that ideal is important, and let them know that sometimes we didn’t do things perfectly.” Well-said, I believe.

Yet Utah Senator John Johnson, a fellow Republican leader, and others of like-thinking, keep agitating the voters over the issue of CRT in our schools. Senator Johnson seems to be against mentioning anything in our schools that has the effect of painting white people as oppressors.

How in the world would a teacher be able to even explain what Juneteenth is without painting the white slaveholders as oppressors of their black slaves?

Donald Carper

Clearfield

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