Civics is History

Every time I try to wrap my head around the importance of Civics and what it means, I get astonished almost because Civics is such a huge subject to cover. I love it.

- Thera Martin

Civics is about our nation's beginnings, our nation's laws, and the rules of the land. Civics is about being a good neighbor and a good citizen, caring about the nation in which we love. Civics is about seeing the American justice system in action and learning whether or not laws work. It's also about discovering if laws only work for some people and not for others. Civics is history, and the only unfortunate thing is that there are people in America who would rather rewrite history than tell the truth. So for travesties like the enslavement of Africans in America, there are those who try to sweep those stories under the rug as if they never happened.

Our nation just commemorated the 60th anniversary of the great March on Washington, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. That day and the words in that speech were so powerful that not even the devious actions of some lawmakers who in 2023 are trying to rewrite history and wipe out history that actually happened can make us forget Dr. King.

Let's just recall some of the words in Dr. King's August 28, 1963 speech.

"Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy. Now it the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality to all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of its colored citizens. This sweltering summer of the colored people's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.