Undermining Black History: A Reckoning with Systematic Erasure

The current administration appears intent on not only obscuring America’s future but also erasing significant parts of its past. Erasing history often serves as a means to suppress uncomfortable truths.

There has been a concerted effort to undermine Black history by removing related content from government platforms, withdrawing Black history books from libraries, discontinuing observances, discrediting historians, and cutting funding for institutions dedicated to preserving Black heritage. Such actions risk distorting public understanding, potentially leading many to accept misleading narratives—such as the initial police account of George Floyd’s death that minimized the circumstances.

This pattern of erasure has historical precedents. For example, the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906 was precipitated by inflammatory media reports falsely accusing Black residents of widespread assaults, which incited violent white mobs to attack the Black community. Over several days, approximately 40 Black individuals and two white individuals lost their lives amid the chaos. The violence only subsided with the intervention of state militia forces.

The massacre was fueled by racial tensions amplified during an election year, with politicians and their supporters stoking fears about Black Atlantans who were deemed 'uppity' for asserting their rights and social standing.

Figures like J. Max Barber, editor of The Voice of the Negro—likely the South’s first Black-edited magazine—stood out as voices of truth. Barber committed his publication to accurate reporting of events and history, aiming to create a lasting record for future generations.

Barber’s background was shaped by his parents’ experience of enslavement in South Carolina. After graduating from Virginia Union University in 1903, he relocated to Atlanta to lead The Voice of the Negro. His publication featured contributions from prominent Black intellectuals such as Mary Church Terrell and W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1905, Barber joined Du Bois and others in founding the Niagara Movement, a precursor to the NAACP, with The Voice of the Negro serving as one of its main communication platforms, boasting 15,000 subscribers.

Barber courageously refuted the false narrative of a 'carnival of rapes' used to justify the 1906 massacre, instead denouncing the event as a 'frightful carnival of newspaper lies.' He attributed the mob’s hysteria partly to the influence of Thomas Dixon Jr.’s play 'The Clansman,' which glorified the Ku Klux Klan.

Dixon’s 1905 novel 'The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan' portrayed Klan violence as righteous, and it was later adapted into the 1915 film 'The Birth of a Nation' by D.W. Griffith. Notably, the film featured intertitles written by then-President Woodrow Wilson, who had screened the film at the White House. Wilson described the Klan as a necessary force of self-preservation and protection for the South.

The current administration’s depiction of diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) initiatives as threats to white Americans parallels past justifications for racist violence, framing such attacks as acts of protection or justice—rationales historically used to defend groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

When Barber challenged the fabricated justification for the Atlanta Race Massacre, political leaders and law enforcement targeted him, subjecting his office to surveillance and threatening arrest—tactics reminiscent of intimidation used against activists today.

Refusing to accept this oppression, Barber fled Georgia, unwilling to be subjected to a form of slavery under the guise of law enforcement. Despite his efforts, The Voice of the Negro ceased publication in 1907 after relocating to Chicago.

Barber’s career as a chronicler of Black life and history effectively ended. He transitioned to a career as a dentist in Philadelphia and engaged occasionally in social causes, such as advocating for a statue honoring abolitionist John Brown. However, the terror he faced largely silenced his influential voice.

History is the story of life remembered. Racist violence has not only taken Black lives but has sought to erase Black legacies, narratives, historians, and storytellers. This systematic erasure threatens to wipe away the contributions and experiences of Black Americans from collective memory.

Efforts to diminish Black history obstruct public awareness of the roots and persistence of racial inequities, which stem from entrenched racist policies and violence—not from any inherent flaws within Black communities. Understanding Black history reveals how Black innovation and activism have advanced justice and equity for all Americans.

While Ku Klux Klan violence is often remembered for its fatalities, less attention is paid to the destruction of Black towns, businesses, homes, churches, libraries, publications, and careers—pillars that preserve public memory and history.

Barber passed away in 1949 in Philadelphia, not as a victim of public violence, but as someone erased from public memory. The suppression of his ability to document and preserve Black history embodies the very objective behind contemporary assaults on Black historical records.