“The American Government and the American Constitution are spoken of in a manner which would naturally lead the hearer to believe that one is identical to the other; when the truth is, they are distinct in character as is a ship and a compass. The one may point right and the other steer wrong.”
Frederick Douglass, 1860
“Forming a More Perfect Union: Building Empathy and Community in the Classroom through Historical Storytelling and Civic Discussion”
By Francine Gold
In 1774, a group of men gathered at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia to forge a government founded upon the ideals of equality, freedom and justice for all. Two years later, they officially declared a War of Independence against Great Britain and fought with their lives for eleven years, concluding with the formation of a nation. In 1787 The United States Constitution was borne out of the principles of democracy that were set forth in that 1776 Declaration of Independence.
These Revolutionary War founders realized that a nation is not just an act of creation, but a continuous process of growth. They were not blind to the fact that they had inherited and were living in an economic system that was largely based upon a slavocracy. The hypocritical schism of freedom and justice for all, pitted against our long history of justifying racial terrorism in the form of kidnapping, enslaving, convict leasing, Jim Crow lynchings, and mass incarceration, rooted our nation in a moral conflict with itself that continues to this day.
As teachers, we have an obligation to hold these truths of our collective past as well as our present to be self-evident to our students and to explore with them, both the ugliness and beauty of our American history. Since the beginning, our citizenry has used The Constitution to grow and change, in order to form a more perfect union.
History is about how we interpret individual and collective memory. Historical memory can evoke strong emotions and rouse within us a call to love or a call to arms. As teachers, these potential conflicts or differing points of view provide us with an opportunity to help facilitate discussions. We needn’t and should not shy away from various historical interpretations of events and people. Rather, it is an opportunity for students to express their voice and listen to one another as they critically think through the complexity of material that often is imbued with contradictions.
It is empathy that is the touchstone towards forming this more perfect union. Developing the ability to share and understand the emotions of others, via the pathways of Historical Storytelling, Civic Discussion, and Interactive Workshops aimed at fostering empathy is key. This affords us the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view, and imagine ourselves in their place. This is essential if we are to ever bridge the divide between what is reflected in the words of our nation’s constitution, and the discord and unrest that has existed since its conception.
Teaching the time continuum in the context of Constitutional debate and change as well as comparing and contrasting those changes to socio-economic-political events today are essential core curriculum standards and should be used in every classroom in order to build understanding of our collective American identity, to see ourselves as one people of diverse histories.
Communication has always been at the heart of my educational philosophy. Communication of one’s ideas is a learned skill, and as an educator, I have always believed that it is my job to help students find their own individual voice and express it. Consequently, creating a learning environment that expresses the idea that we are all here to learn from one another is essential. After all, we teachers are vested with the responsibility of teaching the values of good citizenship.
It is our intention at T.O.R.C.H. to help build a sense of community. We believe that there are missing points of view from the teaching of historical events in American history and it is our intention to recover those pieces and present them in order for us to grow into a more humane America.
Francine Gold
Co-Founder, The TORCH Theatre.
“Social justice is at the core of my work because it is a belief in people’s potential. It is this commitment to social equality that undergirds the idea of public education.”
Linda Christensen
TORCH THEATER.org 