CT Forum: Reflections on a complex America 

               This was my first time at a CT Forum, and I was surprised at how small the Student Preview was and how large the actual event was. I was only slightly familiar with both speakers; my family reads Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack. When learning about American history in school, we occasionally investigate Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 1619 project. My favorite part of the whole event was the student session. I appreciated how personal and kind all three speakers were and the fact that they devoted time and energy to answering questions from a room of teenagers. Their insights on their processes and how they got to their positions today were powerful. After the event, I began reading Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack and plan on following Nikole Hannah-Jones’ work going forward.

               I had never thought about how the American population viewed Hillary Clinton vs. Kamala Harris in their respective presidential races. It brought to my attention how differently Harris is being viewed because of her race. Both women mentioned how Harris has continually been sexualized whereas Clinton was only popularly the subject of sexist remarks. I also thought it was interesting how Heather Cox Richardson spoke of book bans as an attempt to rid “the principles of the Enlightenment.” To me, it seems like book bans are an attempt to rewrite history to reshape the future. However, not providing people with the maximum amount of education available to them will only cause a lack of innovation and cause fatal errors. “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” was a Mark Twain quote mentioned during the Forum. The education of the atrocities of our past that only a few have is not enough to prevent future atrocities. For that reason, education should not be hindered by the government as it will only prevent future social, economic, and scientific growth.