Change Your World Week Winter 2024 (Archived)

It is important to understand that American history and black history work hand-in-hand. On the surface, it seems as though black history is taught to children in schools the same as all American history. This understanding couldn't be more wrong. Every child should be given the right to understand their history and heritage in the most accurate representation possible. This webpage is designed to bring light to the flaws of our education system, its mistreatment and erasure of black history in our curriculum, and ways to solve these issues.

W.E.B. Du Bois, an American sociologist and civil rights activist, once said that, "with a determination unparalleled in science, the mass of American writers have started out so to distort the facts of the greatest critical period of American history as to prove right wrong and wrong right." This quote shows the manipulation of whiteness in American history, especially history of black culture and brutality from white people. Black history curriculum was taught minimally, often found within black-only classrooms, putting teachers at great risk of losing their professions. This was the case for a few black teachers in Chicago, who were being closely monitored by their white colleagues. One of these teachers, Margaret Taylor Goss Boroughs, recalls this monitoring by saying, "I, of course, was a strong advocate of black history, which was considered subversive in itself at that time. God forbid that you would teach Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth in class, and if you had anything to say about Nat Turner or Denmark Vesey, well, you had better keep it to yourself." This heavy monitoring of black curriculum in schools not only stopped black youth from learning of their heritage, but also did not allow white people to learn of black history, either. This suppression of black history was a continuation of the proverbial fire of heated racism in America. While black people fought to teach their history, white people fought to suppress it. 

The African proverb, "Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter." This quote metaphorically demonstrates how a dominant group silences their prey through historical narrative. Whitewashing of education has been happening for many centuries, even outside of American history. No one is willing to paint their culture in a bad light as they teach someone else. To maintain the story is to maintain the power over others. Think back to your own education in school. I am sure many of you had the gory, horrific nature of slavery and the brutalities of civil rights glossed over. This ideology is not an accident. Accepting the whiteness in education is the first step to reaching out, understanding, and making a difference today. 

Brown v. Board of Education was the first major step in equality in American schools. It is impossible to keep schools both separate and equal. This major breakthrough for nonwhite citizens gave them a new hope. Unfortunately, this does not mean education is an equal opportunity today. Primarily white schools are funded much better than primarily nonwhite schools. This, along with other factors, leads to the dropout rates of black children to be more than double of white children. To go along with this, schools are becoming increasingly segregated again. In the Northeast, a higher percentage of black students attend hypersegregated schools than in 1968. For all of our forthcomings, there is always a backlash. The most prominent mistreatment of black history in recent times comes from guidelines passed in Florida only ONE year ago. On July 19, 2023, the Florida Board of Education announced that middle schoolers will be taught that slavery was mutually beneficial, and how it taught slaves necessary skills rather than focus on the completely savage behavior of white slaveowners. Hopefully, guidelines like these do not infect other states and disgrace the hardships black people went through in our history. When white people take away black history, they are taking away American history.

Understanding the erasing of black history as a problem is the first step to success. To become a part of the solution, there are plenty of actions you can take.

• Advocate for Education-based Legislature: sign petitions, work with people pushing new laws
• Educate Ourselves: research black history, join black history related study groups
• Read Writings from Black Authors: search for books, news, and other writings by black authors
• Encourage Teachings of Important Black Figures: push education plans for black heroes such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Muhammed Ali, etc.
• Additional Resources: seek out resources like Embracing Equity and others who are passionate about reviving black history

It is up to us as a nation to understand and advocate for the correct teaching of black history. American history can not be taught without including black history, and no matter how hard it is pushed to suppress black history, it will never go away. We must live with the devastating actions of our ancestors, and teach about them in order to learn from our mistakes and become better everyday. If you want to learn more, it is important to reach out to resources on your own and connect with supporting resources like Embracing Equity who search for solutions for equality in education and many other topics. If you want to visit their site and begin making an impact, click the link below to get started.

Visit Embracing Equity Homepage!

King, L. J. (2014). When Lions Write History: Black History Textbooks,

African-American Educators, & the Alternative Black Curriculum in Social Studies Education, 1890-1940. Multicultural Education, 22(1), 2–11.

Ian Rocksborough-Smith. (2018). Black Public History in Chicago : Civil Rights Activism From

World War II Into the Cold War. University of Illinois Press.

Opeifa, A. (2023, October 30). Black history curriculum and its effects. Journal of Gender, Race &

Justice - The University of Iowa.

https://jgrj.law.uiowa.edu/news/2023/10/black-history-curriculum-and-its-effects 

Desmond, M., & Emirbayer, M. (2020). Race in America. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.