What have you learned about Black history at home or in school?
In your opinion, have you received a robust and accurate education? Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States for close to a hundred years. Leaders like Carter G. Woodson created the annual observance to ensure that the history of Black people in the United States received the importance and scholarly attention it deserves. Yet today, Black history is still a contentious subject, whether in school board meetings, in state legislatures or even on library shelves. Several states, including Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina, have recently passed laws that restrict teaching about race and racism.
What is your experience of learning about Black history in the United States? To what extent have you learned about the achievements of Black people in this country and the struggles they have faced, including slavery and Jim Crow? Do you feel that this is a topic that has been accurately and thoroughly taught in your schools? And what have you learned about the subject outside of the classroom? What have you been taught about Black history in school? Do you feel that it is a subject that has been accurately and thoroughly taught? To what extent do you feel that the neglect and distortion of Black history, which was so common in schools in the past, still lingers today? How have you learned about Black history outside of school, from your family or community or through your own exploration and curiosity?
Black History Month is not just about ensuring the study of Black history; it is also intended to be a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of Black Americans. Do you feel that the month has helped accomplish that goal? What did you learn about the origins and meaning of Black History Month from the article? What was most surprising and memorable? An argument that some people make about history months in general, whether celebrating Black people, women or Native Americans, is that they confine the history of a historically marginalized group to a single month, when instead these histories should be fully integrated into education all year. What do you think? Do history months succeed in promoting complex and important histories that are otherwise neglected? Are they ever counterproductive? Why? How Black history is taught in schools is still argued today. For example, a new Texas law forbids teaching that “slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States.” A recent Florida rule bans the teaching of the 1619 Project in public schools. Published in 2019 by The New York Times Magazine, the 1619 Project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.” And to date, more than 20 states — including New Hampshire, Michigan and Arkansas — have introduced regulations that restrict teaching about race and racism. What do you think of these efforts to restrict how schools teach about Black history, race and racism? What topics related to Black history would you like to explore in more depth, either in school or on your own? Why?
What is your experience of learning about Black history in the United States? To what extent have you learned about the achievements of Black people in this country and the struggles they have faced, including slavery and Jim Crow? Do you feel that this is a topic that has been accurately and thoroughly taught in your schools? And what have you learned about the subject outside of the classroom? What have you been taught about Black history in school? Do you feel that it is a subject that has been accurately and thoroughly taught? To what extent do you feel that the neglect and distortion of Black history, which was so common in schools in the past, still lingers today? How have you learned about Black history outside of school, from your family or community or through your own exploration and curiosity?
Black History Month is not just about ensuring the study of Black history; it is also intended to be a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of Black Americans. Do you feel that the month has helped accomplish that goal? What did you learn about the origins and meaning of Black History Month from the article? What was most surprising and memorable? An argument that some people make about history months in general, whether celebrating Black people, women or Native Americans, is that they confine the history of a historically marginalized group to a single month, when instead these histories should be fully integrated into education all year. What do you think? Do history months succeed in promoting complex and important histories that are otherwise neglected? Are they ever counterproductive? Why? How Black history is taught in schools is still argued today. For example, a new Texas law forbids teaching that “slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States.” A recent Florida rule bans the teaching of the 1619 Project in public schools. Published in 2019 by The New York Times Magazine, the 1619 Project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.” And to date, more than 20 states — including New Hampshire, Michigan and Arkansas — have introduced regulations that restrict teaching about race and racism. What do you think of these efforts to restrict how schools teach about Black history, race and racism? What topics related to Black history would you like to explore in more depth, either in school or on your own? Why?
