Written February 28

My thoughts on this topic are jumbled. But I felt compelled to write these thoughts out as I reflected this past month given all that I have been challenged by over the past year. I still have so much research and learning to do. I think I will spend March continuing to hash through what I have started to mention here.

Over the past few months, I have many times heard that the history I learned in school was inadequate. Incomplete. Besides the fact that I didn’t do a fantastic job of paying attention in many of my classes, I wasn’t sure how this was the case. But through even just a little bit of searching and reading I see at least two things that support this claim. 

1. Information that is less than exemplary about our white historical figures is left out or is justified. Two figures in particular come to mind — Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. I focused on Thomas Jefferson for this post. I found these articles to be interesting. 

a. The Dark Side of Jefferson – I did see in the comments of this article that there was at least one person who was frustrated that there were no citations. I found this interesting as well. Why not record sources when you are trying to teach something contrary to something that most people believe/want to believe.

b. Slavery FAQs Monticello – from the Monticello Museum’s website 

      2. Successful black people aren’t often prioritized in history books. I borrowed a book from the library called, Little Legends, and it opened my eyes to great achievements from black people that I never knew about. 

Growing up, I was taught mostly about people that looked like me unless I was being taught about slavery, Martin Luther King Jr, or black leaders at random during the morning announcements during the month of February. I am extremely thankful for my black coworkers, fellow teachers that showed our students they could be anything they wanted to be and showed them black people making great strides to be examples and live this out (not because they weren’t able to achieve but because American society and historical cycles made it extra hard/near impossible for them). 

Some of the first black people who arrived in North America did so around the same time as white settlers from Europe, and yet the history I was taught almost exclusively focuses on white people, “segregating” black history from the main storyline. When I first wrote this, I wasn’t sure if I was being insensitive to black Americans so I did a little further research. I found this article, Black History Month causes even more Segregation. The writer offers some background on Black History month, and a specific solution (with specific leaders that I now need to look up) to something missing in our schools. In 1926, Carter G. Woodson and other black leaders designated a week to focus on black history based on the need they saw – a lack of representation of black leaders and mention of black history in textbooks. And I’m sure the establishment of this week came with lots of pushback.

In 2021, can we not do more? Are our children not better off if they learn a fuller, more complete and accurate American history? 

Black history month is “over,” but I encourage you to keep studying, learning, and listening. Here are a few resources that I have found to be so very helpful. 

For Kids and Adults:

Little Legends – Reading this with Jack – so good!

March (Book One) – Loved reading this with my students. Recommend with middle and high schoolers – and happy to share my guided notes! 🙂

Hand in Hand – Jack and I camp out on a leader for about a month. I have really loved learning about the lives of these leaders that I previously only new a fact or two about. 

A Raisin in the Sun – Also loved reading this with my students. Highlight every year with my 8th graders. Written by Lorraine Hansberry, America’s first Black playwright. 

And if you would like to support financially related to this topic, think about using Amazon Smile to support the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).