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That’s funny, because I learned almost nothing about slavery through high school other than the fact that it existed and led to the Civil War. And I have two kids—one in middle school and one in high school—for whom I can say the same.
Schools in the bluest of states: NY and CA.
Schools in the bluest of states: NY and CA.
I learned a fair bit about Native American life, but almost nothing about the Trail of Tears. I learned a little about the Gold Rush and that Chinese helped build the railroads, but nothing about the anti-Chinese massacres.
I learned a lot about World War II and a little about the Holocaust (mostly through Anne Frank). Mostly about battles and borders. Nothing about the Japanese American incarceration and only a cursory discussion about the morality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
From what I can see schooling in American “History” essentially ends before the 60s, with almost nothing on.Jim Crow, segregation, lynchings and white supremacist violence, the Vietnam War and the fight for civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights.
I went to a good school. My kids go to good public schools. Is our experience out of the ordinary? Curious if Mr. @RealDanLee has a leg to stand on.
We absolutely would be a more moral, humane and knowledgeable country if we spent grade school history doing nothing but immersing in the roots, reality, impact and consequences of slavery. And yes, we’d end up learning all of US history in the process.
Don’t shift the goalposts. You said the “study of history,” not “popular culture.” Within the context of studying history, especially at the mandatory education level, our nation’s history of slavery is woefully UNDERemphasized.
And most of the popular culture spotlighting of slavery is from the past 40 years. Slavery of African Americans existed on this continent for over two centuries. I’d say at least 174 years of prominent focus on this dark and horrific aspect of our national history is still owed.
Even more so if, as you’ve expanded the context to include, we’re talking about exploring the “mistreatment of Black Americans.”
Because that’s...still happening.
Because that’s...still happening.
You make these assertions with zero backup. Really, have you not been reading the responses to this thread, in which multiple people have noted how they learned of the Civil War as triggered by Northern aggression against Southern states’ rights?
