Have you checked out the 1619 Project yet? It'd be excellent for history teachers to incorporate its essays into their classes, starting with this overview by @nhannahjones. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Another must-read from the 1619 Project, by @just_shelter: "American Capitalism Is Brutal. You Can Trace That to the Plantation." nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Have you seen critiques of the 1619 Project? I would encourage you to read this excellent thread on why they aren't very strong - and on the deeper ideological bias that appears to have generated them.
Narratives about history are not objective fact. Far from it. As Howard Zinn wrote, we usually encounter history told from the perspective of "governments, conquerors, diplomats, leaders." Views of oppressed people are grossly underrepresented.
I was lucky to have great 9th and 10th grade history teachers who used A People's History of the United States as our textbook. Like that book, I think the 1619 Project can help students view ostensibly "objective" textbooks & historical accounts with more skepticism.
(Clarification: Zinn was actually my 10th grade text; we read Guns, Germs, & Steel, among other things, in 9th grade.)
Zinn's teachings on history provide an important lesson in general: nobody is fully objective & it's essential to understand the perspective of the person or people who wrote whatever you read. My first ever blog post on 34justice was actually about that. 34justice.com/2013/09/03/obj…
In any case, I hope you'll check out the 1619 Project, think about what students are typically taught in history classes, & ask some hard questions of even well-meaning people who are resistant to challenges of conventional narratives about American history.
