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Black History Is American History. Don’t Neglect It.
It’s time for educators to stop teaching the whitewashed and clichéd narratives to American youth
Schools across the United States need to stop excessively prioritizing the same traumatic and negative stories when teaching the next generation of leaders about Black history. History courses and curricula need serious modifications to eradicate these worn-out teachings that exclusively perpetuate Black struggles and inferiority from start to finish. Looking in hindsight, I know that I would have benefited greatly (along with many others like me) from being exposed to the complete history of Black people in the United States as a young teenager. Because I wasn’t exposed to it, it leaves me with a bunch of questions that I will ask as you read on.
The truth is that many things are mistaught or left out of the total historical equation that still affect a lot of us today, and that is dangerous. The teachings seem to focus on just a couple things: slavery and segregation. Why is that? Is it to keep the average Black person at a level below his or her white counterpart? Would more in-depth teachings of Black history make the white majority too uncomfortable?
Either way, more uplifting and positive energy needs to be associated with Blackness…
