1ºMax Abramson it’s a history course. Students will learn to research and evaluate source material as well as write term papers — all very useful skills in the 21st century workplace. When I was in high school, I took Asian history and wound up majoring in Chinese Studies at college. BTW, I was able to use my Chinese language proficiency in my job. One cannot predict how knowledge will be used. An outstanding example of this is Steve Jobs who learned about different fonts in a college course. That inspired him to include many fonts in the Apple computer. By the way, spare me the political insults. It only weakens your point.
2ºThe United States Hates To lose, refuses to admit horrible mistakes, brushes past it’s evil treatment of First Nations peoples , the slavery ,
I guess the best example of not teaching the complete honest truth about our past is the War of 1812…
Myself I dug deep into history but for the most part
Americans no nothing of that war. Why? Well that’s because we were 100% in the wrong.
So here’s the deal,,
Teach history! Tell it like it was . If the truth turns your stomach maybe YOU WILL try to fix things going forward .
It’s only racists at heart that want history to be forgotten,, unless it’s a story about a hero.
Grow up USA, get in touch, teach our children , take care of our elderly, respect our vets, stop ripping off college students, create a healthy middle class, and for god sakes,,, stop the gun deaths..
can we do this?? Yes but only if we come off of the ignorant soap box.
God didn’t bless this country,, y’all took it ,abused it ,enslaved your labor to build it and now you don’t want the future to know about it.
The ones I’m talking to still have the stop the steal bumper sticker on the truck
3ºSun Knee This isn't about who is more or less important. African American history in this country is essential to the telling of the American story, yet it has been whitewashed, erased, and manipulated for centuries. The implications of this travesty aren't just history, they are impacting actual policies and decisions today. When we look at racial inequities in wealth, home ownership, incarceration, etc, you can tie those directly to our country's willful blindness of racism.
Obviously no course can adequately cover all of any group's history, but American schools have largely done a terrible job of even trying. If you can't understand that there's room for improvement and that the current model is horribly broken, I don't know what to tell you. I spent year after year from middle school until the latter half of college learning the same information about American history (from a whitewashed version of the pilgrims and indigenous people, to the revolutionary war, to a mention of states rights and the Civil War, to maybe a brief touch on WW2, to a quote or two from Dr. King on the Civil Rights movement). There is ample room for reprioritizing the curriculum over a series of years to touch on the importance of Indigenous history, the contributions of immigrants from Asia and Mexico, the accomplishments of American-born people of color and more. But this would require decentering whiteness and moving away from the implied myth of white supremacy. I'm advocating for that world. I'm not sure why you're pushing against it...
4ºAlston Kellum
That’s kinda my point tho
You literally assumed things about me in your original comment. You didn’t articulate any sort of rebuttal, you just quoted a piece of it and assumed I was projecting.
Then when I reply, you’re suddenly well spoken and deliberate… now you make a point about being “amused at the mischaracterization” when that’s literally your entire first comment. I’m amused at your lack of self awareness.
Third, I didn’t call your comment defensive or bunch you into that group. I said they talk like you, I didn’t say they were you. It’s like if I thought you looked like, idk Sting. That doesn’t mean I think you’re Sting, it just means I think you look like Sting.
Fourth, yea. I easily passed AP statistics without cracking open a textbook, other than to do the homework problems. It wasn’t my best class, but I didn’t really apply myself like I should have; I was much more motivated by Calculus and physics. Probability was fun tho.
but being presented with the fact that you took stats, imma take back my last part in the face of new evidence, which I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on.
5ºMax Abramson I will respond with a resounding yes! Again as everyone stated these AP are elective.
In addition indigenous/and or black studies or anything of the like actually DO lead to careers, I know personally of such in my family. Then as far as regarding state legislatures or any other political bodies again is a resounding yes! I DO want better informed representatives in politics when it comes to American government truly working toward an equality that actually represents real Americans of every culture and ethnicity, and the indigenous that paid the price in the first place for this country to exist and prosper, literally off the backs of all cultures!
6ºWhat an amazing time we live in. We have tools to fight back against racism. The right to vote. Civil Rights that ensure we are able to get into decision making roles in corporations and schools, influencing policy. Folks in positions to offer courses such as these. The Internet and Social Media mean that EVERYONE is a potential publisher or news reporter. You no longer have to wait and see if your book will be picked up and published by the likes of McGraw-Hill. You no longer have to be fortunate enough to be granted an interview on a news program or talk show. States like super racist Texas, are trying to hide the truth, burning books, but we are in a position to prevent it. And we will. And we will drag all the racists trying to cling to their 1950's lampposts with us.
7ºToni King only 3-5 percent of the slaves that were brought over during the trans Atlantic slave trade made it to North America. The other 95-97 % were taken to Brazil, the Caribbean and Central America (this is WELL documented). Even Christopher Columbus and many other travelers wrote of the black indigenous people they encountered while coming to the americas. And black people are indigenous to the United States because there was no United States until they built it. Which makes a foundational black American very unique because he and she are the ONLY non immigrants. Where did you and your family come from Toni?
8ºGood are they going to teach about slavery? They should! Begin with where slavery originated and by who...Africa/blacks....then move on to how the blacks ancestors captured and sold their own family members into slavery and then shipped them to another ancestor in the new America just so whites could free them...oh and to all those demanding repartition...you should go back home to Africa and make your relatives release all the slaves your family still owns today!! Now lets talk about racism...the blacks racism is unequaled anywhere! They are so racist the think it's everyone else to blame! If we could stop their ignorant hatred of all who are not black then the world would be a much better place! Enjoy the history lesson....all is true and can very easily be verified.
9ºSergio Elias Bittar of course it doesn’t and I never said it does. It also has nothing to do with being white. I stand by the fact that American History is taught through a white European lens. Some content included in American History are lies, (Christopher Columbus was a great man, he helped the Indians, discovered America) wrong. My point was that America is supposed to be a melting pot so shouldn’t the teaching of American History reflect all of the contributors ? Shouldn’t it present major events that effected, not just white people but other races also? We teach about the world wars and America’s contributions to winning the wars but we don’t discuss how black Americans were segregated in the barracks. We don’t teach about the board schools for indigenous children and their horrific treatment. We don’t teach about the Japanese Internment Camps during WW2. Authentic history should include the great achievements and failures of a country.
As for why Malcolm’s teachings aren’t discussed in education; the new rule is “we don’t want white kids to feel bad”.
10ºI see a lot of people expressing hate here. Which only goes to prove the point that if you had learned about non white people you won't spend some much of your time hating them. I see a lot of BS excuses that it will not contribute to the lives studies like science and doctors. But that is a problem. Maybe if those scientists and doctors had student AM history, they won't have to treat their black patients different. Or if your bosses had learned AM history, there won't be so much discrimination at work. And last but least if the so called police had learned AM history, they won't be so many shooting of minorities in disregard of human life. If all you were thought is black is lesser than white you would continue killing and discriminate against minorities. And if you want to call yourself a Patriot you should start by accepting the minorities around you. But if you choose to put them down you are not a Patriot you are an oppressor.