February 28, 2023
With two notable examples of heavy pushback on Black history, we must understand why this opposition exists.
To further examine the underlying problem within the denigration of teaching Black history in the classroom, we must first look at a legal theory that has shaken the nation: Critical Race Theory (CRT). First developed by academics and scholars in the 1970s and ’80s, CRT is an academic and legal theory that asserts that systemic racism — a form of racism that is immersed into laws and regulations of any society — is a part of American culture and has been since America first became a country.
Despite CRT being rarely, if ever, taught in K-12 classes, many people latched on to the word, turning CRT into a symbol for “liberal propaganda” and “wokeness” — which, coincidentally, went through the same bastardizing process. This fear was capitalized on by media outlets and personalities like advocacy group PragerU and political commentator Tucker Carlson, which exploded CRT into an influential talking point. However, it’s important to note that although the language targeted toward AP African American Studies — and other classes that place a spotlight on Black history — often mimics criticism of the principles of CRT or “liberal propaganda,” these terms do not apply to these classes because they’re not classes based on CRT or any political ideology. It is simply history.
It’s understandable that the media’s misrepresentation of Black history would cause wariness around the subject. However, the vilification of implementing elements of Black history into schools is wholly ignorant and unreasonable. Similar actions have occurred in the past: in 1973, a principal suspended Black students for celebrating Black History Month because the observance would bring divisiveness; likewise, laws have limited the education on racism and the history of people of color as recently as 2022. In addition, there has been a trend of “censoring” Black history dating back to the mid-20th century, which ultimately means attempting to scrap out anything that explains America’s past flaws.
This sustained ignorance contributes to the infantilization and miseducation of especially non-Black people when it comes to nuances and injustices that stem from the oppression that Black people have faced throughout the history of our country. While many kids of color — Black and brown kids in particular — must deal with the effects of systemic racism in everyday life, generally, white kids can remain blissfully ignorant of racial complexities, contributing to infantilization when dealing with racial nuances. Turning a blind side to America’s history only perpetuates and enables stereotypes rooted in racism and prejudice to grow, thus creating a preventable loop of discrimination and miseducation, which does not allow our students to learn.
“History is truth. We should want our students to learn about various cultures and the history of our country. There are some people who don’t believe in that history or don’t want to face it,” assistant principal and BSU sponsor Kate Piffel said. “People that are alive now are not the ones who created the problems and struggles that we’ve had in the past, but I do think that we owe it to human beings to acknowledge [this history] and move forward in change to make this world a better place.”
The bastardization of CRT — and wokeness in general — also continues to paint Black people as the “other” in American society, though Black people have been in the U.S. before it was even the U.S. This means that instead of having Black history normalized in most school curriculums, the idea of Black history being put into the school curriculum is often met with outrage and pushback, as if it is an anomaly to even think about mingling Black history with “regular history.” By continuing to paint Black history as “liberal propaganda” or too “woke” for students to learn about, we continue to perpetuate racial division, cultural inequality and cultural and racial ignorance.
Our education is the backbone of our society, and by not teaching multiple sides of history — especially history that explains why certain disparities and systems are the way they are today — we are doing a disservice to the future members of our society: our students.
“If people took the time to sit down and understand that African American history doesn’t pose a threat to society, [they’d realize that] it can only help students be a more global and well-rounded person with a newfound perspective,” McLeod said.
Black history is not “indoctrination.” It is history. Vilifying Black history is not the way to create open-minded, culturally competent students; there’s no reason we should pretend that it is.
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