cedtalks:

gayahithwen:

zetsubonna:

sarah1281:

muva-taught-me:

alwaysbewoke:

cedtalks:

Professor: “Why was Elvis considered problematic?”
Class: *long awkward silence*
Me: “He became famous off of black music.”

Professor: “What state is Selma in?”
Class: *long awkward silence*
Me: “Alabama.”

Professor: “What state did the Montgomery Bus Boycotts take place in?”
Class: *long awkward silence*
Me: “Alabama.”

Professor: “What was one of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement?”
White Girl: “Uhhhhh…the blacks wanting…respect??”
Me:

The white kids thought it was gonna be about poodle skirts and milkshakes

Those questions are very basic. Why wouldn’t people know those? In college?

Hi! So! Fun fact!

Prior to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in 2013, there was no unified standard for what topics and rigor of method must be taught in American schools.

Also, afaik, the CCSS still only apply to Language Arts and Mathematics, meaning we still don’t have a nationwide standard for what is taught in history classes across the United States.

The implementation of CCSS is actually something conservatives and school choice advocates rage against and want repealed. They want to return to the days of hyperlocalization, when method and content were determined not just by state but by county. Meaning every individual county in a state could teach whatever version of localized and agenda-driven history they wanted, and thanks to their indoctrination-minded parents, most kids don’t care enough about learning to seek alternative information sources.

When I was in school in the 90s, New Hanover County schools had one of the best sex ed programs in the state of North Carolina, and I benefitted from that. You know what I didn’t learn about? The Wilmington race riots. I’m from fucking Wilmington. I didn’t learn about those until I was talking to friends who grew up in Mecklenburg County (4.5 hours across the state) as a goddamn adult. They taught it here, because they didn’t necessarily feel the need to hide that less-hyperlocal history from their children.

American revisionist history and selective memory are baked into the cake. You cannot understand the depths of injustice if you can’t see how deep the fucking roots go.

Keep digging, kids. Sunlight is the only disinfectant. Exhume the fucking bodies.

It is really weird to see the effects of history education in the US. It’s really scary sometimes. Not just the gaps in knowledge, but also the mythologization of certain aspects of american history. From the way the Pilgrims are viewed, to the general “pioneer” mythology and glossing over of the atrocities done to Native Americans. The totally apocryphal story of George Washington cutting down a tree as a child. The way the Founding Fathers are just about held to be infallible, and the US Constitution treated like a holy text.

Most countries do a bit of euphemizing their history, but the US is really notorious about it. Hey, only two years ago, there was a huge thing in Oklahoma about AP history classes, because the Republicans felt that they emphasized “what is bad about America”. Because they teach kids to look at history critically.

It shouldn’t be just AP history that does that, though. Teaching kids to look at the sources, and actually learn from the past is the bare minimum that needs to be taught in history class. It’s way more important to learn about mistakes that were done and how they’re still affecting us today than names of rulers and dates of wars, etc.

Thank you so much for this commentary! ❤️❤️❤️