do we focus to much on black history?

Question

i was just talking to my boy.he is in the eight grade and knows all about martin luther king jr and selma alabama wich is wonderfull i have no problem with that at all.but seems like he dosnt know anything about our countries true founders and some of the imoprtant white men that shaped it??once again im not saying they should take anything out just ad a few things back in..what about davey crocket,daniel boon..and the lewis and clark expidition he didnt know any of that.except he had heard of lewis and clark..are we missing somthing??

i didnt say we shoul do away with black history to the contrary i said it was wonderfull that he knew just thought he should know some of the other things that our founding fathers had done as well im not trying to insult anyone nor take black history away as this also is part of our country as well as built on the backs of the chineese and the irish and a few more..evryone should share a little of there history thats equality

Answer 1

Yes. Martin Luther King drives are in every city in America. Yeah he was a great guy, but no more so than a host of other Americans.

My heritage is Scots-Irish and guys like Boone and Crockett are my kin. Not many streets named for them anymore.

Personally, I think we need American History. No African American, Irish American, Chinese-American, Cuban-American or any other kind of American.

The history of our country belongs to all of us and should not be subdivided in the name of political correctness.

Otherwise you end up thinking the 54th MASS. Regt. won the Civil War and that the Tuskegee Airman defeated the Luftwaffe.

Answer 2

I teach a lot of African-American history in my high school American History classes, and I completely understand what you're saying. I think that teaching history without a balance between different perspectives is not good teaching.

But you can only fit so much content into a school year, so there's a limit on how much you can add. It becomes a question of priorities. Was Dr. King's contribution in Selma more historically signficant than Thomas Jefferson's contribution in 1776? Probably not. Omitting Jefferson from an American History class would be a big mistake. But leaving out Davy Crockett is not so terrible, in my opinion. He's interesting, but I'd let a student choose him for a self-selected topic for some sort of history project, rather than teach the whole class about him.

On the other hand, using black history as a lens, you can study the founding of our country (by looking at the fact that slavery and equal treatment under the law was already being argued about by the founding fathers, and the issue of why "all men are created equal" didn't apply to non-white folks, women, or non-landowners, for example), Western expansion, the Civil War era, the industrial revolution, or just about any major period of our history.

There's also the legitimate complaint that Anglo-centric history was taught for many generations at the expense of other cultures who contributed to our country's history. When I went to a suburban high school in the late 1970s, I don't think I learned a thing about black people. So this is the pendulum swinging the other way to restore some sort of equilibrium.

I've found, interestingly, that when my students study Celtic mythology in a mythology class, many of them realize that they too have an ethnic and cultural history, that their culture isn't just plain "normal' (which implies that others' cultures are marginal) but is the specific product of where their ancestors came from and what they experienced. When they learn that their ancestors too have been discriminated against (and boy, did the Irish suffer), they become more sympathetic to the discrimination suffered by African-Americans.

So, the short answer: I agree with you. But finding that balance is a very tricky task.

Answer 3

Maybe we should strike the celebrations of Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays in February. Black History is only 1 month out of 12 yet it focuses on extremely relevant and pertinent historical events that shaped the formation of this great country. Your boy should know about great African Americans because you and he and all of us enjoy many freedoms, musical traditions, inventions, medical break-throughs, educational benefits, etc... all the result of the efforts, contributions, and sweat of Black folks who helped build this great country. You would do well to listen to your boy and let him teach you a few things.

Answer 4

Why indeed?

Should there be history chairs in Black History, but not in Irish or Polish or Jewish?

I don't think any of these qualifies for a department, so mark me down as a bigot.

Answer 5

Yes we do! I would like to see this changed.

Answer 6

i think you answered your own question.
i agree