Black History Month is a very important month in our country’s history, paving the way for many more generations to come. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Henrietta Lacks, and so many more unnamed, brave souls have helped our society become a more accepting one throughout the decades.
But, are teachers sharing this history with students?
In a survey of staff, 16 teachers responded. Of the group, 62.5% did assignments for Black History Month, and out of that, the average number of assignments was two.
Full statistics show two teachers doing one assignment, two teachers doing two, three teachers doing three, one teacher doing four and one teacher doing five or more. But that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge a union with purpose, To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, what stands before us.” — AMANDA GORMAN NATIONAL YOUTH POET LAUREATE
While these numbers represent a rather large step in the right direction, and teaching methods vary in approach. Corey Baird, who, while not teaching specifics for Black History Month, does teach black history to his students.
“African American history was not getting it’s proper attention,” Baird said. “And so, they wanted to devote a particular month to that cause.”
Black history, along with other indigenous cultures, can sometimes be skipped over in classes, as it can be seen as political by some, or inappropriate for children, due to said previous alleged political nature.
An elementary school in Mason, for example, reprimanded a teacher for wanting to teach their students about Black History month, which led to the teacher resigning from their position. The school deemed the subject too political for the learning environment. This teacher wanted to teach her students this, as she had many students of diverse backgrounds in her classroom.
Learning about black history can open up mindsets to different views and cultures, make people become more aware, and help children that are associated with these cultures feel more accepted and normalized by society.
“Pretty much any minority in U.S. history, for the most part, up until recently, [had it] hard, so I believe that there’s months that were put together to try to emphasize the fact that it’s not being covered up,” Baird said.
