Throughout the past, the Black history that has been taught in history classes has been limited primarily to slavery and Black people’s contributions to the development of America has often been overlooked. Several states — such as Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Idaho — have passed laws essentially banning the teaching of Black history or African American history by banning critical race theory from being taught in schools.
However, Black history is America’s history. The difficult history, arduous movements for justice and the enduring wounds from racism against Black people in the U.S. reveal crucial parts of the country’s history that cannot be taught otherwise. However, much of Black history has been excluded, simplified or told from the perspective of people who were not a part of it. Emphasizing the binary distinction between right and wrong in lessons in the history of enslaved African Americans can cause the stories of the enslaved to be disregarded or simplified.
“When we’re looking at history, we have to tell a complete history, so when we do not include the experiences and perspective of diverse people who were part of the formation of our nation, we’re not getting a full view of our nation’s history,” said Mrs. Jennifer LaSure, an African American Studies teacher at Cherry Hill High School East.
Not only is the exclusion of this narrative harmful for Black people, it is also detrimental and dangerous for the entire nation. Without first developing a shared understanding of the country’s racial history, progress toward racial equality remains unattainable. An in-depth class on African American history that teaches students stories about African American’s history, heritage and culture can diminish stereotypes, lessen prejudice and break harmful biases against Black people. Furthermore, it has the potential to clear up misconceptions and misinformation that cause stereotypes, racism or acts of discrimination.
“The class focuses on their history and how African Americans have been foundational to the development of our nation… We teach ancient African civilizations prior to enslavement and European colonization to understand that our history does not start with enslavement,” said Mrs. LaSure.
Although the history of African Americans originates on the continent of Africa, where diverse empires prospered and traded luxuries such as gold, salt and ivory for thousands of years, the majority of classrooms in the United States begin the study of African American history with the institution of slavery during colonial America, which reduced the enslaved people to property and erased their identities.
This exclusion of African Americans’ culture and heritage before enslavement in 17th century colonial America virtually erases Black people’s history that predates European contact. It confines students’ understanding solely to the period of enslavement, limiting their exposure to other significant achievements in black history. Providing a comprehensive exploration of Black people’s experience beyond this period would offer students a deeper and more thorough understanding of African American history.
Furthermore, the majority of what is taught about Black history centers around African Americans’ struggle against injustice, often simplifying their experiences to only oppression and liberation. Although it is crucial to educate students about the challenges faced by Black people and their fight for their rights, solely focusing Black history lessons on those aspects can overlook crucial parts of Black history that explore Black people’s humanity and culture. In contrast to lessons on American history, which continue to build upon itself by covering different periods and historical events, the same topics and content for African American history are regurgitated throughout students’ academic careers. As a result of the standard U.S. history curriculum’s oversimplification of African American history, Black people’s historical experiences are often defined only by oppression and liberation.
The Cherry Hill School District mandated African American Studies as a required course in 2020, aiming to create an environment where all voices can be heard. According to the African American Studies syllabus, the course would “cover topics, experiences, and lessons of the African American experience, both past and present” that could be “interconnected with interdisciplinary and real-world applications.”
“We look at history to understand the present, so everything we cover in this class, we look at the present and contemporary connections,” said Mrs. LaSure.
The course extensively covers the origins of African heritage that connects to modern aspects of African American culture. Teaching African history and the origins of their traditions that date back to ancient African empires that flourished for thousands of years is necessary to deconstruct misconceptions and stereotypes rooted in long-standing racism about the continent. However, ultimately students must be willing to learn about Black history in order for the course to be effective.
“I think that so far the course has done a good job at providing an opportunity to learn about history so that it does not repeat itself. However, effort is necessary to learn, so it depends on how students interpret it,” said Ciara Robinson (‘24).
Learning African American history is essential to grasp the entirety of American history. However, the primary emphasis on enslavement, oppression, and liberation in most history classes has resulted in an oversimplification or exclusion of crucial aspects from history lessons. Implementing a required African American Studies course provides students with the opportunity to learn the multifaceted aspects of Black people’s humanity and culture as well as the long history of systemic racism that persists in society today.