Managers and teachers with three major Nebraska districts refused to talk about the education of black history this year, saying that it was either sticky material or citing the “national dialogue in Evolution of educational observances ”, according to a school district.
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, recently attended a national meeting with other leaders of the teachers’ union.
“There is such a deep scary effect that has occurred at the moment because of the orders that come out of Washington,” he said. “I do not think that a school or a district wants to talk about it for fear that it will be armed and used against them to potentially remove federal funding.”
Royers, a former history professor, said that educators at the forefront of these discussions are exhausted and that these pressures contribute to a low retention of teachers.
Studies show that rural districts – the majority of Nebraska school districts – have some of the highest teachers’ renewal rates.
“(Teachers are not necessarily distant from doing the work to educate black history, but, I mean literally, we hear stories if a program mentions the word equity, they are contacted to demand that ‘They closed the program down or they will lose funding, “said Royers.
Defend the month of black history
But not all teachers live these same tensions. Dan Wade III is a professor of social sciences in Oxnard, a city in southern California. He co-wrote an African-American study course for his high school, which launched last year. He said that his school district was favorable.
His class was close to capacity.
“Eighty-five percent of students are not African-Americans who follow the class,” he said.
Wade said that it is often students who direct class discussions based on current events.
“I who teaches this class, it looks almost like a way to defend the history of blacks,” he said. “I think that is essentially what I say is that it made me go up in a way in a way that I would have avoided.”
But Wade said that he was not sure of the future of his class when the debate continues on how schools should teach the history of blacks.
“Black stories are not those that are generally taught in their traditional program, and we include different groups of people. So, you know, essentially, I have the impression that an attack on Dei can also be an attack on black stories or Asian American stories, Mexican-chicano stories and so on, “he declared.
The month of black history concerns achievements and history
The letter from “dear colleague” sent to schools earlier this month of the Office of the Department of American Education for Civil Rights accused schools and universities of “preferences based on race and other forms of discrimination racial ”.
“American educational establishments discriminated against students on the basis of the breed, including white and Asian students,” said the letter.
Lagarrett King, professor of education in social studies at New York State University in Buffalo, is director of the Center from kindergarten to the 12th year, the history of blacks and racial literacy.
“Lately, you know:” No one should learn that any breed is superior. It is not taught in black history. No one tends that blacks are superior to whites, “he said.
Royers added that the education of history consists in sharing the whole truth, even if it can be ugly.
“The month of the history of blacks concerns two different things: raising black achievements and contributions to American history which could otherwise have been told or under-controlled, but also recognize the history of the systemic oppression that has been used to reduce black votes and black participation in society, “he said.
King said that black educators often lead the charge to teach more about the history of blacks, but that black teachers are considerably underrepresented in American schools. According to data published in 2020 by the National Center for Education Statistics, around 80% of teachers from American public schools identified as white, non -Hispanic.
King said that there was a hesitation in teaching the history of blacks for two reasons: many educators and programs of programs lack formal black historical education of schools and many black educators do a better job of teaching Black history because of the unofficial spaces where they learn black history as at home and in churches and community centers.
“It is through their perspectives. These are their voices, their experiences, right? So, when you supervise the history of blacks in this way, apart from the black story which is taught from the objective of a white person, it could be a little intimidating so that people even approach this “He said.
Mrs. Gwen’s pre-K lesson plan that day included learning to stop, invented by the black businessman Garrett Morgan.
“Black history, you know, that’s something we should all learn. This is part of our history. Because now I am not sure, I read different things that they could eliminate the history of blacks and the black studies of the schools. So if they don’t get it here, they might not get it, “said Partridge.
