Why Our History Education is Failing Us
Over the past few weeks, many non-black Americans have been looking to understand how they can support Black people and put an end to racist systems in our country. We’re sharing resources that people can read, support, and watch to learn about racism in American society. However, if you were born in the States, how could you have not known the extent of racism’s effects on Black people even though you have had some level of compulsory education? Like me, you’ve taken history tests and learned about events and concepts that are the foundations of America. But you haven’t been taught about racism as an enduring system in the U.S.
Our history is part of our identity. The never-ending stream of police brutality, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minority communities, and the continued inequality in our education systems have shown many white Americans what many people of color in this country have known for a long time: We, as a nation, are not who we think we are. Our history education has kept us from coming to terms with the realities of everyday life for Black people.
I realized this for the first time during my first tour in Afghanistan. As I spent my days fighting this nation’s wars, I spent my nights reading about police brutality against Black people — evidence that maybe the freedom I was fighting for wasn’t designed for people that look like me. But I wanted to move past anger and into understanding. I was fairly educated, but nothing from my grade school or my undergraduate experience could help me think critically about what I was seeing.
When I got back home, I stumbled upon a book called Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. The book argues that much of the U.S. history that we learn is designed to make white Americans feel good about the story of America. And to do that, one would have to hide many details of the African-American experience in the U.S. We celebrate a limited, often misleading view of African Americans in the U.S. for one month each year, yet non-black Americans are surprised at the recent upheaval spreading in the nation.
When — or if — things die down and we return to some level of normalcy, we still need to do the real work of changing how we learn about American history. Billions of dollars are spent on educational content that blinds Americans to the injustices that Black people and other marginalized communities face. Luckily, we’re in the age of digital innovation, and many entrepreneurs are looking for ways to change our thinking around social issues. I believe we need to overhaul the methods and content that drive history education in our classrooms so that we can avoid having to fight for empathy, understanding, and critical thought around social issues.
Steph Manuel is a Black combat veteran and the founder of TrueFiktion, an edtech company that uses comics, curriculum, and courses to tell the untold stories of marginalized groups. He is a strategy consultant with degrees from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and West Point. Learn more about TrueFiktion at app.truefiktion.com.
