Black History Month is upon us. During this month, Black heritage is celebrated but more work still needs to be done. The main way that schools can help this problem is allowing African American people to be portrayed more in the education system.
One of the easiest ways of representing them more inside the education system would be the way history is taught. African Americans are already included in history, but children don’t ever see the real depth and how much they affected the country. For example, all that most children are taught about is slavery, and that there were a few people who tried to rebel against adversity. For example, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Oliver Brown are only a few of the many people who had a great effect on history.
In history, there are many activists that had an important role and helped people later in the 21st century. For example, one person that should be added first into history classes is Mary Ellen Pleasant. She was one of the African American women who helped the fight against slavery. She helped slaves escape to the north, which is similar to what Harriet Tubman did. She made history by going to court for a lawsuit over segregation and won the case, but is still not talked about in most history course’s curriculum. So, it’s important to work to add more detail to history classes by using more people of color’s stories.
The best solution is to include African American history in more schools. Luckily, Steinbrenner is one of the schools that already has a class on African American history, however the amount of students is low. These classes teach about Black history, allowing many things to be covered such as slavery, activism, entrepreneurs, and inventors that built United States history.
Without the inclusion of African Americans in education, students will be missing out on so much important information. That’s why during the month of February, it’s important to talk and spread the word about Black History Month. Ethnic history months, along with more diversity in history classes, will make for more inclusive environments in schools.
Charlese Thybulle // Staff Writer
