Black history month is a time to celebrate the culture and achievements of African Americans but should not only be spoke about or taught during the month. The school curriculum does not require black history to be taught as it is up to the schools or teachers to decide if they want to teach it. As the years have passed, students are learning less and schools are not teaching events that older generations have learned, instead they are teaching shortened “sanitized” stories to run past with the students.
In most schools, teachers start talking about black history and slavery in grades 4th and 5th. They introduce popular figures like Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass, and Martin Luther king jr. These people are great to talk about during black history month because of their accomplishments, but the events leading up to their actions are not being taught by teachers. The problem in these situations are most African American kids are growing up and experiencing racism and bullying in schools or in public due to the lack of educated children and unlimited access to the internet kids have as they repeat things they may not know the meaning to.
History teacher, Mr. Angle described how he includes black history into his classes. He says it is much easier to teach black history since he is a history teacher but it is imperative to learn about all individuals who have contributed to the American journey. He believes there are any lessons to be taught in life that stem from history and credit should be given to those who earned it. “That makes it an important asset to our learning.”
In a lot of cases kids are learning certain behaviors from the adults around them as they seem to pick up and copy authority at home. This makes it hard confusing for young kids because they are not told what is happening and are pushed to the side as many think the bullying will pass with time and age. Not being accepted for your skin color from an early age takes a big toll on African Americans and continues to be apart of the culture. Teaching students to understand what happened in the times of slavery, segregation, and how far African American culture has come will show kids how harmful words and actions were and still can be.
Only mentioning black history once a year does not give enough spotlight to how much African Americans had to endure and achieve things they have today. Even though they have come far, they still face discrimination. They face micro aggressions daily, issues in hiring and lower pay, underfunded schools in colored communities, racial profiling, and over policing. Schools and parents need to continue to educate their children on the past but not just in February but all year round as black history did not only happen in one month but for a century. As time will continue to pass the history of African Americans will remain as one of the most prominent issues in the U.S.
