American history textbooks today are not what they should be, plain and simple. Slowly but surely, certain historical events surrounding race are being watered down or erased entirely from textbooks. Christopher Columbus has been controversial for several years because students are being taught the false history that he simply stumbled upon the Americas and made nice with the Indiginous people there. The truth is, when he “discovered” the Americas, he enslaved the Natives, forced them to convert to Christianity, and committed mass genocide. In 2015, McGraw Hill was criticized for referring to the slaves brought over from Africa as “workers” in part of their textbooks. More textbooks and curriculums focus solely on slavery and the civil rights movement for Black history, robbing students of the full extent of Black history. In the classroom, we do not focus on the achievements of Black scientists, inventors, mathematicians, artists, or authors. This happens not only in our textbooks but in our culture as Americans; we are beginning to deny and/or erase the sordid parts of our history that make us uncomfortable while at the same time not celebrating the widespread achievements of Black America.
Texas is one of the most controversial states regarding the erasure of Black history in classrooms. In an attempt to correct “liberal bias,” according to the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), a Texas history curriculum has taught affirmative action as well as other accomplishments of the civil rights movement as “consequences” as opposed to victories. Many historians are speaking out against the Texas curriculum because it insinuates that White America is being “robbed” of opportunity when, in truth, affirmative action provides opportunity to Black America where it did not exist before. Commandeering the information that American citizens receive reduces the influence of anyone besides White America.
The problem with sanitizing our history is that it affects the way we understand our country’s roots and therefore how we understand each other. America has a particularly tumultuous past when it comes to race, and often people, especially White America, are uncomfortable talking about it. White America is often afraid to say something wrong and ends up not saying anything at all. This is where the problem lies. It is not only our right but our responsibility as citizens of the United States to know the entirety of our country’s history and not just the history of White America.
Racism in our history textbooks is just one of our country’s many problems surrounding race. Too many White Americans are under the impression that racism ended with the civil rights movement. Too many Black Americans are being shot, terrorized, experiencing microaggressions, and more, and the ignorance of White America is prolonging these actions by excusing them with little consequence. The responsibility of historians is not to sanitize history, but to educate citizens of the United States so that we avoid the same mistakes in the future.
The solution is not to whitewash our history but to embrace diversity, especially inside the classroom. Whether on a college campus or in a high school, middle school, or elementary school, insisting upon diversity in courses, conversations, department chairs, faculty, staff, student body, and boards of trustees is vital. It is critical to have expectations because a lack of diversity on campus and in the classroom negatively impacts everyone’s education and life experience.
https://ncac.org/news/blog/a-textbook-case-of-censorship
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/the-history-class-dilemma/411601/