Let’s Teach About the Injustices and Successes of All Americans

By Sarah Daley (As published in The Union)

In response to Marianne Lyons and Thea Hood's comments about “critical race theory” in the Hit or Miss section of March 24, I would like to remind everyone that this theory is not taught in public schools but rather in some graduate schools.  I know because I studied it in my master's program in social work.  Instead, this debate is about whose histories of America get to be taught in our public schools.

I worked as a teacher in an inner city high school for three years.  The teachers of the American history classes only taught about white people.  The curriculum excluded the accomplishments and contributions African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans made towards helping our country become as great as it is.  When schools ignore their stories, they unwittingly contribute towards maintaining  negative stereotypes about minorities and perpetuating racism against them. 

As I mentioned in a previous letter, I witnessed a white man call an African American man the N word at Safeway.  When I confronted the white man, he was proud of what he did.  I told him he was perpetuating racism by doing that, and he denied it.  He also denied that his behavior was a bad example for his son.  He was proudly teaching his son to be racist, too.

If our schools discussed the excellence of African Americans in succeeding in this country despite the adversities that they experienced, it would be easier for African American students to take pride in themselves and in their ancestors.  When white people learn about African American success stories, they too will view them as people worthy of respect and will learn not to demonize nor to treat them in a racist manner.  And that white man would have never called that African American the N word.

On another note, Germany requires their schools to teach their students about the Holocaust in order to break the cycle of antisemitism in their country.  If German students are strong enough to learn about their country's ugly history, why aren't white American students?  Are white people that fragile?  I don't think so.  

When teachers balance the negative parts of our history with the excellence of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and the white people who helped African American slaves to escape, students will learn that all people have the potential for greatness in America.  They will also learn how not to perpetuate the racism that prevents many African Americans from succeeding in this country.  Sounds like a win-win to me.