U.S. history is incomplete without Black history.
The Shorthorn Editorial Board believes students should actively educate themselves. If this education is not sought out, people will have an incomplete or inaccurate understanding of our nation’s background.
House and Senate bills and teacher shortages are affecting this learning process.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3979 in 2021, stating K-12 teachers should not be compelled to discuss widely debated or controversial issues related to public policy or social affairs in Texas public school classrooms.
The legislature amended HB 3979 with Senate Bill 3 to exclude various “historical documents related to the civic accomplishments of marginalized populations” from the Education Code in Texas statutes, according to the bill. This includes Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the history of white supremacy and the Emancipation Proclamation, the document declaring all “persons held as slaves” free, to name a few.
It also requires teachers to go through a civics training program.
While these mandates impact how history is taught in schools, the more pressing issue is the growing trend of hiring unqualified teachers — magnified by the repercussions of COVID-19, according to The Texas Tribune.
Hiring these educators — especially to cover topics such as race, history and social issues — puts students at risk of receiving incomplete, inaccurate or even harmful information about Black history and its role in the U.S.
Following the pandemic, teacher decline has increased from around 9% to 12% with 13.4% of teachers leaving the profession between fall 2021 and fall 2022, according to the Texas Education Agency.
A growing number of educators are leaving their positions as parents accuse them of teaching critical race theory, an academic framework traditionally taught in graduate schools that discusses how racial discrimination is embedded within U.S. laws and policies, according to an NBC News article.
This leaves some educators who, while with good intentions, lack the necessary background and maturity to teach sensitive topics. They risk misrepresenting the material or fail to provide the depth to give students a proper understanding of this history.
“I’d rather they learn it from someone who’s very comfortable and feels like an expert talking about these issues, rather than someone who’s not very comfortable talking about them,” said Jason Shelton, Center for African American Studies director. “There’s a level of maturity and expertise I think that has to come along with those conversations.”
For instance, the history of Black Americans in the U.S. is deeply rooted in topics of power, inequality and systemic oppression. These topics require teachers equipped with factual knowledge and tools to enable meaningful and accurate discussions.
The lack of Black history properly taught in Texas public school curriculum does not give students a holistic background of the U.S.
Learning about Black history helps students understand how U.S. values are supposed to be upheld. Access to this information can help people practice inquiry and discourse they might need in the future.
“Disparities still continue in American society and best thing to do to address those disparities is to not ignore them but at least talk about them and figure out ways that we, as a nation, can address them,” he said.
Without the requirement to teach controversial race-related issues, Texas schools are free to choose lesson plans that gloss over certain Black history topics that teachers and professors may find uncomfortable.
Shelton said that while K-12 teachers may not be the right people to lead these conversations, college professors don’t need to shy away.
“The teacher has to be ready to teach it and the young people have to be ready to receive it,” he said
The knowledge gap is not only a result of an incomplete K-12 curriculum but a reflection of our society’s habit of downplaying critical aspects of U.S. history.
“I am fully aware that when students come into my class, there’s a very good possibility that they don’t know anything about the racial and ethnic history of the United States of America,” Shelton said.
Among Black Americans, about 51% claim they feel very or extremely informed about the history of Black people in the U.S., while 37% say they’re somewhat informed and 11% say they are little to not informed at all, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center report.
Black adults aged 30 or older are likely to feel more informed than those under 30, which questions if Black history is being taught less accurately and in-depth than before.
Students must actively seek this knowledge whether through reading historical documents or watching informative films. People can take control of their education.
We can’t shy away from Black history because it makes some people uncomfortable. It’s an integral part of our nation’s identity, an ongoing fight for justice and equality and it’s something everyone should learn.
“We’ve come a long way, but as my grandmother would always say, ‘We got a long way to go,’” Shelton said.
The Shorthorn Editorial Board is made up of opinion editor Leslie Orozco; editor-in-chief Christine Vo; copy desk chief Jinelle Sánchez; associate news editor Amanda Aldridge; sports editor Matthew Tibebe; engagement editor Sairam Marupudi; copy editor James Sanderson; news reporters Shelby Carter; and Taylor Sansom; and engagement producer Jessica Arnold.
