{"id":46740,"date":"2019-02-01T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=46740"},"modified":"2019-02-01T12:00:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T20:00:35","slug":"3-ways-to-improve-education-about-slavery-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/3-ways-to-improve-education-about-slavery-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"3 ways to improve education about slavery in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nWhen it comes to teaching students about slavery in the United States, teachers often stumble through the topic. In the worst cases, they use poorly conceived lessons that end up inflaming students, parents and communities about a subject that is already difficult to deal with because of the inhumanity involved.<\/p>\n

For instance, in 2018 a Bronx middle school teacher \u201cshocked and traumatized<\/a>\u201d her social studies class when she had black students lie on the floor, then \u201cstepped on their backs to show them what slavery felt like<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2012 in Georgia, a third-grade teacher resigned after an investigation found the teacher and three others had\u00a0assigned math homework with word problems about slavery<\/a>, such as, \u201cIf Frederick got two beatings each day, how many beatings did he get in one week?\u201d<\/p>\n

As a former social studies teacher and now as an assistant professor who\u00a0helps prepare educators<\/a>\u00a0to teach social studies, I have no shortage of ideas on how educators \u2013 or parents or anyone who is interested in learning more about slavery in the United States \u2013 can do a better job of understanding the subject and presenting it to others. Here are three of those ideas:<\/p>\n

1. Identify the slaveholding presidents<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Every American should know that several U.S. presidents \u2013 including some of the Founding Fathers \u2013 were slaveholders.\u00a0Twelve U.S. presidents<\/a>\u00a0held anywhere from one to hundreds of people as slaves. The nation\u2019s first president, George Washington,\u00a0enslaved over 300 people<\/a>and held slaves for 56 years. Thomas Jefferson, the nation\u2019s third president, held\u00a0600 persons as slaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This often comes as a surprise to students. In my experience, many students have also been taught that the presidents were nice and humane to their slaves. I would emphasize to students that treating a person as property is neither nice nor humane.<\/p>\n

About two years ago, critics prompted Scholastic to\u00a0stop distribution<\/a>\u00a0of a book,\u00a0\u201cA Birthday Cake for George Washington,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that depicted\u00a0\u201chappy\u201d<\/a>\u00a0slaves and which Scholastic itself admits may have given a\u00a0\u201cfalse impression of the reality of the lives of slaves.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Slavery should be taught from the perspectives of those who were enslaved. For example, the young reader\u2019s edition of\u00a0\u201cNever Caught, The Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington\u2019s Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away<\/a>,\u201d sheds light on an aspect of George Washington\u2019s life as a slaveholder that is not widely told to children.<\/p>\n

Similarly, students should contemplate the life of\u00a0Sally Hemings<\/a>, an enslaved house servant with whom Thomas Jefferson \u2013\u00a0author<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Declaration of Independence<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 fathered six children,\u00a0beginning when she was 16<\/a>. Jefferson\u00a0never publicly acknowledged<\/a>\u00a0his children with Hemings.<\/p>\n

2. Move beyond textbooks<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When it comes to dealing with slavery, textbooks often use inadequate or inaccurate descriptions. For instance, in 2015, a high school freshman noticed that his geography textbook referred to Africans brought to plantations in the United States between the 1500s and 1800s\u00a0as \u201cworkers\u201d instead of as slaves<\/a>. This\u00a0sparked widespread outrage<\/a>\u00a0as McGraw-Hill is a\u00a0major textbook publishing company<\/a>. McGraw-Hill\u00a0apologized<\/a>\u00a0and agreed to revise the textbooks.
\n

\"\"

A page from a McGraw-Hill textbook that referred to enslaved Africans transported to plantations in the United States as NPR<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

The McGraw-Hill textbook controversy was hardly an isolated issue. In 2018,\u00a0the Southern Law Poverty Center found<\/a>\u00a0that when it comes to teaching students about American slavery, \u201ctextbooks do not have enough material about it.\u201d Even the best textbook examined in the center\u2019s analysis scored just 70 percent on a rubric designed to assess how good the textbooks were teaching various aspects of U.S. slavery, such as how the nation\u2019s founding documents \u2013 the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution \u2013\u00a0contain protections for slavery<\/a>, or how\u00a0slave labor was critical to the nation\u2019s economy<\/a>. The average book scored 46 percent.<\/p>\n

Parents and educators would be wise to encourage the use of primary sources to fill in what the textbooks are missing. Primary sources include records and firsthand accounts.<\/p>\n

Since slavery in the U.S. was not\u00a0formally abolished<\/a>\u00a0until the 13th Amendment was\u00a0ratified in 1865<\/a>, today\u2019s student might think there\u2019s no way they could actually hear the voices of former slaves. But as demonstrated by\u00a0Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves tell their Stories<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a collection on file at the Library of Congress and available online \u2013 a person can actually hear firsthand accounts of life during slavery.<\/p>\n

Hearing the voices of those who were enslaved is more powerful than what could ever be captured in a textbook.<\/p>\n

Similar primary sources can be found in in the\u00a0Framework for Teaching Hard History of American Slavery<\/a>. Picture books and novels, such as those on a list titled \u201cSlavery, Resistance and Reparations<\/a>,\u201d are also a great way to engage children of all ages.<\/p>\n

3. Get out of the classroom<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Another way to learn about slavery is to visit museums and historic sites. Smaller state and local museums with exhibits, plantations, cemeteries, auction blocks and historical markers might be located in your state or local community. A librarian or archivist at a local library might be able to share unique local histories of slavery.<\/p>\n

Plan family trips or field trips to larger national museums that highlight the histories of slavery. In Washington, D.C., the\u00a0Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture<\/a>has a\u00a0\u201cSlavery and Freedom\u201d exhibition<\/a>. There is also the\u00a0Frederick Douglass National Historic Site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0National Underground Railroad Freedom Center<\/a>\u00a0in Cincinnati, Ohio,\u00a0Lest We Forget Black Holocaust Museum of Slavery<\/a>\u00a0in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the\u00a0Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration<\/a>\u00a0in Montgomery, Alabama, all provide a more comprehensive lens on the systemic oppression of slavery.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Tiffany Mitchell Patterson is an Assistant Professor of Secondary Social Studies at West Virginia University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to teaching students about slavery in the United States, teachers often stumble through the topic. In the worst cases, they use poorly conceived lessons that end up inflaming students, parents and communities about a subject that is already difficult to deal with because of the inhumanity involved. 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