The Pros And Cons Of Black History

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As the requests for Black programs in schools are increasing, so have new methods for how to teach Black history; one method that is being considered is to regress to traditional teaching styles. At the Afro-American studies conference in Atlanta, Drimmer proposed that “a track system... for Whites and Blacks, possibly with White instructors teaching the Whites and the Black instructors teaching the Blacks” would be required (441). Although this suggestion caused a turmoil among the audience, it brought up an unmentioned viewpoint to the Afro-American subject: “blacks and whites bring various levels of awareness and knowledge” (Drimmer 441). As new generations of races are developing, so are new beliefs that are leading families to accommodate …show more content…
The distortion of Black history is similar to the telephone game that many people play during their childhood. In the game, the first player begins with a true statement. Then, the first player whispers that statement to the next person and so on until the last person of the line or circle hears the statement; the original comment said at the beginning alters along the way. In American history, that miniature component of Black history that is taught gets modify or reduce even further to fit the leader’s view. It is a view that usually presents Black people as inferior and their past as irrelevant to American history. However, it is best to include all the events that occur in American history because a “history that omits or distorts it is to that extent a lie…. [A]ll Americans deserve a fully-dimensioned picture of their nation’s history” in order to fully comprehend Black history (Katz 430). Not getting the full picture of Black history is leading Black students to come to false beliefs and conclusions. Blacks current identity represents the society they live in and not one based on their authentic culture. One method that can be useful in correcting complications would be to target the source that teaches this content to …show more content…
The repeated exposure of Black history pressures schools to incorporate more material about black people in their libraries and classrooms in order to coincide with what is being taught. Black emphasis on its concepts eventually urges schools in “ reinforcing the concept that all cultures must be respected and appreciated for their cultural attributions to America as well as to World History”(Hale 269). This will provoke Blacks to have pride in their culture, something that has been diminishing over time. No matter how much a person endures to not conform with the ideal identity portrayed in communities and the media , they eventually give in due to the consequences that confront social scripts or lack of acceptance bring to them. Blacks “are not socialized to succeed in an educational system dominated by whites; rather they

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