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Case: I Wish I Were Black! As a teacher of 5th grade students, I try to make sure that my students have a good sense of all the people and cultures that make up this country. Last couple weeks, I paid special attention to the African American people who have made significant contributions to the US. We read a book written by Walter Dean Myers. We have studied scientists, writers, and political figures. Students were very engaged and interested in the content. Yesterday something happened that puzzled me. Three of my White students told me that they wished they were Black. This was not my intention when I planned all my lessons on contributions of African Americans. How should I address this issue? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) African American History, just like White History, did not occur in a vacuum. Both races and others, such as Native Americans, were involved in histories that taken together represent American History. I think it's important to teach History in an all encompassing manner. For instance, how Wilbur Wilberforce impacted abolition. While African Americans and their White abolitionist supporters were leading the call for reform in the US, this White politician was leading the fight in England to outlaw the slave trade. Wilberforce was supported by, among others, the Prime Minister, along with Wilberforce's pastor (a former slave ship captain) who wrote the hymn,Amazing Grace. History is dynamic and interlocking. It is easy to recognise value in all if we look at that way. |
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