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Case: Why No White History Month? It is the month of February again, and I am very excited about the Black History month. As a young African American elementary school teacher, I make sure that I fully take advantage of the Black History month in my lessons with my 5th graders. Yesterday, we were talking about important African American political figures, who made life better for all Americans. During this lesson, one of my students raised her hand and asked why there was no "White History month?" "Were White Americans not as important?" I did not have a good answer to her question. I must be doing something wrong to have a student feel this way. How would you answer this question? Do you think it is problematic to integrate African Americans to all my lessons during February? How can I fix this? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) First of all, let me congratulate you for working to integrate as much Black History into your 5th grade class as you can - I think it is wonderful to recognize those who have overcome injustice and have had great success to improve the world around them no matter what race they are. I do not think that you have done anything wrong to have a student ask a question like they did - students are curious and will ask whatever pops in their minds without realizing the potential impacts it may have on others around them including their teacher. I do not think it is problematic to integrate African Americans into all of your lessons during February, I think it is the perfect way to allow the students to celebrate great people who have gone on before them. Solutions: I think one way to potentially answer this student's question is to begin with an explanation of why Black History Month exists and there are a variety of reasons behind it, but giving simple facts can help students make more sense of what could be a purely curious or divisive question. A question of this could be a bit jarring and off-putting to hear in class especially considering all of the work you are doing to create lessons on African Americans who have done great things, the teacher could respond to the student with a question in kind: If we were to have a White History Month we would need to celebrate it in a similar fashion, we would need to find white people who overcame great injustices to their race and were not treated as equals by their government for many years and found ways to overcome the injustice of a country that enslaved their race for hundreds of years. Students could then research this and perhaps find that if we were to celebrate White History month, given these connotations, it might be difficult to find a comparable level of both injustice and accomplishment unless of course those white people were Jews in concentration camps under the reign of Nazi Germany (which is not really American History per se). Another important issue to consider is that we should also look at other races and determine how we can celebrate Native Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans and those who have migrated to the US and see it as a place of opportunity. A celebration of Black History month actually opens us up to greater questions of where we have come from as an entire country. We have come a long way, a country that once brought people of a different race here unwillingly to serve as slaves, now has long waiting lists of people who want to come here to enjoy some of the great benefits and opportunities that are available only in America. This great social experiment with government by the people and for the people has actually created one of the most racially diverse countries in the world. Despite negative treatment of various races in the past, Black History Month is a celebration of what we can look forward to in the future, as those of all races come to the United States to improve their place in life and look for new opportunities for their families. |
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