Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         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!) Any time a teacher is approaching an issue of race in terms of curriculum and the classroom, it can be uncomfortable for the teacher and their students. This can be particularly true if the teacher is of a different race than their students and is afraid of saying the wrong thing or offending their students (I was often terrified I would unknowingly say something offensive when I began my career teaching as a 21-year-old white teacher at a predominantly African-American middle school -- luckily I had a great group of students and after we had a rapport, I got over it). In response to the question "Why is there no white history month?", I don't think there is anything wrong with talking with students about the fact that most textbooks and resources used throughout the year more than adequately cover contributions made by white figures throughout history. I also think it's ok to take time out (and it doesn't have to be in February) to focus on the contributions of African-Americans. The same could be said for focusing on the accomplishments of other underrepresented groups as well. The simplest solution, however, would probably be to make a concerted effort to embed African-American figures throughout the year-long curriculum so the necessity of "Black History Month" lessons is lessened and students are already familiar with the broad range of contributions of people from different backgrounds.