In some cases, what is taught is incorrect. A comparison of middle school and high school history textbooks used in California and Texas by education writer Dana Goldstein highlighted that the content did not “deal frankly with the fact that many of the Founding Fathers were slave owners.” The history textbooks misleadingly described the trans-Atlantic slave trade as the immigration of “millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.” Goldstein also found that history textbooks from the same publisher customized information to accommodate school district politics, providing different content depending on whether the district was liberal or conservative leaning.⁶ Similarly, misinformation was uncovered in the investigation conducted by CBS News. For example, they found that 16 states still list states’ rights and other reasons, not slavery, as a principal cause of the Civil War in their social studies standards.³

According to a 2018 report from the U.S. Department of Education, only 7% of public school primary and secondary education teachers are Black.⁷ Thus, in many cases what is taught lacks the appropriate cultural insight, sensitivity and perspective. White educators, who represent 80% of all teachers, “some of whom grew up learning that the was about states’ rights, generally have a hand in the selection of textbooks.”⁸

Few K-12 teachers “have the textbooks, understanding or comfort with the material necessary to teach about slavery.”⁹ Similarly, the NMAAHC report found that some teachers lack the content knowledge and confidence to teach Black history.¹

As a result, what is taught can be humiliating for Black students and offensive to Black parents. This is illustrated in the CBS News investigative segment that aired on CBS This Morning, where they show homework assignments that directed students to “put a price on slaves,” “write funny captions on images of freed slaves,” or “make Black students act as slaves.”³ Other dehumanizing class activities have included mock slave auctions, directing some students to act as slaves and slave catchers, the dramatization of the middle passage with Black students tied under desks, and having students write fun slavery songs. 1,4

Black history is also completely detached from African Civilization, which is fatally shortsighted. For many children, their first introduction to Black history is learning that Black people were enslaved. This sets their perception of Black people from that point forward. For many Black children, their first introduction to their ancestors is as enslaved people. This frames their perception of their own people and themselves from that point forward. Among the state Black history mandates reviewed by Professor King, only three require that their Black history curriculum begin with Africa.¹

As a result, Black children are not being accurately taught about who they are and where they come from. They are not being taught about what their ancestors achieved in Africa prior to or since the first Africans arrived in America. They are not being taught about the richness and breadth of contributions their ancestors have made to this country. This ultimately leaves Black students with a diminished sense of self, compounding the damage already done due to an inability to connect their lineage back to its origins.

The reality is that most Black history is taught by Black parents or self-taught as Black students get older.⁸ Some Black students never get an in-depth exposure to Black history unless they are fortunate enough to pursue post-secondary studies and attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a predominately white institution with a Black Studies program.

Unfortunately, many students of other races never get adequate exposure to Black history. According to Professor King, “only about 20 percent of white students take ethnic studies classes in college.”²