By Anthony Crawford
When I was a junior in high school, I was kicked out of class for asking the teacher when we were going to learn about Black history. It was Black History Month.
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the first week of February. Monday passed, no Black history. Tuesday, still no Black history. On Wednesday, I finally spoke up. I asked the teacher, “When are you going to teach us about Black history? Are you going to teach us anything about Black people?” He turned red and said, “I will not deal with this in my classroom,” and asked me to leave. So I tossed my textbook on the ground and walked out of class.
Growing up, I learned a lot of European history in school, like Shakespeare or Victorian literature. I had a sixth-grade teacher who was interested and taught us about Black history — but other than that, I literally do not remember learning anything about Black history in my K-12 education.
Today, it’s not that different. A lot of my students were never taught any Black history until my class. They’re learning about things like the Harlem Renaissance and Reconstruction for the first time — as juniors and seniors in high school. In a way, I can understand why. Black history is graphic and violent, and we don’t want to traumatize our students. But in order to break those barriers, we first have to talk 
about it.
Black history is important for all students because most of the things that happened in history are still happening today. We think of slavery as a thing of the past, but mass incarceration and its gateway, the school to prison pipeline, are the new slavery. I teach my students about these issues because It helps them understand what kind of society they live in and how this reality came into being.
It’s especially important for Black students: Without understanding what happened and is still happening to their people, they won’t know how to maneuver in society once they step out of my classroom and into the real world. It’s like going into a fire not knowing that you’ll get burned. I want to prepare them for the harsh realities that they’re going to face every day as they become adults.
Already, I can see the impact on my students after they are introduced to these subjects. They start learning how to think critically and debate with each other. Their parents will call me and say how much they appreciate it because they didn’t know how to introduce some of these ideas to their kids, or when was an appropriate time. Black history is hard to talk about, but learning about it builds my students’ confidence and empowers them to take life into their own hands.
Right now, it’s even more important to have these conversations because of the current debate about teaching “critical race theory” in schools. Oklahoma, where I live, is one of nine states that passed classroom censorship bills last year that try to silence conversations about race and gender. I have chosen to defy the law and have not altered my teaching, but I know a lot of teachers who are afraid to talk about these issues because they could lose their teaching licenses if someone complains and they are found to be in violation of this confusing and overbroad statute. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about teaching race in the classroom, and I hope it doesn’t prevent more students from getting a real and inclusive education — especially during Black history month.
Anthony Crawford is a Teacher at Millwood High School. Article published by ACLU.
I don’t think most people have any problem teaching some black history in school. But many parents draw the line when it comes to teaching CRT to their children, which is not the same as teaching history.
I would be interested in seeing any example you have, Keith, where CRT was included in a K-12 curriculum.
I realize this article is not about Critical Race Theory, but since it was brought up in the context of black history I will take the opportunity share some resources about it, in hopes that it will move the conversation forward. The American Bar Association has a useful article laying out some of its principles and examines its use in law and education. Here are four key tenets from the article:
Evangelical scholar (that’s right, evangelical) Nathan Cartagena has done an amazing job in this series of podcasts laying out the historical and philosophical underpinnings of CRT. You will want to skip through some of it, perhaps, because the podcast is geared to a particular type of Christian audience. Still, it is well worth it. Cartagena is brilliant and, consistent with CRT practice, draws upon his own lived experience as a Puerto Rican to illustrate many points.
One of the examples that Cartagena gives about how laws are “durable” and used to systematically discriminate against racialized minorities (his preferred term) is the “Doctrine of Discovery”, which was first articulated by 15th century popes, but remains in effect into the present. Cartagena meticulously demonstrates the impact of this doctrine on everything from Native American genocide to housing discrimination. Pretty Amazing.
CRT as CRT is not typically taught in primary or secondary schools, but it would be wrong to say that CRT thinking about things such things as deficit oriented instruction or the differential discipline of students of color has not been important in modern education.
“Acknowledgement” would go beyond theory.
How is it that racism is “embedded within systems and institutions, like the legal system”? Do those who subscribe to that theory believe that there’s no differences between different groups, in regard to crime rates? If so, there seems to be a gigantic “hole” in the theory.
Sounds anecdotal (rather than data-driven), they way that’s presented. Also, what is “deficit- informed”?
Do white people have “lived experiences” regarding racism? (I can tell you “anecdotally” that they do. All skin colors do.) Probably due to the “social construct” nature of it, as described in your reference.
That part I agree with, but probably not in the way that it’s intended.
Yes – it influences how things are taught. And some teachers go far beyond the “curriculum”, from the videos I’ve seen.
I don’t think most people have any idea what CRT is or whether it was or is taught in the schools.
Millwood High School is located at 6718 N Martin Luther King Ave in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Just sayin’ 😉
I clicked on the ‘classroom censorship’ link in the article above because I wanted to learn more about exactly what the ‘classroom censorship’ laws in Oklahoma actually say, so that I could decide for myself if the laws constituted ‘classroom censorship’ as so labeled by the author of this article.
What the link took me to was a large donation request box for the ACLU asking for a credit card, and if you scroll down further you find a bio on this same author followed by the same article.
I thought links were supposed to take you to the reference for the statement made, like old fashioned footnotes did — not requests for money from organizations plus information feedback loops.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-governor-signs-ban-teaching-critical-race-theory-77564832
From Vanguard article:
I certainly do remember it. And that was decades ago. Including works from black authors, such as Maya Angelou. Though truth be told, a lot of literature probably goes right over the heads of young children – regardless of its importance.
For that matter, I don’t even clearly recall all of the other literature that was assigned, either. It wasn’t until later, that work by any particular “skin color” had much personal relevance, to me. I doubt that I really understood the message of “Animal Farm” at the time, either. (I should probably re-read that, to see what it was actually about.) I may not have even appreciated the Diary of Anne Frank, for all I can recall. I was probably thinking about a girl sitting next to me, instead. Or, recess.
However, I would not describe “black history” as being limited to works by black authors, as the author of this article apparently does. I remember a lot more than that, being taught.
And even though I grew up shortly after MLK was assassinated, that already seemed like “ancient history” at the time, to me. But it certainly was taught, as was the civil rights movement.
And WWII? Forget about it. Might as well have been the civil war, despite those close to me being involved in it.
As does 9/11, to the kids nowadays.
Sounds like a reason to shut-down schools. (Probably an old joke.)
In all seriousness, perhaps the thing I remember the “most” from school is not feeling particularly safe there, or on the public transit systems used to get there.
Often, due to my “white” skin color. And I wasn’t alone, in that. (Far from it.) And in reality, I wasn’t safe – based upon periodic experiences.
I also recall feeling angry that this was allowed to occur, to the point that it soured me on public education and public transit (and ended-up impacting my education). And however it’s actually intended, I view the focus on “critical race theory” as a continuation and accelerant regarding the situation, depending upon “which” school system is referred to. In other words, probably not a problem in school systems that aren’t all that “diverse” in the first place.
And yet, no one wants to admit that this occurs. They simply move to places like Davis, Roseville and Folsom, if they can. (Assuming that they don’t want to pay for private or religious schools.) And then they can safely engage in “lip service” regarding diversity, while remaining in their relatively-safe enclaves.
Meanwhile, they avoid places like Stockton (or even parts of Sacramento). (I can rattle-off a whole bunch of other places, as well.)