Why isn't Civil Rights a mandatory junior/high school class? How can it be made to be mandatory, or at the very least, offered at these education levels?
This is kind of a broad question. You see, each state is different with what their requirements are for graduation. Each state has mandatory classes that must be taught, because the federal government says so. Each school district can also set what requirements are needed to graduated from their high schools. Each school is also different in what classes are offered. If this were not a required class, you also need a set number of students registered to even have the class.At my school, “Civil Rights” is a unit in our required government classes. So yes, it is being taught, but as it is only a unit, we don't go in as much depth as we could if it were a class all in itself.What you also have to realise, is that this is a very grey area. “Civil Rights" in general is very grey, because when it comes to teaching court cases, it varies from case to case, as the Supreme Court Of The Unites States (SCOTUS) overturns previous court cases every so often, as social issues change with the times.This isn't to say that you couldn't make this a required class, it would just be very difficult to accomplish. Don't be discouraged, because here's what you can do: Find out what is being taught at your local schools in your school district, and compare this to the state and federal standards. You could research what is being taught, and test scores from this, then make a case. Try talking to staff, the school board, and your superintendent. I'm sure these people could help, and this would be a great start.Hope this helps!
Why do you think the struggle for civil rights for african americans has been so long and so difficult?
Here is a great resource on the history of black civil rights in America. http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/...
How is American History taught in England?
It is very little taught. I had a small amount, fifty years ago. And it was taught very much that there were two sides to the dispute, one side thought this, the other side though that. There was no sense of “right” and “wrong” sides, only that the vagaries of history had brought two parties to the point where war was necessary.In fact, if we were asked to discuss it, it would have been to discuss the balance. “Could King George have made concessions which would have prevented independence?” “Was French support essential to Independence - could it have been prevented by better Anglo-French relationships?” “Did the relative qualities of American and British leaderships affect the outcome of the way, or was eventual Independence inevitable”.As Matt Lever has already said, it is not so big a deal here as it is for America. For the US, it was a founding event. For Britain, it was one in a huge list of overseas wars in out history. And modern history teaching tries not to see it as us against them, or right and wrong. The assumption is that most people did what they thought was the right thing at the time, and to understand why they thought that.
What is it like to be a black high-school student learning about slavery in a U.S. history class?
Where to even begin...?I grew up and lived in a predominantly black area. I live in the South Suburbs of Chicago. Most people in this part of the South Suburbs are black. And I mean most. In my schools, only a handful of non-black (mostly white and Latino) students attended. My high school had around 2200 students. Around 100 each were white and Latino. The number of people who were Asian wereWell, most of my education surrounding slavery was before highs school. I learned about it in kindergarten. And the lessons continued until the end of middle school.From what I can remember, very little was sugarcoated. We learned that slaves were forcibly brought here. We learned that they had no rights. We learned that the Civil War was about slavery. There was no mention of enslaved women being raped that I can recall.Regarding my feelings, it's hard to put it in words. I guess I felt detached to a certain degree. Maybe I wasn't old enough to understand completely, or maybe I figured that it was the past, but I do not recall feeling a sense of sadness. I don't know. I never really thought about it that way.In high school, we did not learn much about slavery. In Illinois that depended on what grade level you were in. Freshmen learned about world history. Sophomores learned about government and economics. Juniors learned about U.S. history. If memory serves me correctly, we started during the Civil War and ended at the Civil Rights era. We learned about the Reconstruction, Jim Crow, "Separate but Equal," and so on. But there was little information on slavery.Growing up, black history was a big deal. We had Black History Month Assemblies, watched movies in class, and did reports, and so it saddens me that in many places, black history is at most a footnote. One user on here said that the mention of slavery in school was nothing more than a SINGLE paragraph that mentioned slavery, and did not even go into depth.I will end my answer with this: history classes need to be more inclusive, and we need to learn more about marginalized people, their history, their struggles, and their triumphs.
How do you feel about the Civil Rights Movement today?
As a historian, I firmly believe that we can't know where we're going without looking back at where we have been. I can recall a time in elementary school when the only time we heard about blacks was in their capacity as slaves and the part slavery played in the Civil War. Many students never heard of such people as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, George Washington Carver, or Harriet Tubman. In essence, American history as it was taught in many places when I was a child was the history of white, Anglo-Saxon males. Precious little time was spent on learning about the contributions of other ethnicities, such as the Native Americans, blacks, Jews, Irish, Polish, German, Spanish, Italian, and any others you care to name. We all heard of John Smith, Washington, Franklin, and Lincoln, but very little of Kosciusko, Von Steuben, or John Barry. About the only woman we heard of was Betsy Ross, leaving such other figures as Phillis Wheatley (an African-born slave who went on to master the English language and become a writer of poetry), Temperance Wycke (New Jersey's Paul Revere, who actually finished her ride), and Nancy Ward (a Cherokee woman who used her position of Beloved Woman among her nation rescue the wife of a settler from execution, but learned from this woman how to make butter and cheese from the milk of domestic cattle, which skills other Cherokee women also learned. So, yes, I feel that the story of the Civil Rights movement deserves a place in history and should be taught in the schools. The blacks, historically, have had a tough time of it and their fight to be treated as full citizens is not something to be filed away under "Over and Done With." Rather, we must remember the adage "Those who will not learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Let's truly integrate by remembering the contributions of all ethnicities that make up the United States, not just those of one or two.
I need help with my American History class discussion?
Man this is easy. 1) The civil rights movement helped eliminate legal segregation -opening up more jobs, housing, schools and other areas of US life, as part of an already upward trend in the 1950s and 1960s for blacks 2) Others like women, Hispanics etc piggybacked on the civil rights movement to launch their own activists campaigns Look up the Civil Rights Movement on Wikipedia and you will get the answers easily. Use the 2 points above as a guide, See also: http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/20...
What is usually taught in high school history classes?
They only teach what is thought to be encouraging for patriotism. Even slavery/civil rights are taught in such a way to make American seem better that it is. (BTW, no black man has thanked me for my ancestors freeing them, but I have had many blamed for their ancestors enslavement.)It is strange that Nazis are always cited when an example of forced patriotism is needed, usually to show how it is bad, but athletes and cheerleaders who don’t stand for the national anthem are told to leave the country because they are not patriotic.
Why don't schools never teach black history?
Son, I don't know what school you attend however, in my district - the role of African Americans in our society, communities and our world is very important. I know there are teachers who might not broach the subject for several reasons - one, being they are very uncomfortable with it. What is important to you is that YOU should speak out. If you attend a mixed population school with diversities of cultures, make sure you let your principal know that you think Black History is important to share across the curriculum. I am happy that you recognize this. At my school, we don't want until February (the shortest month in the year) to recognize the accomplishments of blacks, but we make sure that all cultures are represented throughout the yea! Our kids will research someome and their background and each morning, on the entercom, you will hear a student praising the accomplishments of someone in our history. This is a time for you to step up. Talk with your teacher and let her know your thoughts. Ask her what she can do to help you and other students provide an activity that the whole school might enjoy. Best of luck - and if you need ideas - write me via my email. I'm happy to help you.
Discuss the varieties of white resistance to the civil rights movement. Which were most effective in slowing t?
1. Conservative white citizens, political leaders, local officials, and organizations like the White Citizens' Council continued to use intimidation, violence, and economic reprisals to "make it difficult, it not impossible, for any ***** who advocates desegregation to find and hold a job, get credit, or renew a mortgage."12 2. By the 1930s, each state that followed the doctrine of "separate but equal" provided all-white elementary and high schools as well as all-black schools. Few of these states had constructed separate university and professional schools for non-whites under the notion that very few blacks matriculated beyond high school. From Shmoop History/U.S. Civil Rights Movement