TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY

NC Social Studies Standards 2021 Standards Development Process

Social Studies Curriculum 2021

The preamble, written by NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, Catherine Truitt, states that “the standards are a framework intended to teach the full spectrum of history to best help students learn and use the information they acquire in the course of learning experiences. However, it is important to remember that history itself doesn’t provide the sole explanation for why we have injustices, racism, and discrimination today, be they institutionalized or localized. Our human failings have at times taken the form of racism, xenophobia, nativism, extremism, and isolationism. We need to study history in order to understand how these situations developed, the harmful impact they caused, and the forces and actors that sometimes helped us move beyond these outcomes.”

3^rd Grade SS Standards relating to race and history

3.B.1 Understand how values and beliefs of individuals and groups influence communities.

3.B.1.1 Explain how the values, beliefs, and cultures of various indigenous, religious, racial and other groups contribute to the development of local communities and the state.

3.B.1.2 Compare values, beliefs, cultural practices and traditions of various groups living in local and regional communities.

3.H.1 Understand how various people and historical events have shaped local communities.

3.H.1.1 Explain how the experiences and achievements of women, indigenous, religious, and racial groups have contributed to the development of the local community.

3.H.1.2 Explain the lasting impact historical events have had on local communities.

3.H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to compare multiple interpretations of various historical symbols and events in local communities.

High School American History 1 Standards relating to race and history

AH.B.1 Evaluate American identity in terms of perspective, change, and continuity.

AH.B.1.1 Critique multiple perspectives of American identity in terms of American exceptionalism. AH.B.1.2 Critique multiple perspectives of American identity in terms of opportunity, prosperity, and crisis.

AH.B.1.3 Critique multiple perspectives of American identity in terms of oppression, stereotypes, diversity, inclusion, and exclusion.

AH.B.1.4 Critique multiple perspectives of American identity in terms of individualism and conformity. AH.B.1.5 Explain how various immigrant experiences have influenced American identity.

AH.B.1.6 Explain how the experiences and achievements of minorities and marginalized peoples have contributed to American identity over time in terms of the struggle against bias, racism, oppression, and discrimination.

AH.B.1.7 Explain how slavery, xenophobia, disenfranchisement, and intolerance have affected individual and group perspectives of themselves as Americans.

AH.C&G.1 Evaluate the relationship between the American people and the government in terms of freedom, equality, and power.

AH.C&G.1.1 Explain how various views on freedom and equality contributed to the development of American political thought and system of government.

AH.C&G.1.2 Critique the extent to which various levels of government used power to expand or restrict the freedom and equality of American people.

AH.C&G.1.3 Explain how various individuals and groups strategized, organized, advocated and protested to expand or restrict freedom and equality.

AH.C&G.1.4 Explain how racism, oppression, and discrimination of indigenous peoples, racial minorities, and other marginalized groups have impacted equality and power in America

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a <college level> academic discipline that examines how American racism has shaped law and public policy. CRT emerged in the legal academy in the 1980 as an offshoot of critical legal studies. (NC Policy Watch) CRT is not currently in NC Curriculum Standards. People who are upset about CRT claim that teaching American History will cause their children to hate America, themselves and each other. No teacher is teaching that. Once a student learns the facts about history s/he could very well decide to make our country a better place to live.

The best way to ”ensure dignity and nondiscrimination” of all is to examine our history, learn from it and make the future better, not by banning the teaching of the effects of our history on discriminatory practices today. HB324 is designed to ensure dignity and nondiscrimination of white students. It is racist. Does the NCGA care that minority students have had their dignity taken away and have been discriminated against for hundreds of years?

Critical Race Theory explained in 5 minutes

HB324 bans the teaching of these 7 concepts:

One race or sex is inherently superior
An individual, because of their race or sex, inherently has conscious or unconscious biases that are racist, sexist or oppressive
An individual should be discriminated against or receive unfair treatment
An individual’s morality is determined by their race or sex
An individual, solely because of their race or sex, must be responsible for actions committed by prior generations of that same race or sex
Any individual, solely because of their race or sex, should feel “discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress”
The belief that the U.S. is a meritocracy is an inherently racist or sexist belief, or that the U.S. was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.

WHY IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY RELEVANT TODAY?

In a perfect world, educational equity would ensure that all students have access to high-quality curriculum, instruction and funding. But we don’t live in a perfect world, so racial inequality manifests in a number of ways in American education. For example:

The predominant curriculum centers the white narrative and tends to exclude the histories and lived experiences of people of color.
Instruction often takes a deficits-based approach, characterizing students of color as being in need of remediation rather than appreciating their talents and giftedness.
School discipline policies disproportionately impact students of color, often compromising their educational outcomes.
School funding inequities persist; predominantly white districts receive $23 billion more in funding than districts serving students of color.

CRT PROVIDES A RELEVANT, RESEARCH-BASED FRAMEWORK THROUGH WHICH EDUCATION LEADERS AND POLICYMAKERS CAN THINK ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCT OF RACE AND THE IMPACT OF RACISM ON STUDENTS OF COLOR. Education Post

WHY ARE SOME STATES OUTLAWING CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN SCHOOLS?

Even though CRT itself is not a topic in most K-12 curricula, some legislators and elected officials have referenced it in connection with any lesson or training that acknowledges racially oppressive practices as districts around the country have started to embrace the idea that Black, Latinx and Indigenous students will do better in school if the systems around them change.

This has led to some challenging new practices in our schools and classrooms, such as:

Changing the way history is taught to acknowledge the oppression of millions of people based on race in our country.
Exposing educators to training and professional development that highlight areas of implicit bias and help them develop skills for overcoming it.
Developing new ways to deal with discipline so that Black and brown students are no longer disproportionately targeted.
Rethinking how students are identified for advanced courses, accelerated programs, or elite colleges.

For school systems that have operated the same way for decades, these are big changes. There are some who would like to see less change, and believe that the steps above are forcing a new worldview on their kids—even calling it “indoctrination.” In Idaho, Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee, for instance, state governments are acting out of direct concern that critical race theory is at the root of these changes.

And about that, they might be right. They needn’t worry that grade-schoolers will start reading legal texts and academic monographs, but the critical race theory movement certainly has played a huge role in the broader reexamination of our society through the lens of race and racial oppression. And schools are a big part of that. Education Post

PW special report: The right’s coordinated assault on Critical Race Theory in North Carolina

This report details the attack by conservatives, including Republican State Superintendent Cathy Truitt, who “ told a group of Republicans in Orange County this month that she will do everything in her power to “eradicate” CRT from the state’s public schools.”

Request for Proclamation Against HB 324 | by Min. Paul Scott | May, 2021 | Medium

Durham School Board to Support Critical Race Theory 6/24 | by Min. Paul Scott | Jun, 2021 | Medium

HB 324 Ensuring Dignity & Nondiscrimination/Schools

Durham school board opposes bill they say would limit teaching about race, sex biases

State GOP leaders decry Durham City Council’s support of critical race theory

NC State Board of Education approves new guidance for how students will learn about history, race :: WRAL.com A bill in the North Carolina legislature, related to school COVID-19 provisions, seeks to delay implementation of the standards by a year. It passed the House but not the Senate and is being re-worked in committee.

TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY