Abstract
This chapter examines the incorporation of marginalized Americans in high school American history state standards and selected curriculum guides in three southern states: Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Using critical race theory (CRT) as a lens, this study examines marginalized narratives and historic events within the standards and curriculum guides, specifically seeking to understand two big ideas: How are the narratives and experiences of marginalized Americans represented in high school American history standards and curriculum guides? and Which marginalized Americans, and events involving them, appear in the standards and curriculum guides? The findings suggest that even into the second decade of the 21st century, content coverage in these three states' high school American history curricula continues to trend toward over-representation of conditions of oppression and resistance to it rather than examples of ingenuity, creativity, and cultural contributions.
TopIntroduction
In 2017, a bronze plaque dedicated to an African American community member in Southlake, Texas, was defaced with the engraving: “KKK will get you, Black people” (Cardona, 2017; FOX 4 News, 2017). Just over a year later, students from Carroll High School, the celebrated school in the same town, uploaded a video of themselves chanting the “n-word”; this video quickly went viral and gained national attention (Hixenbaugh, 2021; Osborne, 2018). These events, coupled with the voiced experiences of the town’s African American residents, spurred the Carroll Independent School Board into action as they addressed racism in the schools by creating a Cultural Competence Action Plan (CCAP) (Carroll District Diversity Council, 2020). This action plan argued for the setting of new goals like the promotion of “cultural competence within Carroll ISD” and the desire to “advocate for and support culturally competent and responsive programs and policies” (Carroll District Diversity Council, 2020). The Carroll School Board would have met and approved the action plan on August 3, 2020 (Hixenbaugh & Hylton, 2021; Jimenez, 2020). However, as of June 2022, the plan has yet to pass largely because of the creation of a local Political Action Committee that applied a false definition of Critical Race Theory to the CCAP (Southlake Families, n.d.).
Critical Race Theory, a theory used for the legal analysis and coined in the 1970s, re-emerged simultaneously with the debate in Southlake, along with a new hyper-partisan definition. On September 1, 2020, amid the investigations surrounding the murder of George Floyd, Chris Rufo appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Show. Although he did not coin the term, nor was he the only one to misrepresent its theory or context, Rufo was one of the first to weaponize the terminology of Critical Race Theory (CRT) for partisan gain; this framework gave opponents of diversity initiatives the language they needed to challenge public school curricula. Directly calling on then-President Donald Trump to “abolish critical race theory training from federal agencies” (Dorman, 2020; Hixenbaugh & Hylton, 2021), CRT became what one of the original theorists, Kimberlé Crenshaw, has dubbed a “modern day boogeyman” (Hixenbaugh & Hylton, 2021). CRT has become a succinct term that allows “conservative activists and politicians […] to seize on the issue” and “redefine the academic term to encompass the examination of systemic racism” (Hatzipanagos, 2021).
Ideally, states and districts have the opportunity to respond to incidents of racism and bigotry as the Carroll School District initially did with their creation of equity-minded goals to educate their student population. Instead, conservative, and conservative-leaning state governments over the past two years have increasingly begun to capitalize on the new patrician definition of CRT and are turning away from culturally responsive (Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2001) and culturally sustaining pedagogies (Paris, 2012). Focus has instead shifted to the perceived indoctrination of students (FACTS, 2021; Office of the Governor of the State of Virginia, 2022), the passing of legislation that outlaws course content that has the potential to make White students uncomfortable (Allen, 2022), and the practice of banning books in public schools (Childress, 2022; Harris & Alter, 2022; Strauss, 2022).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Marginalized Americans: Based on the US Census data, the non-dominant groups are established based on the count per person of individuals who identified their racial/ ethnic status.
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy/Teaching: Originated by Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) , CRP is a teaching philosophy that seeks greater student achievement through students experiencing success in their classrooms, being able to develop and maintain cultural competence, and the fostering of social critical consciousness.
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy/Teaching: In an effort to reverse the monolithic practices used in classrooms, CSP is a way to engage students from all backgrounds and invite their identities and cultures into the classroom and their learning experiences instead of leaving them behind when they come to school.
State Standards: K-12 expectations are set in a state agency led process that outlines what K-12 public school students are expected to learn across each grade level each academic year.
Hidden Curriculum: The concept that suggests that beyond the state-mandated and tested curriculum there is unofficial teaching of norms and values, and individual teacher decisions that influence the day-to-day teaching and learning in classrooms.
Counter-Storytelling: A pedagogical practice that is used to introduce learners to the voices and experiences of marginalized communities. These stories tend to be absent from traditional American history narratives.
Oppression: Certain privileges are denied to certain individuals historically based on their membership in particular identity groups.
George Floyd: A resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Floyd was an African American man who was murdered by a police officer in May of 2020. His murder helped to spark the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement.