In History class, students are taught world history, economics, U.S government and U.S History. But out of all of those subjects, how much black history is involved?

     Most teachings on black history usually include the Brown v Board of Education, The Civil Rights Movements, the forced African migration as well as the Obama administration. 

     The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) maintains that even with those integral events in U.S History, still only about eight to nine percent of class time is devoted to black history.

     Being educated on big historical events regarding African American history is one of the most important parts of black history, but not the only part of their history. 

     Most children have the idea that African Americans come from a poor, dangerous, and an unstable continent called Africa. The history of African Americans begins on the African continent where diverse empires thrived for thousands of years and traded gold, ivory and salt with people from other civilizations. Still many schools start with African American Heritage with their enslavement. 

     Although teachers do well in introducing famous black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman, those teachings are not enough for such a vast history that African American have. 

     The curriculum being taught to students contains black leaders and their stories, which contains a tremendous amount of information and portrays an incredible epic of black history. 

     NMAAHC’s study also notes that teachers may not teach black history as much as they should. Teachers lack content knowledge, confidence, time, and resources, and are concerned with students’ maturity levels for approaching difficult knowledge. 

     Ways to start African American history would be to introduce what Juneteenth is about and why the federal holiday is important. The holiday was established on June 19, 1865 to represent the actual freedom of enslaved people.

     According to the New York Times, “More than 60 percent of Americans know “nothing at all” or only “a little bit” about Juneteenth.

     Juneteenth made a national appearance after the George Floyd incident. The Black Lives Matter movement also was a moment to realize that African Americans are not well understood. 

     Today, only 12 out of 50 states formally recognize the importance of teaching Black history in state law, according to CBS News. Reporters found that seven states exclude even mentioning slavery directly in their state standards, while eight states do not mention the Civil Rights movement at all. 

     The importance of having the knowledge of African American history is to not only be well educated and informed but to also be less judgemental and discriminant. Black history broadens perspectives from different cultural paths.