Public History, Knowledge, and Representation of African American Figures in North Carolina High School Education

Abstract

I am concerned that K-12 curriculum does not exemplify the significance of black historical figures in American history. A rich and diverse understanding of American history and its figures fosters empathy, camaraderie, compassion, and understanding within people. By illuminating the narratives of African American historical figures, it sheds light on modern societal structure and provides representation to a population that has historically been suppressed. This study combines quantitative survey results from college students with qualitative interviews and research with both public and private high school educators in North Carolina to better understand what discrepancies are evident in African American History education and to identify potential causes for these discrepancies. Important research I have undertaken includes information on state education standards, my survey methodology and results, the overarching themes that emerged from my interview responses, as well as research on relevant textbooks, and supplementary non-curricular sources and ideologies. This study involved surveying 212 students from different demographics and states and included interviewing 4 North Carolina educators, 2 public school teachers and 2 private school teachers, all of whom currently teach American history. When asked to rank historical figures on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being complete understanding, college age students across all academic disciplines rank their familiarity with historically significant African American figures at a 5.7, and their White counterparts at 7.5, separating them by a value of 1.8, marking a clear disparity not linked to urban vs rural environments or state residency. The profound agreement amongst educators was that North Carolina public and private schools do not leave students with a well-rounded and thorough understanding of African American History. This is not because educators do not recognize or seek to close the gap, but rather because of a variety of outside factors that inhibit their ability to teach that aspect of American History on an appropriate level. The most relevant and frustrating factors being time, teaching tools, personal teaching style and student engagement, and the current political climate.