Last month, the New York Times reported that students’ knowledge of the Civil Rights movement is in decline, and that Colorado earned an “F” in teaching about this era. The Sept. 28. article, “Students’ Knowledge of Civil Rights History Has Deteriorated, Study Finds,” was based on a recent study published by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The New York Times quoted Professor Fritz Fischer of the University of Northern Colorado, and chairman of the National Council of History Education, who noted that Colorado’s rating may be unfair. He stated that our low rating may be because we do not have state standards specifically addressing this era, but argued that regardless, many teachers in the state passionately and thoughtfully teach about the Civil Rights movement. We agree with Professor Fischer. But clearly more needs to be done.
Facing History and Ourselves is addressing this issue head-on. For the last 36 years, we have been helping educators nationally teach not just about the Civil Rights movement, but about other histories that address the complexities of our shared history.
We believe that only through education can we combat racism, antisemitism, and bigotry and help students make informed ethical decisions.
We have trained hundreds of teachers in the Denver/Rocky Mountain Region in one-day workshops and week-long seminars, including an in-depth, five day seminar on the Little Rock Nine and the larger Civil Rights movement.
Our research confirms what the best teachers and administrators already know: that students crave rich content exploring questions about justice, fairness, membership, and identity — things foundational to any democracy. The old method of teaching history as an endless string of dates, wars, and presidents, will no longer do.
Facing History and other non-profits offer rich professional development and resources for teachers at low cost or for free. For instance, we will be hosting a free one-day workshop for teachers in November at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library on the Freedom Riders — including a visit from Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr. from Tennessee — and we have written a downloadable classroom study guide to the excellent American Experience documentary, Freedom Riders, which can be streamed from PBS. (We also have a downloadable guide to the Eyes on the Prize series.)
Blair Caldwell and other partners will be hosting a traveling exhibit on the Freedom Riders, as well as organizing a teach-in and highlighting music from the rides. They will also be screening Rebels Remembered, a documentary by local filmmaker Dick Alweis about civil rights in Colorado. We encourage teachers to take advantage of these opportunities.
We have the privilege of working with many great teachers and witnessing how they bring history alive to their students every day. But there are thousands more teachers to support. We will continue to reach out to Colorado educators who know the best way to help students make moral choices that strengthen our democracy today is to look critically at choices made in the past, including those during the Civil Rights era.
John Katzenberg is chairman of the board, and David Fulton, Ph.D, is associate program director of Denver and Rocky Mountain States, Facing History and Ourselves.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
