Teach Black History: Change How We Celebrate

This week's guest post is from Method math teacher, Thaddeus Brown.  In this vulnerable and honest piece, Thaddeus shares how his perspective on teaching black history to his students has shifted over time.  At the halfway point of the shortest month of the year, when we are asked to celebrate black history and educate our students about black Americans and their contributions to this country and the world, we challenge you to consider Thaddeus' example of making connections with his students to bring a balanced, respectful, and authentic introduction of black culture and history into their educational spaces.  We challenge you to find a way to connect a piece of black history to your content area this month.  Let us know if you do!  

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The teaching of black American history has been a controversial topic in the field of education. In professional development trainings, I have heard educators from other states asking for strategies on how to cater teaching to their population’s needs when governing administrative bodies frown upon the buzzwords of the day. Driving down the street in neighboring cities I have on more than one occasion seen signs held by community members that are voicing their disdain for something called CRT that is claimed to be taught in schools. But this controversy is not just among onlookers of the general population. It also occurs within those who carry the phenotypes and DNA of the African Diaspora as well. From the descendants of the enslaved in America, to multiple generations of African and Caribbean immigrants – from those with mixed ancestry carrying stories of multiple people groups within them - to those living internationally in different contexts that define race differently socially and politically – it is safe to assume that we would all have a different relationship with black history. And in turn with the month of black History. I have had my own relationship with the month personally, and in previous years I have often aimed to take a neutral stance professionally – let the history teachers do what they do best; I’ll just teach math. But this year, I decided to lean into this celebration a bit more, specifically as an educator. Doing so has required me to wrestle a bit with the “whys” behind my previous reservations and I hope to share that wrestle with you all. I hope that it encourages you to participate in the coming years for our students, especially our black students.

One of the most difficult aspects of teaching black history is to teach a nuanced history. A nuanced history lets us as a nation celebrate the strengths and setbacks of a people group while still holding to their humanity. So how do we teach with this nuance? Include within every sound byte of teaching black history these two things: celebration and mourning. My conviction is that balance here is key. If you’ll allow me to sit with this simplistic binary, we can see what happens if we lean too far to one side over the other to better grasp the importance of each.

An overemphasis of mourning can easily lead to a narrative of “extreme racism.” If the racism expressed in the past was uniformly extreme then today’s forms of racism must be much more permissible by comparison. This recounting of history serves the image of America’s progress much more than the present experiences of black Americans. How can you connect black history to the present? What does black history teach us about today?

An overemphasis of mourning can also lead to a narrative of black dehumanization. If students only receive stories of enslaved people – oppressed people – forced to comply or suffer, these stories will corroborate the lingering myths in our society. A truth harmonious with the struggle of oppression is this: like any human beings, black people are complex and dynamic. The humanity of black people is the centerpiece of what makes acts and systems of racism so unforgivable. But if that humanity is missed, the interpretation of the offense becomes nothing more than an ethical debate. How can you connect black history to lived experience in a way that is not numbing? How can your teaching on these subjects spur others on to empathy?

An overemphasis on celebration without mourning can lead to enabling inequality. There is a common phrase amongst black people that goes something like “We often have to work twice as hard for half as much.” Throughout the past 10 years of media coverage, it has become more apparent to broader America that while progress has been made, present-day obstacles due to one’s race still exist for black America. If we do not practice a habit of mourning what should have been, we run the risk of normalizing the acts of oppression that made these historical feats so extraordinary. Mourning what was lost, mourning what should have been, honors not only those who succeeded despite the obstacles in their way, but also honors those whose dreams were never realized because of them. How can your teaching of black history point to the need for change in today’s world?

An overemphasis on celebration without mourning can lead to black exceptionalism. Popular culture is now catching up to this realization as conversations are beginning to surface about how “the first black man/woman to…” titles say more about the barriers coming from our nation than they do about the innate ability of black people to achieve these feats. Black individuals, like Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, and Ida B. Wells, who are celebrated for their historical achievements can unfortunately be positioned to be remembered as archetypes of exceptionalism, with or without their consent. This may be more of an individual conviction than a commonly shared belief amongst a collective, but I believe there can be quite a thin line between black exceptionalism and black excellence. The power of representation is indispensable and I would never refute that. Yet if we are trained to celebrate those who have “succeeded” and not the collective for who they are, we will indirectly teach black students and non-black students alike what is worthy of celebration: what you do, not who you are. How can you show honor to the community of black America when celebrating individual achievements in black culture?

Teach black history in context. I stumbled across a TED talk from 15 years ago on how Fractals (iterations of the same shape) and the notion of infinity are interwoven in African design, architecture, and technology. The presentation blew my mind and I found a way to share it with my Geometry class that aligned with their recent work on Dilations from unit 8. Students seeing themselves and the world in the curriculum they study is a tool for student engagement for sure. But it is also a tool for building a healthy self-concept. Proportionally speaking, marginalized students (BIPOC, LGBTQ, disabled students, and young girls) do not have ample opportunities to see themselves in what they learn. Just like direct instruction, omission as a teaching strategy is quite effective. But do we want to align our teaching practices with these inferred learning targets? How can you connect black history to your subject content? How can you show your students that their learning is relevant to black history and culture? How can you show them that their learning is relevant to them?

Have you tried this alreadywith your students?
We would love to see a recording and talk to you about what worked and what didn’t so we can share with others!


Want to chat about how to incorporate this into your instructional time?

We would love to meet with you!


Want an instructional coach to support you in facilitating or prepping an engagement opportunity?

We would love to model alongside you in a live session with your students.


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Your Instructional Coaching Team,

Awara VanSumer, IC

Sarah Avanessian, Director of Instruction