HIS-tory of High School

Imagine, for a moment, that you are a hopeful high school student walking into your 6th period United States history course. As you sit at your desk and pull out your notebook, you take a moment to look at the posters that are on the walls of the classroom. Some feature documents, like the Declaration of Independence, while others showcase major historical figures like George Washington, FDR, and Ulysses S. Grant. The more you look, the more you realize that the posters only capture one kind of person: white males. As you ponder over the apparent one-sidedness of the classroom images, you come to a shocking realization: your lessons are just as one-sided as the posters. You sit in a classroom that is designed to retell HIS-tory.

This scenario is a slightly overexaggerated version of most people’s first encounter with the study of history. While some United States history classes may have a few posters of Rosie the Riveter and discuss historical figures like MLK, the vast majority of the lessons and images highlighted in the classroom feature the achievements and innovations of white males. Anyone who does not fit into this mold is virtually silenced.

Why do we rarely discuss the way in which Native Americans impacted and were impacted by the United States government outside of the Trail of Tears? Why do women seem to have a story only when teacher’s discuss the Woman’s Rights Movement or in close relation to their husbands? Why do people of any color other than white only get an honorable mention when it’s time to talk about slavery, segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement? Are these people only relevant to the history of our country at certain times? Are they merely side attractions in the real story of “valiant” white males?

I think not. What I do think is that many educators have been wrongly conditioned to believe that only white males have had sway over the development of our nation. This idea stems from the fact that the majority of people that have been publicised for their achievements are white men, which means that it is easier to gain sources and analyses of them. With this incomplete information comes the silencing of the people who do not fit into this traditional masculine and Caucasian form.

The main issue with these silences is that they exemplify gaps that prevent students from understanding the true nature of the past. They make it seem like the United States was only built through the work of white men and that anyone else was merely a side thought that only becomes important in light of certain historical events. In other words, our history begins to resemble separate groups only interacting at key points instead of a mix of people from all different groups that are constantly interacting with one another.

What can be done to give a voice to those that are silenced in the primary study of history? Increasing accessibility. As stated before, many educators, who are constantly overwhelmed by state standers, standardized testing, student diversity, parent questions, pressure to build an inclusive classroom environment, the desire to cover as much as possible, and create a worth-while education for all, are often on a time crunch and are looking for information that is easily accessible and can be analyzed effectively. Now, this is not to say that they are lazy, but instead to promote the idea that teachers are on a serious time crunch.

With this fact in mind, it is easy to see how teachers might become stuck repeating the same story of “American Advancement.” In order to combat this problem, make student’s first encounter with the study of history more accurate, and give a voice to the people who have been silenced for so long, the missing information needs to be more accessible. This means that educators that have already collected information on silenced groups need to share what they know with the wider community. Likewise, textbook authors need to make more of an effort to capture all sides of history; not just the convenient parts.

By making this information more accessible, teachers will have an easier time of integrating the more complete story into their daily lessons. In doing so, they will make sure to give a voice to those who have been silenced and allow students who are studying history for the first time to have a more inclusive picture of the past. By doing so, educators will be able to overcome the HIS-story that is often present in the study of the past.